Day of Czech returns to enthuse and educate about Czech language and literature
On May 27th, the ‘Day of Czech’ (Den češtiny) is serving up a multi-genre programme of linguistic events, designed to inform Czech speakers about their language and help them to look at it with new eyes. Aimed in the morning at school groups, and later on the general public, the Day of Czech is being held in Prague’s Kampus Hybernská, where Danny Bate met with one of the team behind the event, Dr. Ondřej Dufek.
Who are the organisers of the Day of Czech?
“The whole event is organised by the academic staff from the Faculty of Arts of Charles University, from the Institutes of Czech Language and of Czech Literature.”
Why do you feel that the Czech language needs its own day?
“I would say the Czech language doesn't need a day to preserve it or to protect it. My colleagues do this to show people that language is not only orthography, or right or wrong, and that literature is not just books and names of authors and their dates and years. Instead, language and literature are something fun, interesting, inspiring, which you or anyone can be part of by coming to the Faculty of Arts and studying them.”
How many Days of Czech have there been so far?
“This is the fourth year, but there was a COVID pause for a few years. But it's still going on, and is better, I would say.”
And is there something new happening this year?
“The programme is different from last year’s, but the basic set-up and setting is still the same. The morning is for schools. They can get to know what's new in research, and relevant for school education. And in the afternoon and the evening, every year, there's something new. This year, we have, for example, one wonderful philosopher of language, Tomáš Koblížek, who'll be talking about slurs and aggressive language. Then in the evening, there's a debate and also even a pub quiz about the phenomenon of ‘grammar Nazis’.”
Can you explain for us the concept of a grammar Nazi?
“A grammar Nazi can be described as someone who insists on obeying grammar rules, but uses incompetence and just small errors or faults of someone else to be aggressive. It’s something that is connected to language, but the ‘domain function’ is not linguistic. The language is, we could say, instrumentalised for some other means.”
Do you think that by organising the Day of Czech, you're pushing back gently against tendencies among Czechs to use language to berate and criticise other people?
“Yes, we would like to show that language is something more, and something different. You can take a look at any small part or aspect of language, and you can find there's something really interesting. It would be such a pity to think of language only as, ‘oh, I'm good at it, I'm good at writing all the words with all the right letters’. That's not the Czech language, really.”
Could you walk us through the programme for today? What can people expect?
“The programme runs from early morning. Until noon, it's dedicated to schools. There are three parallel workshops or sections, some focused on language and on Czech compared with other languages, others are focused on literature. There are really nice parts of the programme on queer stories, language and artificial intelligence, or a workshop on rap and poetry, and what a theory of literature can say about it. This the programme for schools.
“Then, in the afternoon, we have several talks, and also some other formats. Again, some are on literature, some on language. I already mentioned Tomáš Koblížek, who will be talking about slurs from the point of view of analytic philosophy. Then there's a live DidLit podcast recording, which will be a debate on what the point of literature theory is for contemporary teachers. I personally would really like to listen to that. The whole programme ends with a lecture about the grammar-Nazi phenomenon and a pub quiz related to that.”
And just to be clear, in the afternoon, anybody can come here, to Kampus Hybernská in the centre of the city?
“Exactly. If you are near Kampus Hybernská, or if you happen to find out that there's this Czech language day, just come here and take a look. It's free for everyone.”
Related
-
Word of the Week
Danny Bate, our resident linguist, offers a selection of everyday Czech words, to discuss their history and show how interconnected and familiar the Czech language can be.
