Description
Book SynopsisExamines the modernist forces within nineteenth and twentieth-century Europe that helped shape both Czech nationalism and artistic interaction among ethnic and social groups - Czechs and Germans, men and women, gays and straights.
Trade ReviewThomas's book is remarkable for its scope and intellectual coherence. He notes that the oscillation between the parochial concerns of a small nation under threat of cultural extinction, and a cosmopolitan impulse that is no less powerful, is evident in Czech literary scholarship. The Bohemian Body's novel point of view is bound to stimulate discussion across the field of Czech literary criticism. - Maria Nemcova Banerjee, Smith College, author of Terminal Paradox: The Novels of Milan Kundera ""Through a series of careful readings of modern Czech-language literature and film, Thomas deploys gender analysis to reveal a consistent interplay within the texts between the personal and the political, as well as between local and European identities. Wary of strict categorizations, he celebrates complexity and plurality. Engagingly written and well-argued, The Bohemian Body will challenge historians and literary critics alike to rethink how we interpret Czech works of art."" - Chad Bryant, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
