Jan Mukařovský

January Mukařovský ( born November 11, 1891 in Pisek, † February 8, 1975 in Prague ) was a Czechoslovak literary scholars, Slavic languages ​​and literature theorist who since the late 1920s until his death crucial to the establishment of the Prague literary structuralism literature theoretical as a novel paradigm has contributed with great influence beyond the narrow disciplinary boundaries of Slavic Studies.

Among his literary services include, inter alia, the consistent application of linguistic structuralism and its developed by the Geneva linguist Ferdinand de Saussure bases on literary and literary-historical phenomena and the systematic application and extension of the linguistic concept of function on literary works and their reception in different eras.

In addition Mukařovský delivered in accordance with the Russian formalism decisive contributions to a literary theory of the evolution of the literary series, which will be discussed today in professional circles.

Life

After graduation Mukařovský studied linguistics and aesthetics at Charles University in Prague and graduated in 1915 with success from. In 1922 he obtained his doctor's degree. By 1925, he then worked as a secondary school in Pilsen, and then at a Prague school. In 1926 he co-founded the Prague Linguistic Circle to the influential Russian slavonicists Roman Jakobson, with the Mukařovský was a close friend. 1929 Mukařovský habilitated with the verstheoretischen work Máchův Maj. Estetická study on the romantic Czech poet Karel Hynek Macha in the field of literary aesthetics.

1934 Mukařovský was appointed professor at the University of Bratislava in Slovakia, in 1938 he was appointed extraordinary professor of aesthetics at Charles University in Prague, which, however - like all other Czech universities - in November 1939 after student unrest of the new Nazi rulers in the course of the promotion Prague was closed. From 1941 to 1947 Mukařovský worked as an editor. 1948, ie the year of the communist coup d'etat, Mukařovský became a full professor at the University of Prague reopened. In the same year he was also elected to its rector, and held this post until 1953. Due to the increasing Stalinist pressure recanted Mukařovský his semiotic structuralism before the war. In 1951 Mukařovský also was appointed director of the Institute for Czech Literature of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, which he directed until 1962.

In 1960 he was a guest part in the third Christian Peace Conference (CFRP ) in Prague, which he welcomed, on behalf of the Czechoslovak Peace Committee.

Scientific Importance

The importance January Mukařovskýs can not be solved by its employees at the Prague linguistic circle (which also belonged to Roman Jakobson, with whom he was a close friend ). Rather, it should be to the " role of inspirer " ( Chvatík 1987, 173) to play and make a real literary theory as practical scientific impetus towards a " functional- structural conception of language " (ibid.), which exceed the limits of linguistics out into the poetics and aesthetics - not only the Czechoslovak - should venture into it. However, the reception of his literary theory concept is still in the West remained incomplete due to linguistic and ideological barriers.

January Mukařovský proposes to understand the literary work as a complex factory mark and distinguishes four basic functions of language: the representative, expressive, appellative and the " aesthetic " function ( Mukařovský 1938, 48). He joins so that the basic idea of Karl Bühler to who introduced the first three functions in the " linguistic theory " ( Bühler 1934), however, sees this concept for a " purely notifying utterance" ( Mukařovský 1938, 47) useful. In the "Analysis of poetic utterance" (ibid.), however, it comes afterJan Mukařovský on the fourth: " [ I] t is namely in the center of interest, the composition of the voice character, while the former three to extralinguistic entities and goals tend to exceed the linguistic sign ". ( ibid, 48) The aesthetic function of language is for Jan Mukařovský " omnipresent " ( ibid, 49) responsible for " lexical innovation " (ibid., 50) of language use and appears " always as an autonomous character" (ibid., 51).

The emphasis of the aesthetic is also reflected in basic essays on the question: What is a work of art? In " Art as a semiological fact" January Mukařovský emphasizes two features of Artwork: The autonomic function and the communicative function. The former refers to the property that the work of art " as a mediator between members of the same collective serves " ( Mukařovský 1936, 140). The second option aims to " indefinite reality to which the work of art indicates " (ibid. 141 ), namely the " overall context of the so-called social phenomena: eg, philosophy, politics, religion, economy, etc. " (ibid.).

In addition Mukařovský one of the few literary theorists who have consistently sought to connect the problem of literary rating with the theory of literary evolution.