586 The Czech Manuscripts Hoax (with David Cooper) | My Last Book with Jesse Kavadlo

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

History, Books, Arts

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 25 January 2024

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1817 and 1818, the discovery of two sets of Czech manuscripts helped fuel the Czech National Revival, as promoters of Czech nationalism trumpeted these centuries-old works as foundational texts of a national mythology. There was only one problem: they were completely forged. In this episode, Jacke talks to David Cooper about his new book, The Czech Manuscripts: Forgery, Translation, and National Myth, which looks at why people were so eager to fall for this hoax - and what happened when the truth was learned. PLUS Jesse Kavadlo, President of the Don DeLillo Society and editor of Don DeLillo in Context, discusses his choice for the last book he will ever read. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at www.thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podgolomorate Network and LIT Hub Radio.
0:07.0	Hello, it was a fantastic discovery by a man devoted to discovering just such a work.
0:15.3	The year is 1817 and a man named Hanka is visiting his home region.
0:20.6	He's a check writer pushing his fellow checks to shake off the influence
0:25.1	of Germany and Germanic literature and to return to their check roots, including
0:30.9	writing in the Czech language.
0:33.0	And lo and behold, he finds in the vault of a church
0:36.7	a manuscript written in Old Czech,
0:39.4	with fragments of a literary poem dating back several centuries, infused with what he called a truly
0:46.6	homeric spirit.
0:48.6	Aha!
0:50.2	Here is a rock upon which a history of Czech literature, and indeed a people's sense of national identity, can be founded.
1:00.0	Only one question remained, was this manuscript real?
1:04.4	Was it forged?
1:05.7	And when others were found, the same question arose.
1:09.0	And the more popular and successful these manuscripts became, pointing the Czech people toward a new sense of pride and nationhood,
1:17.0	the louder those questions loomed.
1:20.0	What if these weren't real? What then?
1:24.0	We talked to author David Cooper, professor of Slavic languages and
1:27.8	literatures at the University of Illinois and Urbana Champane,
1:31.6	about the Czech manuscripts today on the history of literature.
1:37.0	Okay, here we go.
	...

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