| dc.description.abstract | The article presents the main problems connected with Silvester Lavrik’s historical novel Niedzielne szachy z Tisą.
The book belongs to an important trend in contemporary Slovak literature, addressing the period of the clerofascist
Slovak State during the Second World War. In the first part, selected cultural and historical‑literary contexts
have been presented, e.g. the issue of reinterpreting the past in the circumstances of freedom after 1989, or the
ways of discussing the problems of Holocaust in Slovak literature. The second, interpretive part, is devoted to the
narrative strategies implemented in the novel, various attitudes of characters towards the activities preceding the
Extermination, demythologizing the figure of the state leader, Josef Tisa, as well as the way of presenting
conditions and circumstances which made the tragedy of Slovak Jews possible. It has been pointed out that
submission to state authority and ideology led to losing the sense of individual responsibility and justified an
active participation in violence acts or assuming the role of passive spectators. The novel’s engaging character
and the potential to provoke reflection concerning the attitude of an individual towards contemporary problems and
challenges has been regarded as a significant aspect of Lavrik’s novel as a work dedicated to the condition of the
community and its value. | en |
