''The Good Soldier Švejk'' () is an unfinished
satirical
Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...
dark comedy
Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...
novel by
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
*Czech (surnam ...
writer
Jaroslav Hašek
Jaroslav Hašek (; 1883–1923) was a Czechs, Czech writer, Humorism, humorist, Satire, satirist, journalist, Bohemianism, bohemian, first anarchist and then communist, and commissar of the Red Army against the Czechoslovak Legion. He is best k ...
, published in 1921–1923, about a good-humored, simple-minded, middle-aged man who appears to be enthusiastic to serve
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
in
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.
''The Good Soldier Švejk'' is the abbreviated title; the original Czech title of the work is ''Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka za světové války'', or ''The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk During the World War'' in English. The book is the most translated novel of Czech literature, having been translated into over 50 languages.
Publication
Hašek originally intended ''Švejk'' to cover a total of six volumes, but had completed only three (and started on the fourth) upon his death from heart failure on January 3, 1923.
The novel as a whole was originally illustrated (after Hašek's death) by
Josef Lada and more recently by Czech illustrator Petr Urban.
The volumes are:
# ''Behind the Lines'' (''V zázemí'', 1921)
# ''At the Front'' (''Na frontě'', 1922)
# ''The Glorious Licking'' (''Slavný výprask'', 1922)
# ''The Glorious Licking Continues'' (''Pokračování slavného výprasku'', 1923; unfinished)
Following Hašek's death, journalist Karel Vaněk was asked by the publisher Adolf Synek to complete the unfinished novel. Vaněk finished the fourth book in 1923 and in the same year also released the fifth and the sixth volumes, titled ''Švejk in Captivity'' (''Švejk v zajetí'') and ''Švejk in Revolution'' (''Švejk v revoluci''). These later novels were not published until 1949. In 1991 volumes 5 and 6 were again released as ''Švejk in Russian Captivity and Revolution'' (''Švejk v Ruském zajetí a v revoluci''), in two volumes or combined.
Themes
The novel is set during
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
in
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
, a multi-ethnic empire full of
long-standing ethnic tensions. Fifteen million people died in the war, one million of them Austro-Hungarian soldiers, including around 140,000 who were Czechs. Hašek participated in this conflict and examined it in ''The Good Soldier Švejk''.
Many of the situations and characters seem to have been inspired, at least in part, by Hašek's service in the 91st Infantry Regiment of the
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...
. The novel also deals with broader anti-war themes: essentially a series of absurdly comic episodes, it explores the pointlessness and futility of conflict in general and of military discipline, Austrian military discipline in particular. Many of its characters, especially the Czechs, are participating in a conflict they do not understand on behalf of an empire to which they have no loyalty.
The character of Josef Švejk is a development of this theme. Through (possibly feigned) idiocy or incompetence, he repeatedly manages to frustrate military authority and expose its stupidity in a form of
passive resistance: the reader is left unclear, however, as to whether Švejk is genuinely incompetent, or acting quite deliberately with
dumb insolence. These absurd events reach a climax when Švejk, wearing a Russian uniform, is mistakenly taken prisoner by his own side.
In addition to satirising
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...
authority, Hašek repeatedly sets out corruption and hypocrisy attributed to priests of the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
.
Plot summary
The story begins in
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
with news of the
assassination in Sarajevo that precipitates
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.
Švejk displays such enthusiasm about faithfully serving the Austrian Emperor in battle that no one can decide whether he is merely an imbecile or is craftily undermining the war effort. He is arrested by a member of the state police, Bretschneider, after making some politically insensitive remarks, and is sent to prison. After being certified insane he is transferred to a madhouse, before being ejected.
Švejk gets his
charwoman
Charwoman, chargirl, charlady and char are occupational terms referring to a paid part-time worker who comes into a house or other building to clean it for a few hours of a day or week, as opposed to a maid, who usually lives as part of the ho ...
to wheel him (he claims to be suffering from
rheumatism
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including a ...
