Honza is a very common

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

name which may be informally used interchangeably with

Jan Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Num ...

( en,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

). It comes from

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

Johann(es) → Hans → Honza. Possible diminutives are Honzík or Honzíček. In Czech every Jan can be called Honza. In fact, virtually no Jan is called Jan by friends - usually Honza or Jenda is used. Honza may be translated as

. Honza is often a Czech fairy tale

hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ''actor''), ''her ...

, sometimes called Hloupý Honza (Dull Honza), Líný Honza (Lazy Honza) or Chudý Honza (Poor Honza). In original uses, ''Líný Honza'' is the ''lazy'' and inept son of village farmers. His parents send him "to the world" to take care of himself and get experience. On his way, he meets seemingly impossible obstacles (often involving dragon) but outsmarts them all and returns home with fame, riches and a princess as his wife. While sometimes called ''Hloupý Honza'' (''Dull Honza''), he is not really dull and in more modern fairy tales he often loses other negative characteristics too. Such figures became national personification – often suggested as mirroring the national character of Czechs (the nation had unexpectedly risen up, from low classes, struggling to establish itself as an independent entity). Comparison of "dull" Honza with lot of "

common sense ''Common Sense'' is a 47-page pamphlet written by Thomas Paine in 1775–1776 advocating independence from Great Britain to people in the Thirteen Colonies. Writing in clear and persuasive prose, Paine collected various moral and political arg ...

" (as opposed to knowledge obtained by studying) with aristocracy portrayed by princes which are unable to overcome obstacles Honza did overcome might also refer to fact that for big part of history (most of) Czech aristocracy was separated from people and often not really Czech (but

and

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n).

Examples

Literature

* Chytrý Honza z Čech (The clever Honza from Bohemia), collection
third book annotation from top * Český Honza (Czech Honza), collection,

Theatre

* How Simple Honza Went Out into the Worl

Films

* Honza málem králem * Z pekla štěstí () * O chytrém Honzovi aneb Jak se Honza stal králem () * Princové jsou na draka ()

References

{{Authority control Czech culture Czech fairy tales Literary archetypes by name Fictional Czech people