Poznámky k vymezení pojmu kramářská píseň (s ohledem na tisky náboženské povahy)

The paper deals with the term “kramářská píseň” (analogous to English “broadside song”), the definition of which in current reference books entails problems as it results from the preference of secular songs in the past research. The term is often reduced to sung news or songs of sensation. This reduction leads to viewing the term “kramářská píseň” with respect to genre. Although scholars are aware of the preponderance of religious production, the way it is reflected in the term evinces difficulties. The goal of the study is to point out these problems (especially in confrontation with the material of the religious songs) and to offer an adequate definition of the term which would be helpful in the future complex research of the phenomenon. It is argued that the term “kramářská píseň” should be understood as a hyponym of the term “kramářský tisk”, which means a song published in the form of a broadside print. It is also important to reject the self-evident aesthetic valuation in genere which perceives “kramářská píseň” as something simple, imperfect and succumbing to a commercial character of the production. In fact, the songs vary from primitive through average to ambitious texts. The study also provides a comparison of the Czech phenomenon of “kramářská píseň” with the German phenomenon of “Bänkelsang”, which used to be considered equivalent. However, it is argued that “Bänkelsang” represents only a part of the German production of the so called “Flugblattlieder” – an epic song connected with prosaic description and oral performance accompanied with pictures.