) to the recruitment offices in Prague, where his apparent zeal causes a minor sensation. He is transferred to a hospital for
malingerers because of his rheumatism. He finally joins the army as
batman
Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
to army
chaplain
A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...
Otto Katz. Katz was well able to avoid being sent to the front, managing to have a soft military job in Prague.
However, Katz loses Švejk in a bet over a game of cards to Senior Lieutenant Lukáš, whose batman he then becomes — which would eventually lead him to the front.
Lukáš is posted with his march battalion to barracks in
České Budějovice
České Budějovice (; ) is a city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 97,000 inhabitants. The city is located in the valley of the Vltava River, at its confluence with the Malše.
České Budějovice is the largest ...
, in Southern Bohemia, preparatory to being sent to the front. After missing all the trains to Budějovice, Švejk embarks on a long
anabasis on foot around Southern Bohemia in a vain attempt to find Budějovice, before being arrested as a possible spy and deserter (a charge he strenuously denies) and escorted to his regiment.
The regiment is soon transferred to
Bruck an der Leitha, a town on the border between Austria and Hungary. Here, where relations between the two nationalities are somewhat sensitive, Švejk is again arrested, this time for causing an affray involving a respectable Hungarian citizen and engaging in a street fight. He is also promoted to company orderly.
The unit embarks on a long train journey towards
Galicia and the
Eastern Front. Close to the front line, Švejk is taken prisoner by his own side as a suspected Russian deserter, after arriving at a lake and trying on an abandoned Russian uniform. Narrowly avoiding execution, he manages to rejoin his unit. The unfinished novel breaks off abruptly before Švejk has a chance to be involved in any combat or enter the trenches, though it appears Hašek may have conceived that the characters would have continued the war in a
POW camp, much as he himself had done.
The book includes numerous anecdotes told by Švejk (often either to deflect the attentions of an authority figure or to insult them in a concealed manner) which are not directly related to the plot.
Selected characters
The characters of ''The Good Soldier Švejk'' are generally either used as the butt of Hašek's absurdist humour or represent fairly broad social and ethnic stereotypes found in the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time. People are often distinguished by the dialect and
register
Register or registration may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Music
* Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc.
* ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller
* Registration (organ), ...
of Czech or German they speak, a quality that does not translate easily. Many German- and Polish-speaking characters, for example, are shown as speaking comedically broken or heavily accented Czech, while many Czechs speak broken German; much use is also made of
slang
A slang is a vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in everyday conversation but avoided in formal writing and speech. It also often refers to the language exclusively used by the members of pa ...
expressions.
Some characters are to varying degrees based on real people who served with the
Imperial and Royal
The phrase Imperial and Royal (, ) refers to the court/government of the Habsburgs in a broader historical perspective. Some modern authors restrict its use to the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918.
During that period, it in ...
91st Infantry Regiment, in which Hašek served as a one-year volunteer. (Much research has been conducted into this issue and the results are part of th
catalog of all 585 people both real and fictitious, that appear in the novel.)
; Josef Švejk: The novel's hero: in civilian life a
fence
A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or net (textile), netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its ...
specializing in stolen dogs. Based partly on František Strašlipka, the young batman to Oberleutnant Rudolf Lukas, Hašek's company commander.
; Palivec: The foul-mouthed landlord of Švejk's local pub – the "U Kalicha" ("At the Chalice") on Na Bojišti street, Prague. Despite refusal to discuss any politics ("it smells of
Pankrác
Pankrác is a neighborhood of Prague, Czech Republic. It is located south of the city centre on the hills of the eastern bank of the Vltava River and is part of the Prague 4 municipal district, situated in the district of Nusle. Bordering distri ...
") Palivec is eventually arrested by Bretschneider (see below) after commenting that flies shit on the portrait of
Franz Joseph
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...
in the pub.
