Projects & Grants

Internal Grant Competition DGC
START-UP grant





Jeffers and/or Steinbeck Country: The Literary Battle over California
Project IdGPP406/10/P297
Main solverdoc. Mgr. Petr Kopecký, Ph.D.
Period1/2010 - 12/2012
ProviderPostdoktorský projekt GA ČR
Statefinished
AnotationThis project focuses on the works of the poet Robinson Jeffers and the prose-writer John Steinbeck, whose popularity in Czech(oslovak)ia paradoxically surpasses the authors´ renown in their home state of California. That is all the more noteworthy given the fact that they are regarded as quintessential California (nature) writers. The research will be conducted in three spheres:1. Reception - reasons for positive reception in Czech(oslovak)ia, ideological aspects of reception (e.g. appropriation, manipulative interpretation)2. Inspiration - examination of the influence of Jeffers (predominantly his The Women at Point Sur) on Steinbeck (To a God Unknown, The Log from the Sea of Cortez) especially in the field of (eco)philosophy and mythology3. Comparison - thematically structured analysis of selected distinctive features of the authors´ writing (e.g. philosophical syncretism, importance of erudition in natural sciences, rootedness in place, geographical determination)