Jakub Deml: From Darkness to Light and to «the Most Tragic Czech Book»

The article is devoted to Jakub Deml (1878–1961), a virtually unknown Czech- and German-speaking prose writer, poet, and religious thinker, who was one of the founders of Czech Expressionism. Struggling with his national identity, Deml published little during his lifetime. However, starting from the 1990s, he became a cult figure in Czech literature, and his works sparked a wave of imitation. The article examines Deml's life and creative path, noting his entry into literature as a symbolist and follower of «Catholic modernism» under the influence of O. Březina, in the atmosphere of the spiritual crisis at the beginning of the 20th century. The article analyzes the themes and structure of Deml’s Expressionist «philosophical-poetic» novels The Fortress of Death (1912) and The Dance of Death (1914), as well as his most famous work, The Forgotten Light (1934), which R. Jakobson called «the most tragic Czech book». It reveals the drama of a poet and priest, wounded and lonely, who suffered a personal catastrophe and was «cursed by both the Czech and German people» after losing his faith in Christianity. An attempt to reconcile Deml's internal dualism is shown in the 1996 film adaptation of The Forgotten Light.