Problém moře: k (italskému) údělu Karla Bačkovskeho (1878–1901)

Karel Bačkovský entered the Czech literary and general artistic discussion in 1897 as a poet. His modest writing includes several prosaic texts and particularly series of translation and critical works that mediate and reflect contemporary Italian literary scene, mainly the modernist circle of the Marzocco magazine, which was published in Florence since 1896. Inspired by G. D’Annunzio and A. Conti, as well as by J. Ruskin or E. Key, some of Bačkovský’s texts got involved in the domestic time debate on the role of art and artists in the society. The work of K. Bačkovsky was, however, marked by visible tension: accentuation of the educating role of art, the idea of solemn association of an artist and the people (in essays and critical texts) is replaced by a perfectly introvert image in prose and poetry.