VILÉM MRŠTÍK JAKO ANTISEMITA?

This article is concerned with Jewish themes and antisemitic stereotypes in the works of Vilém Mrštík (1863-1912), a topic to which scholars of literature have paid too little attention. Invectives against the Jews appear in Mrštík's journalism, short stories, and novels. The article considers the following works in considerable detail: the short story 'Z říše první velmoci' (From the realm of the first estate), published in Stíny (Shadows, 1893), an episode from the novel Pohádka máje (A May fairy tale, 1897), Mrštík's anti-Jewish article 'Semitismus - jezuitismus' from the second volume of Moje sny: Pia desideria (My dreams: P. d.; 1903), which was probably influenced by the writings of Jan Neruda (1834-1891) and Dostoyevsky (1821-1881), and particularly the novel Rok na vsi (A year in a village, 1903-04), written mainly by Vilém's brother Alois (1861-1925), but its antisemitic invectives are probably Vilém's work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]