Jiří Veltruský revisited

The article deals with Jiří Veltruský's ideas about the relation between the literary drama and the theatre. Veltruský speaks in favour of a reunion between both art kinds, whose theoretical and institutional separation began in the late nineteenth century. Arguing that the theatre suffers intellectually and aesthetically from the separation Veltruský refers to Jan Mukařovský's studies on the dialogue. His main opponent is Otakar Zich, who considered the written drama a mere component of the theatre. The article shows also that in Zich's and Gustav Freytag's theories one can find logical and poetical models of the dramatic plot valuable until today, yet neglected by the Prague School and by Veltruský too.