HVIEZDOVEDA A NÁRODNOOBRODENECKÝ IDEÁL

The article provides an interpretation of the educational publication Hviezdoveda, alebo Životopis Krutohlava, čo na Zemi, okolo Mesiaca a Slnka skúsil a čo o obežniciach, vlasaticiach, pôvode a konci sveta vedel [Star-science, or The biography of Headshaker: his travels on the Earth, around the Moon and the Sun, his knowledge of planets, comets, the beginning and the end of the world]. Gustáv Reuss (1818 – 1863) wrote the piece in 1856, but it was only published more than a century later, in 1984. The author drew on the tradition of tractates and educational and popularising texts of the Enlightenment phase of the Slovak National Awakening and attempted to present educational contents – information about the universe, especially the solar system – to the lay audience by means of an appealing narrative. The text is considered to be the first representative of the science fiction genre in Slovak literature, but fantasy elements do not form a coherent layer in it. In a sober Enlightenment spirit, Reuss accentuates rationalism (even scepticism) in his work. At the same time, he is ironic towards the fabricated national ideal of the engaged Romantic nationalists and the messianic conception of the Slavic predestination according to which all temporal and spatial obstacles can be overcome by all-embracing pan-spirituality. Owing to these elements, Reuss’s authorial strategy gains the air of Romantic irony.