“…NON AVEVA IL SESSO RICOPERTO DAL MUSCHIO” La raccolta collettanea Ani labuť ani Lůna (1936) e la critica sul Diario del 1835 di K. H. Mácha come manifesto estetico, etico e filosofico dei surrealisti cechi

The paper aims to investigate the Surrealist interpretations of the poet Karel Hynek Mácha (1810- 1836), proposed in the collective volume Ani labuť ani Lůna (Nor the Swan nor the Moon, 1936). Published with a clear polemical intention, it contains numerous criticisms of the official celebrations for the centenary of Mácha’s death: a mythologized image of the author, canonized as “the” Czech romantic poet par excellence, poet of love as well as patriot. The Surrealists propose, instead, a reflection on the body and the sexual sphere in Mácha based on his Diary of 1835 and on the parts encrypted by the author. In Ani labuť ani Lůna, the omission of these parts in the version published posthumously becomes a tool for criticizing bourgeois morality within the Czechoslovak society of the time, as well shows the State’s exploitation of the figure of Mácha. After presenting of the contents of the various essays in the publication, I will focus on the contributions of V. Nezval, Z. Kalandra, K. Teige and B. Brouk and on the “witness-to-the-truth” function that the Surrealists ascribe to the encrypted parts of the Diary.