Ivan Klima - no nostalgia for "Mythical Prague" of pre-1989
Rob Cameron's guest in this week's One on One is the writer Ivan Klima, one of the most important cultural figures in the Czech Republic. Ivan Klima was born in Prague in 1931, and during the war was sent to the Terezin concentration camp - his father was Jewish, although he himself was raised as a Protestant. He later became a successful author, but was labelled a dissident by the Communist authorities and his writings were banned.
"It's very difficult to answer questions which deal with half a century. I touch on it in all of my books. And now I've just finished a new short story whose title is 'My Crazy Century' which is a very brief answer to my experiences. In it I touch on all these crazy moments from my life. Always there are some very stupid persecutions, and so on."
The title is "My Crazy Century" - would you rather have lived in a more boring, less traumatic one?
"No, I'm quite satisfied with this crazy century. It was my century, my experience, and for a writer it is always useful if he has this kind of experience. A boring life is not a great inspiration for a writer."
What has this country gained, and what has it lost, in the transition from Communism to capitalism, and now to European Union accession?
"I don't think it has lost something. Maybe some people, mostly less capable people, have lost their feeling of security: it means entirely apolitical people, who didn't like to work too much, who were not very gifted, they were secure. The prices were stable, and so on and so on. Maybe for some people that's something of a loss. Sometimes when I see this invasion of so-called 'mass culture', mostly produced in Hollywood, it's much worse in comparison with the best period of Czech films. But what we've gained is many things. First, we have gained freedom. It's democracy - more or less, of course with some shadows which are, I hope, only caused by this new situation for many people and by much less experience in behaviour and democratic habits. Anyway we have a really free society, freedom of expression, no censorship, and so on, so that's probably in the first place. And that's also for me the main advantage of joining the EU - a union which is based on democratic laws."
You say you've gained freedom and democracy, but is there also a sense of losing a sense of Czech identity? Of the closeness that society felt before 1989?
"I always don't understand entirely the word 'identity', because what does it mean? I guess that what we meant by 'identity' is in some way connected to the past, even with nationalism, with the revival of Czech culture in the struggle with German culture. Of course globalisation goes against this kind of identity. If you walk through the centre of Prague, it's not clear where you are, because you hear ten various languages, you see only foreign shops, and there is nothing special."
Surely that's a bad thing? As you say, Prague now looks very much like any other European city.
"That's entirely true. But all the capitals of Europe have lost this kind of identity. Brussels, Prague, Vienna. They're all so similar - it's the influence of globalisation."
Are you nostalgic for the Prague of the past? The Prague of pre-1989? The crumbling, dark buildings in the Old Town, which have the now been done up and turned into luxury hotels and restaurants?
"Not at all. Because Prague was rather ramshackle in the Communist time, and this so-called 'mystical Prague' is more or less a dream about the past. I remember the old Prague when I was a boy. I don't remember any mystical Prague, but I do remember a lot of slums. Maybe fifteen minutes from our house the slums started, with very poor people, and very dirty streets. This also disappeared - and it's positive."
Czech writers and intellectuals such as yourself played a key role in the country's past and a key role in the events that led up to 1989 and the changes we've seen since. Do they continue to play an important role in modern Czech society?
"I don't think so. I don't they play a very important role. Some of us still contribute regularly to a daily newspaper or some commentary on TV, so that's a narrow field how a writer can even a little influence the audience. But the role played by literature in the past was really connected to the totalitarian system, because literature was oppressed, a free way of thinking was oppressed, so people estimated that they could find - mostly in so-called samizdat or forbidden writing - some free way of thinking. Now, without censorship, without the totalitarian system, people have access to all any kind of literature and they're not searching for any politics in literature. And that I guess is rather healthy for literature because this role was in some way rather unhealthy for literature."
European integration has many critics in the Czech Republic, among them President Vaclav Klaus, who says the country ceased to exist as an independent sovereign nation on May 1st. What do you think of such criticism?
"Well, he's the President so I shall be polite - I entirely disagree with his opinion."
