Inspirace, spolupráce a polemiky v korespondenci Jakuba Demla a Jaroslava Durycha

This study deals with the hitherto little known correspondence between writers Jakub Deml (1878-1961) and Jaroslav Durych (1886-1962), which has only been partially researched. This is an extensive collection of correspondence of importance to both writers, which took place over two periods (1906-1909 and 1916-1959). The letters from the first period document both their translation collaboration with the old Imperial publisher Josef Florian and their own work, as well as their opinions on the contemporary literary and social science. However, they also record the first substantial disputes between the two writers, primarily involving their different conceptions of Catholic faith and their view of poet Otokar Březina. During the second period Deml and Durych exchanged mail more intensively around the late 1910s and the early 1920s. This study presents their collaboration on Deml’s Šlépěje (Footprints) and summarizes the reasons for its termination. The final part focuses on the sharp controversy provoked by Deml’s book Mé svědectví o Otokaru Březinovi (My Testimony on Otokar Březina, 1931). Both writers publicly engaged in these polemics on the pages of their own publicity platforms, resulting in the end of their friendship for a long time. They did not resume their correspondence until almost twenty years later.