Hasek's The Good Soldier Svejk is an example of a type of Central European humor in which a poor and seemingly naive or dull person shows himself to be more clever or successful than the authorities and those who have wealth and power. The novel is also a satire on war and particularly on the German and Austrian military command during World War I.
What is now the Czech Republic was, at that time, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and had for several centuries been under the control of German-speaking Austrians. Even the ethnic Czechs of the upper and middle class generally spoke German as their first language. Though most Czechs were Roman Catholic, there had been earlier attempts by the Czechs to break away from the Catholic church, in the fifteenth century under the religious leader Jan Hus, and in the seventeenth century in a rebellion which was one of the factors that started the Thirty Years' War. Hasek's satirical novel needs to be seen in this context of ethnic and religious conflict in order to understand the author's attitude toward the clergy as well as the military.
One of the most striking, and comical, episodes in The Good Soldier Svejk occurs when Svejk is selected as a servant to the Army chaplain, Kleinschrodt. In German Kleinschrot literally means "little shot," and is probably so named by Hasek because the chaplain and the clergy in general think of themselves as big-shots. Kleinschrodt is as much of an authoritarian windbag as the other leaders in the military. He sends Svejk off on a kind of wild-goose chase to obtain eight liters of wine from a specific town in Austria, because Kleinschrodt can't stand the taste of the Italian wine available to him at the camp. The upshot is that, as in other instances, Svejk has to deal with the red tape and pompous authoritarianism of the officers and is then thrown in jail.
The point, as always throughout the book, is that Svejk causes the authorities to look like fools (which they are). It is never clear if Svejk really is as dull-witted as he appears or is just faking ignorance in order to outwit the officers and make them appear stupid. To an extent, Svejk is based on the Czech fairy tale character Honza (Johnny or Jack), who is supposed to be a bumpkin but becomes a success when he's sent out into the world. Hasek takes this folk character and expands his adventures into a critique not only of the German-Austrian leadership in World War I, but of war and the military in general. He sees the Catholic religious hierarchy as a contingent of the government and military authorities, and the Kleinschrodt episode, in which the priest/chaplain is shown as a hypocrite and fool, is especially trenchant and comical.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
What do you think was Hasek’s attitude toward the Catholic Church? Give specific examples of Svejk’s dealings with various members of the clergy that make this attitude clear.
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