Řeč identity

The works of fiction written in Czech by Věra Linhartová (b. 1938) in 1957–65 and published in 1964–68 – namely, Rozprava o zdviži (1965), a short novella, and Prostor k rozlišení (1964), Meziprůzkum nejblíž uplynulého (1964), Přestořeč (1966), and Dům daleko (1968), four collec- tions of short stories – place extraordinary emphasis on the ontological dimension of utterance. With this writing Linhartová communicates the idea that every fact, by virtue of being named, is ‘summoned to life’ and becomes understandable for the persona; the world manifests itself to humankind in words. Thus, if one succeeds in expressing one’s conception in speech – or, to be more precise, one’s conception of what is being communicated – one becomes conscious of one’s Self, of one’s existence. If one is to express in words one’s immediate conception, one’s speech must be transformed together with one’s Self. The speaking persona thus also becomes conscious of its identity in its plurality in speech, reflecting itself in its various forms and metamorphoses. It is precisely this distinctive function, this differentiation, which is the condition for sovereign selfhood.