"The devil made the railways and - there are no more carriage drivers" : Carriage drivers and their world in Czech literature of the late 19th century
Abstract
The paper attempts a semiotic analysis of the meaning-forming signs linked to the figures of the cariage driver in Czech prose of the late 19th century. Special attention is paid to the following issues: How is the social position of the carriage driver constructed in the fictional world of the analysed works (how is it defined in relation to the rural agrarian society, or to postilions and other users of the road infrastructure)? What motivations are associated with the professional travel of the carriage driver (carriage driving as a source of livelihood, capital accumulation, or self-satisfaction from the journey itself)? How is the gradual demise of carriage driving connoted (nostalgic reminiscence or the legitimate triumph of progress)?