Abstrakt
The article challenges the widespread notion, repeated in much literary history, regarding the non-existence or irrelevance of Czech Futurism. It traces the reception of Marinetti's manifestoes through the pre-war and post-WWI context of Prague avant-garde, culminating in the Futurist leader's triumphant visit to the city in 1921.
It discusses the careers of S.K. Neumann, Otakar Theer, and Růžena Zátková, three important Futurist figures on the native avant-garde scene.
It analyses selected mid-20s works by two most prominent Devětsil members, Vítězslav Nezval and Jaroslav Seifert, and brings into relief their Futurist poetics. Critiquing, in conclusion, Karel Teige's anxiety of influence vis-a-vis the movement, the article shows that Futurism formed the very core of avant-garde theory and practice in 1910s and 1920s Bohemia.