; Police Agent Bretschneider: A secret policeman who repeatedly tries to catch Švejk and others out on their anti-monarchist views. He is eventually eaten by his own dogs, after buying a succession of animals from Švejk in an attempt to incriminate him.
; Staff Warder Slavík: A cruel and corrupt prison official (revealed to have himself ended up in prison under the
Republic of Czechoslovakia).
;
Military chaplain
A military chaplain ministers to military personnel and, in most cases, their families and civilians working for the military. In some cases, they will also work with local civilians within a military area of operations.
Although the term ''cha ...
Otto Katz: Has a fondness for drinking, especially
communion wine, and gambling. Švejk seems fond of Katz, but the latter loses the services of Švejk to Lieutenant Lukáš in a game of cards.
;
Oberleutnant
(English: First Lieutenant) is a senior lieutenant Officer (armed forces), officer rank in the German (language), German-speaking armed forces of Germany (Bundeswehr), the Austrian Armed Forces, and the Swiss Armed Forces. In Austria, ''Oberle ...
Lukáš: Švejk's long-suffering
company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...
commander. A Czech from South Bohemia, Lukáš is something of a womanizer but is depicted in a broadly sympathetic manner by Hašek (the records of the real-life 91st Regiment show an Oberleutnant Rudolf Lukas – the same rank as the character – at the time of Hašek's service; Hašek admired Lukas and even wrote him a number of poems. Lukas was Hašek's company commander.
[Parrott, C. "Introduction" to ''The Good Soldier Svejk'', Penguin, 1974, p. xi]) Though Švejk's actions eventually lead to Lukáš' being labelled as a notorious philanderer in the Hungarian national press, he starts to miss Švejk after the latter is promoted to company orderly.
; Colonel Friedrich Kraus von Zillergut: An idiotic Austrian officer with a penchant for giving his colleagues long-winded, moronic explanations of everyday objects (such as thermometers and postage stamps) and situations; run over by a cart while attempting to demonstrate what a
pavement is. Kraus's dog is stolen by Švejk as a gift for Lukáš; the enraged colonel subsequently arranges Lukáš's transfer to the front.
; Captain Ságner: One of the regiment's professional officers and commander of Švejk's
march battalion; an ambitious careerist, he is later revealed to have been a closet Czech patriot in his youth. A Captain Vinzenz Sagner served in the 91st Regiment, where he was Hašek's battalion commander.
; Colonel Schröder: The bad-tempered
colonel
Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...
of Švejk's regiment, and a caricature of typical German-speaking senior officers of the Austrian army.
; Jurajda: The battalion's
spiritualist cook; before military service he had edited an "occultist" journal. Spends time attempting to avoid frontline service through letters he is writing to his wife, in which he details meals he is intending to cook for senior officers.
; 2nd Lieutenant Dub: Dub is a Czech schoolmaster, reserve officer, and commander of the battalion's 3rd company: he has strongly monarchist views. As a conservative, pro-
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...
Czech, Dub is the subject of some of Hašek's most vicious satire. Repeatedly placed in humiliating situations, such as being found drunk in a
brothel
A brothel, strumpet house, bordello, bawdy house, ranch, house of ill repute, house of ill fame, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in Human sexual activity, sexual activity with prostitutes. For legal or cultural reasons, establis ...
or falling off a horse. (In all
Slavonic languages the word ''dub'' ("oak") itself is a common synonym for a dull, idiotic person.) He is said to have been based on a lieutenant of the reserve, Mechálek, who served in Hašek's regiment. The novel is ended by words of Lieutenant Dub: "With the district governor, we always said: Patriotism, loyalty to duty, self-overcoming, these are the real weapons in war! I remember this especially today, when our troops will cross the border in the foreseeable future."
; Quartermaster Sergeant-Major Vaněk: Another recurring character, Vaněk (a chemist from
Kralupy nad Vltavou in civilian life) is an example of an easy-going but self-serving senior
NCO, whose main concern is to make his own existence as comfortable as possible. A Jan Vaněk served in Hašek's regiment, and has some traits in common with the figure from the novel (domicile and occupation).
