NEISTÁ BRATISLAVA: MEDZI INICIÁCIOU A IMITÁCIOU (IVAN HORVÁTH: LACO A BRATISLAVA)

The article focuses on the image of Bratislava during the first Czechoslovak Republic as presented in Ivan Horváth’s novella Laco a Bratislava. The city is viewed through the prism of the protagonist’s revaluation of his ideals and as a site of the possibilities it provides on the personal and social level. The movement of the hero through the city bears traces of imitation of certain literary traditions that creatively make use of motives typical for education or disillusionment novels as well as discourses bearing initiation function. In this way, Bratislava becomes a space of emotional education. The hero’s striving for self-actualisation is paralleled with Bratislava’s ambitions to develop, modernise or imitate the style of big cities. His attitude towards the city is analogous with a relationship with a woman. Bratislava is portrayed as a lover, maiden, dark lady or a double. The atmosphere with which the city is invested mirrors the development of a romantic relationship. At first, it is dreamy, postcard-like, melancholic, drawing on memories and history and invested with a hope for a future. The loss of certainty in the romantic relationship, revelation of the city’s social inequalities and the impossibility of self-actualisation are reflected in its changed atmosphere. Disillusionment and nostalgia prevail as the protagonist is leaving Bratislava, hoping for a return which, however, cannot be granted. The city is also portrayed through glimpses of scenes in cafés and exotic air of its oriental features.