Novel
The Democrats
Demokrati
Janko Jesenský · 1934
Synopsis
In a small town of interwar Czechoslovakia, Dr Landík, a lawyer with political ambitions, dreams with the butcher Tolkoš of an "Egalitarian Society" that would unite the peoples of Slovakia. Tolkoš loves a maid, Anička, but dares not court her for fear of losing his standing; Landík takes up her cause and clashes with the local notables. Settled later in Bratislava, he goes through the manoeuvres of the parties, the quarrels over laws and the hunt for votes.
Context
Published in two volumes in the mid-thirties, the novel draws on what the author saw at the top of the new republic's administration; Landík bears autobiographical features. Its title is ironic: through a series of "cases" taken from political life, it satirizes bureaucracy and party quarrels, judged on moral grounds, from the point of view of a citizen. Critics see in it a slow and funny comedy of manners, attentive to class. It appeared in English in Prague in 1961 as The Democrats; it has not been translated into French.
Who it is for
For a smiling satire of parties and offices, in a still young Central European democracy.
Prizes and reception
Translated into English as early as 1961, it is still discussed for its portrayal of the laws and parties of the first republic.