; Volunteer Marek: The character of one-year volunteer Marek is to some degree a self-portrait by the author, who was himself a one-year volunteer in the 91st. For example, Marek – like Hašek – was fired from the editorship of a natural history magazine after writing articles about imaginary animals. Marek is appointed the battalion historian by Ságner and occupies himself with devising memorable and heroic deaths in advance for his colleagues.
;
First-Class Private Vodička: A
sapper
A sapper, also called a combat engineer, is a combatant or soldier who performs a variety of military engineering duties, such as breaching fortifications, demolitions, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, preparing field defenses ...
friend of Švejk noted mainly for his extreme hatred of
Hungarians
Hungarians, also known as Magyars, are an Ethnicity, ethnic group native to Hungary (), who share a common Culture of Hungary, culture, Hungarian language, language and History of Hungary, history. They also have a notable presence in former pa ...
, which leads to an unfortunate incident in
Bruck an der Leitha.
; Lieutenant Biegler (Cadet Biegler): Biegler is a young junior officer with pretensions to nobility, despite being the middle-class son of a
furrier. Biegler takes his military duties so seriously that he is ridiculed even by his senior officers, and is mistakenly hospitalised as a "carrier of
cholera
Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
germs" after medical staff misdiagnose (for army PR reasons) a cognac-induced hangover. Cadet Biegler also had a real-life model in the 91st regiment (Cadet Johann Biegler, later lieutenant).
; Captain Tayrle: The brigade
adjutant
Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...
and a particularly disgusting example of a headquarters officer, whose interests appear to lie mainly in crude jokes and sampling of local prostitutes.
; General
Fink von Finkenstein: An aristocratic, vicious and near-insane senior Austrian officer and commander of the garrison fort of
Przemyśl
Przemyśl () is a city in southeastern Poland with 56,466 inhabitants, as of December 2023. Data for territorial unit 1862000. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Subcarpathian Voivodeship. It was previously the capital of Prz ...
, Fink treats his men with extreme brutality. He almost succeeds in having Švejk executed after the latter is taken prisoner by his own side. His name and look in 1958 film is based on Prussian general
Karl Fink von Finkenstein.
; Chaplain Martinec: A chaplain plagued by drink-induced spiritual doubts, whose attempt to provide spiritual consolation to Švejk ends in disaster.
; "Sergeant Teveles": A man in possession of a silver
Military Merit Medal, purchased from a
Bosnian, and claiming to be a Sergeant Teveles, who had previously disappeared along with the entire 6 March Company during fighting in
Belgrade
Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...
.
;
Private Baloun: A miller from
Český Krumlov in civilian life, and Švejk's successor as Lukáš's
batman
Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
, Baloun is a glutton and is regularly punished for stealing Lukáš's food. He eats raw dough, sausage skins, etc., when nothing else is available.
Reception
According to John Willett in his 1959 book ''The Theatre of Bertolt Brecht'',
Brecht, in an unpublished note, said of ''The Good Soldier Švejk'': “If anyone asks me to pick three literary works of this century which in my opinion will become part of world literature, then I would have to say one of them is Hašek’s The Good Soldier Švejk.”.
A number of literary critics consider ''The Good Soldier Švejk'' to be one of the first anti-war novels, predating
Erich Maria Remarque's ''
All Quiet on the Western Front''.
Joseph Heller said that if he had not read ''The Good Soldier Švejk'', he would never have written his own anti-war satire ''
Catch-22''.
