Novel by K. Capek "War with Salamanders" (Structure and Genre) [Title and all text in RUSSIAN]

Nikolsky, Sergey Vasilyevich

Published by Nauka Publishing House, Moscow, 1968

About this Item

8vo; 208 pages; Contents clean and secure in institutional red buckram binding with patterned LC endpapers. Date stamped on title "May 6, 1969" LC release stamp on ffep. Frontispiece photograph of Karl Capek and a plate showing Capek's manuscript "outline" for the novel. Czech literature of the 20th century was rich in talent, among the greatest authors of that time was Karel Capek. This work by Sergey Vasilievich Nikolsky examines Capek's novel War with the Salamanders (Válka s Mloky in the original Czech), also translated as Salamander Wars, a 1936 satirical science fiction novel. The novel concerns the discovery in the Indian Ocean of a sea-dwelling race, an intelligent breed of newts, who are initially enslaved and exploited. They acquire human knowledge and rebel, leading to a global war for supremacy. Capek delivers this devastating portrayal of colonialism clothed in his inimitable style of satiric humour. There are obvious similarities to Capek's earlier R.U.R., but also some original themes. Sergey Vasilyevich Nikolsky (1922â "2015) was a Soviet and Russian Slavic philologist, Bohemian, and chief researcher at the Plousing Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In 1940, he entered the Kalinin Pedagogical Institute, from where he was then transferred to the Faculty of Philology of Moscow State University. He graduated from the Faculty of Philology at Moscow State University in 1945 and from the Doctoral School of the Faculty of Philology in 1949. His thesis under the direction of P. G. Bogatyrev, was on the subject "F. L. Chelakovsky and the Folk Art of the Russian Song." Since 1948, he has been an employee of the new Institute of Slavic Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences. During this period, Nikolsky dealt with the problems of Czech-Russian literary relations, Romanticism (the work of Karel G. Macha, Karel J. Erben and others), of the period of national renewal of Czech culture. He studied the work of Jiri Volker, Yaroslav Hasek, Karel Capek. In 1950, he wrote a preface to the volume of Karel Capek's Elect published at the Goslitizdat. It was translated into Czech and published in Prague in 1952 as a separate brochure. Nikolsky's high appreciation of the work of Capek marked the beginning of the renaissance of Capek in the cultural world of Czechoslovakia, from where he had previously been "expelled" by the communist authorities for his friendly ties with Czechoslovak President Tomas Masaryk. Since then, not a single appearance of Nikolsky in the Czech Republic at scientific meetings or public meetings was complete without mentioning his contribution to the correct perception of their literature by the Czechs and the restoration of a dignified attitude towards Capek. According to Czech researcher Frantish Chyorny, "a lot of time has passed since then, but even people who may have never heard his name and have not seen this book know the effect of Nikolsky's book." In 1958, he became one of the founders of the Society of Soviet-Czechoslovak Friendship, was a member of the Central Council and chairman of the Society's literary commission. In 1971, he issued his work on Karel Capek's "Satirical Utopias", and in 1973 published the book "Karel Capek - A Science Fiction Writer and Satirist." In 1981, the book Two Epochs of Czech Literature was published, in which Nikolsky charted the path of Czech national literature from the era of national renewal to the second half of the 20th century. Until 1988, he remained head of the Slavic literature sector, was a member of the editorial boards of the Brief Literary Encyclopedia (M., 1962-1978), the Literary Encyclopaedic Dictionary (M., 1987) and World History. Literature (M., 1983-1994) as a curator of the Central and South-Eastern European Literature. In 1990, he became one of the founders of the society of the brothers, organized regular meetings devoted to memorable dates, the work of Czech writers and meetings with Czech art personalities. From 2012 until the end.

Seller Inventory # 45605

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Novel by K. Capek "War with Salamanders" (Structure and Genre) [Title and all text in RUSSIAN]
• Publisher: Nauka Publishing House, Moscow
• Publication Date: 1968
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Seller catalogs:
  • Russian Language and Literature
  • Literature
  • Science Fiction