K Rybově kritice Karla Kolčavy SJ a jeho znalostí teorie dramatu

The only comprehensive study inquiring into the life and work of the Jesuit dramatist and teacher Carolus Kolczawa (1656–1717) was written by Bohumil Ryba and published in 1926 under the title Literární činnost Karla Kolčavy [“Writings of Carolus Kolczawa”]. Ryba’s overall evaluation of Kolczawa’s work was negative, because he shared the traditional contempt of the Enlightenment for baroque literature, measuring it by classical and classicist standards. The present article challenges Ryba’s disparaging assessment of Kolczawa’s remarks pertaining to the theory of drama, especially his paraphrases of the Aristotelian definition of the tragic hero. Ryba did not take into account the development of the theory of drama and theatre practice from the 16th to the 18th centuries when the Aristotelian concept of αμαρτία – error underwent revisions, and theorists defended the view that pious and innocent martyrs could be protagonists of a tragedy. When criticising Kolczawa, Ryba referred to theoretical writings of the Italian Jesuit Alexander Donatus, but he knew them only indirectly and did not notice that Donatus, in fact, shared the same views as Kolczawa.