JP Stern quotes critic Macdinald Daly as saying of ''The Good Soldier Svejk'':
Sue Arnold, writing in ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', stated:
Broader cultural influence
The seeming idiocy and suspected subversion of Švejk has entered the Czech language in the form of words such as ''švejkovina'' ("švejking"), ''švejkovat'' ("to švejk"), ''švejkárna'' (situational and systemic absurdity), etc. The name has also entered the English dictionary, in the form of ''Schweik'', "A person likened to the character of Schweik, pictured as an unlucky and simple-minded but resourceful little man oppressed by higher authorities," and the derivative forms ''to Schweik'', ''Schweikism'', and ''Schweikist''.
In the British television documentary ''Hollywood'' (1979), a history of American silent films, director
Frank Capra
Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-American film director, producer, and screenwriter who was the creative force behind Frank Capra filmography#Films that won Academy Award ...
claimed the screen character of comedian
Harry Langdon
Henry Philmore "Harry" Langdon (June 15, 1884 – December 22, 1944) was an American actor and comedian who appeared in vaudeville, silent films (where he had his greatest fame), and talkies.Obituary ''Variety Obituaries, Variety'', December 27 ...
, which Capra helped to formulate, was partially inspired by ''The Good Soldier Švejk''.
At Prague's
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...
summit in 2002, a man dressed as the Good Soldier and using Svejk's typical crutches to support himself, appeared at an anti-alliance protest, shouting at the top of his voice: "To
Baghdad
Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
, Mrs Muller, to Baghdad...", showing just how deep the character is etched on the Czech psyche.
Adaptations and sequels
Švejk is the subject of films, plays, an opera, a musical, comic books, and statues, even the theme of restaurants in a number of European countries. The novel is also the subject of an unpublished operetta by
Peter Gammond. Švejk has many statues and monuments, for example, at
Humenné in
Slovakia
Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...
;
Przemyśl
Przemyśl () is a city in southeastern Poland with 56,466 inhabitants, as of December 2023. Data for territorial unit 1862000. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Subcarpathian Voivodeship. It was previously the capital of Prz ...
and
Sanok in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
;
St. Petersburg,
Omsk
Omsk (; , ) is the administrative center and largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Omsk Oblast, Russia. It is situated in southwestern Siberia and has a population of over one million. Omsk is the third List of cities and tow ...
, and
Bugulma in
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
and
Kyiv
Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...
,
Lviv
Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...
, and
Donetsk
Donetsk ( , ; ; ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin, and Stalino, is an industrial city in eastern Ukraine located on the Kalmius River in Donetsk Oblast, which is currently occupied by Russia as the capita ...
in
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
. In
Kraków
, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
, there is a plaque on a building where the author was imprisoned for 7 days for vagrancy by the Austrian authorities. There has been speculation that Hašek got the idea for Švejk at that time, based on one of his fellow prisoners in the jail. The first statue of Švejk in the Czech Republic was unveiled in August 2014, in the village of
Putim in South Bohemia.
Film
* 1931:
Martin Frič films
''The Last Bohemian'', a black-and-white comedy based on the novel, starring
Saša Rašilov as Švejk.
* 1943: ''
Schweik's New Adventures'', alternative title ''It Started at Midnight'', directed by Karel Lamac.
* 1955: The Czech animator
Jiří Trnka adapts the novel as the animated film
''The Good Soldier Schweik'', consisting of three episodes, with
Jan Werich starring as the narrator.
* 1956–57:
''The Good Soldier Schweik'' – The most famous film adaptation. Czech film director
Karel Steklý depicts the adventures of Švejk in two color films, starring
Rudolf Hrušínský as the title character. It was nominated for the 1957
Crystal Globe Awards.
* 1960: In West Germany the book was adapted to black-and-white film
''The Good Soldier Schweik'' starring
Heinz Rühmann
Heinrich Wilhelm "Heinz" Rühmann (; 7 March 1902 – 3 October 1994) was a German film actor who appeared in over 100 films between 1926 and 1993. He is one of the most famous and popular German actors of the 20th century, and is considered a Ge ...
.
* 1962: ''Velká cesta'' ("The Long Journey") is a Czechoslovak-Soviet black-and-white co-production film, made at
Mosfilm
Mosfilm (, ''Mosfil’m'' , initialism and portmanteau of Moscow Films) is a film studio in Moscow which is among the largest and oldest in the Russian Federation and in Europe. Founded in 1924 in the USSR as a production unit of that nation's fi ...
studios in Moscow, recounting parts of Hašek's life that inspired much of ''The Good Soldier Švejk''. It stars Josef Abraham as Jaroslav Hašek and is directed by Jurij Ozerov.
* 1986: Czechoslovak
puppetoon
''Puppetoons'' is a series of animated puppet films made in Europe (1930s) and in the United States (1940s) by George Pal. They were made using replacement animation: using a series of different hand-carved wooden puppets (or puppet heads or limbs) ...
version ''Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka'' (''The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Schweik)'' appears.
* 2009: , animated film, United Kingdom/Ukraine, written by Robert Crombie and directed by Rinat Gazizov and Manyk Depoyan.
* 2018:
''The Good Soldier Schwejk'', British film, made at
Sands Films, directed by
Christine Edzard.
TV
* 1965:
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
60 minute television adaptation ''The Good Soldier Schweik'' starring
Kenneth Colley,
John Collin and
Felix Felton.
* 1967–68: In Finland the book was adapted for television as a ten-part black-and-white series called (''Kunnon sotamies Svejkin seikkailuja''), starring Matti Varjo in the eponymous role.
* 1972: A 13-part Austrian TV series in color, (''Die Abenteuer des braven Soldaten Schwejk''), directed by
Wolfgang Liebeneiner, is made and broadcast by the
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
n state TV (
ORF). The title role is played by
Fritz Muliar.
Other
* 1927–1928: Piscatorbühne, Nollendorfplatz, Berlin. ''The Adventures of the Good Soldier Schwejk'' stage play adapted from Hašek's novel by
Max Brod,
Hans Reimann,
Erwin Piscator, , and
Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
, with sets by
George Grosz.
* 1935:
Arthur Koestler
Arthur Koestler (, ; ; ; 5 September 1905 – 1 March 1983) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian-born author and journalist. Koestler was born in Budapest, and was educated in Austria, apart from his early school years. In 1931, Koestler j ...
mentions in his autobiography that in 1935 he was commissioned by
Willy Münzenberg, the
Comintern
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internatio ...
propagandist, to write a novel called ''The Good Soldier Schweik Goes to War Again''. He adds that the project was cancelled by the Communist Party when half the book had been written due to what they termed the book's "pacifist errors". Writing in 1954, Koestler stated that "about a hundred pages of the manuscript survive, and are in parts quite funny, in a coarsely farcical manner". However, Koestler – by then a staunch anti-Communist – never tried to get it published.
* 1943:
Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
writes ''
Schweik in the Second World War'', a play which continues the adventures of Švejk into
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.
* 1958:
Robert Kurka's
''The Good Soldier Schweik'' premieres at the
New York City Opera
The New York City Opera (NYCO) is an American opera company located in Manhattan in New York City. The company has been active from 1943 through its 2013 bankruptcy, and again since 2016 when it was revived.
The opera company, dubbed "the peopl ...
.
* 1986:
RTÉ Radio 1 broadcasts ''
Švejk — An Dea-Shaighdiúir'', a six-part radio adaptation in
Irish by
Breandán Ó hEithir.
* 2002:
Sotha of the
Café de la Gare
The Café de la Gare () is a dinner theater located at 41, rue du Temple in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. It lies in a square hidden between Notre Dame de Paris and the historic Marais district.[BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...]
broadcasts a two-part radio adaptation starring
Sam Kelly.
* 2017–2018: "The Good Soldier Schwejk", a stage play, United Kingdom, written and direct by
Christine Edzard, produced by
Sands Films
Translations
''The Good Soldier Švejk'' is the most translated novel of Czech literature (58 languages in 2013). Excerpts from the first chapter, translated into German by
Max Brod as ''Der Brave Soldat Schwejk'', were published two days after Hašek's death in the Prague German language paper ''Prager Tagblatt'' on January 5, 1923. Following Max Brod's first steps toward a German translation, he introduced the book to
Grete Reiner, executive editor of the anti-fascist magazine ''Deutsche Volkszeitung''. Her translation of Švejk into German in 1926 was largely responsible for the speedy dissemination of Švejk's fame across Europe. It was one of the books burned by the
National Socialists in 1933. Her translation was said to be one of
Bertolt Brecht
Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...
's favourite books. Reiner was murdered in
Auschwitz on 9 March 1944. After the war, many other translations followed and Švejk became the most famous Czech book abroad.
English Translations
3 English-language translations of ''Švejk'' have been published:
* ''The Good Soldier Schweik'', tr.
Paul Selver, 1930 (Abridged and bowdlerised)
# ''The Good Soldier Švejk and His Fortunes in the World War'', tr.
Cecil Parrott, 1973; reprints: .
# ''The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk During the World War'', tr. Zdeněk "Zenny" K. Sadloň (and Book One collaborator Emmett Joyce), in three volumes: in 1997 Book One () and in 2009 Book Two () and Book Three & Four ().
## ''The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk During the World War, Book One,'' ''The Centennial Edition,'' tr. Zdeněk "Zenny" K. Sadloň, 2024;
IngramSpark:ISBN 979-8218487089
Amazon )
The first English translation, by Paul Selver, was heavily abridged, reducing the novel to about two thirds of its original length.
Selver's translation also
bowdlerized
An expurgation of a work, also known as a bowdlerization, is a form of censorship that involves purging anything deemed noxious or offensive from an artistic work or other type of writing or media.
The term ''bowdlerization'' is often used in th ...
the original text, omitting paragraphs and occasionally pages that may have seemed offensive; despite this he has been praised for preserving some of the tension in the work between Literary and Common Czech.
[Partridge in Classe (ed) (2000) ''Encyclopedia of Literary Translation into English: A–L'', Taylor & Francis, p. 682] Cecil Parrott, former British ambassador to Czechoslovakia, produced the first unabridged translation of the work. Parrott is a rather literal translator, sometimes unimaginatively so. This literalness and uncertain command of English slang registers sometimes leads Parrott into awkward-sounding English.
The translation by Sadloň (and Book One collaborator Joyce) is the latest, an American translation by a native Czech speaker.
See also
*
Czech literature
Czech literature can refer to literature written in Czech language, Czech, in the Czech Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia, earlier the Lands of the Bohemian Crown), or by Czech people.
Most literature in the Czech Republic is now written in C ...
*
Ivan Chonkin, a Soviet Švejk
* ''
No Time for Sergeants'', an American novel of related theme
* ''
Catch-22''
*
Mandel Karlsson
*
Kannoneer Jabůrek
References
Informational notes
Citations
External links
* Jomar Hønsi's exhaustive site dedicated t
Jaroslav Hašek and The Good Soldier Švejk* The first ever website dedicated to Švejk
Švejk CentraVirtuální muzeum Jaroslava Haška a Josefa Švejka (Czech)Osudy dobrého vojáka Svejka za svetové války (Full original text in Czech from the Oxford Text Archive)Tales from Jaroslav, a site publishing previously untranslated short stories by Jaroslav Hašek (English)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Good Soldier Svejk, The
1921 novels
1922 novels
1923 novels
20th-century Czech novels
Czech humour
Czech novels adapted into films
Novels adapted into television shows
Czech satirical novels
Unfinished novels
Novels set during World War I
Anti-war novels
Svejk
Military humor
Picaresque novels
Fictional Czech people
Bureaucracy in fiction
Male characters in literature
Comedy literature characters
Novels set in Prague
Archetypal fools
Works subject to expurgation