The Good Soldier SvejkFor an asteroid, see 7896 Svejk.Forotheruses, seeTheGoodSoldierSvejk(disam-biguation).1he Good Soldier Sve]k (pronounced [']vrjk]), also spelledSchveik or SchveJk) is the abbreviated title of anunhnished satirical/dark comedy novel by Jaroslav Hasek.The original Czech title of the work is Osud, dobrho o-Jka SeJka za sto lk,, literally 1he FateJul Aden-tures oJ the Good Soldier SeJk During the World War. Itis the most translated novel of Czech literature.Svejk has become the Czech national personihcation.1 PublicationThe novel was originally illustrated by Josef Lada andmore recently also by Czech illustrator Petr Urban.[1]Hasek originally intended SeJk to cover a total of six vol-umes, but had completed only three (and started on thefourth) upon his death from heart failure on January 3,1923. Following Hasek`s death journalist Karel Vankwas asked by the publisher Adolf Synek to complete theunhnished novel. This continuation was released as SeJkin Russian Captiit, and Reolution ("Svejk v RuskmZa-jeti a Revoluci).[2]The volumes are:1. Behind the Lines (V zzemi, 1921)2. At the Front (Na Jront, 1922)3. 1he Glorious Licking (Slan prask, 1922)4. 1he Glorious Licking Continued (Pokraconislanho prasku, 1923; unhnished)2 ThemesThe novel is set during World War I in Austria-Hungary,a multi-ethnic empire full of long-standing tensions. Fif-teen million people died in the War, one million of themAustro-Hungariansoldiers of whomaround140,000were Czechs. Jaroslav Hasek participated in this connictand examined it in 1he Good Soldier SeJk.Many of the situations and characters seem to have beeninspired, at least in part, by Hasek`s service in the 91stLada's illustration oJ the rheumatic SeJk being vheeled o tovar.Infantry Regiment of the Austro-Hungarian Army. Thenovel also deals with broader anti-war themes: essentiallya series of absurdly comic episodes, it explores both thepointlessness and futility of connict in general and of mil-itary discipline, Austrian military discipline in particular.Many of its characters, especially the Czechs, are partic-ipating in a connict they do not understand on behalf ofan empire to which they have no loyalty.The character of Josef Svejk is a development of thistheme. Through (possibly feigned) idiocy or incompe-tence he repeatedly manages to frustrate military author-ity and expose its stupidity in a form of passive resis-tance: the reader is left unclear, however, as to whetherSvejk is genuinely incompetent, or acting quite deliber-ately with dumb insolence. These absurd events reach aclimax when Svejk, wearing a Russian uniform, is mis-takenly taken prisoner by his own troops.In addition to satirising Habsburg authority, Hasek re-peatedly sets out corruption and hypocrisy attributed topriests of the Catholic Church.3 Plot summaryThe story begins in Prague with news of the assassinationin Sarajevo that precipitates World War I.Svejk displays such enthusiasm about faithfully servingthe Austrian Emperor in battle that no one can decidewhether he is merely an imbecile or is craftily undermin-12 4 SELEC1ED CHARAC1ERSStatue oJ JoseJ SeJk in Sanok, Polanding the war enort. He is arrested by a member of thestate police, Bretschneider, after making some politicallysensitive remarks, and is sent to prison. After being certi-hed insane he is transferred to a madhouse, before beingejected.Statue oJ JoseJ SeJk in Przem,sl, PolandSvejk gets his charwoman to wheel him (he claims to besunering from rheumatism) to the recruitment omces inPrague, where his apparent zeal causes a minor sensa-tion. Unfortunately, he is transferred to a hospital formalingerers because of his rheumatism. He hnally joinsthe army as batman to army chaplain Otto Katz;Katzloses him at cards to Senior Lieutenant Luks, whose bat-man he then becomes. Luks is posted with his marchbattalion to barracks in Cesk Budjovice, in SouthernBohemia, preparatory to being sent to the front. Aftermissing all the trains to Budjovice, Svejk embarks ona long anabasis on foot around Southern Bohemia in avain attempt to hnd Budjovice, before being arrested asa possible spy and deserter (a charge he strenuously de-nies) and escorted to his regiment.The regiment is soon transferred to Bruck an der Lei-tha, a town on the border between Austria and Hungary.Here, where relations between the two nationalities aresomewhat sensitive, Svejk is again arrested, this time forcausing an anray involving a respectable Hungarian citi-zen and engaging in a street hght. He is also promoted tocompany orderly.The unit embarks on a long train journey towards Galiciaand the Eastern Front. Close to the front line, Svejk istaken prisoner by his own side as a suspected Russiandeserter, after arriving at a lake and trying on an aban-doned Russian uniform. Narrowly avoiding execution, hemanages to rejoin his unit. The unhnished novel breakson abruptly before Svejk has a chance to be involved inany combat or enter the trenches, though it appears Hasekmay have conceived that the characters would have con-tinued the war in a POW camp, much as he had done.The book includes numerous anecdotes told by Svejk onnearly any occasion (often either to denect the attentionsof an authority hgure, or to insult them in a concealedmanner) which are not directly related to the plot.4 Selected charactersThe characters of 1he Good Soldier SeJk are generallyeither used as the butt of Hasek`s absurdist humour orrepresent fairly broad social and ethnic stereotypes foundin the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time. People areoften distinguished by the dialect and register of Czech orGerman they speak, a quality that does not translate eas-ily. Many German- and Polish-speaking characters, forexample, are shown as speaking comedically broken orheavily accented Czech, while many Czechs speak bro-ken German; much use is also made of slang expressions.Some characters seem to have been partly based on realpeople serving with the Imperial and Royal 91st InfantryRegiment, in which Hasek served as a one-year volunteer.Josef Sve]kThe novel`s hero: in civilian life a dealer instolen dogs.PalivecThe foul-mouthed landlord of Svejk`s local pub- the 'U Kalicha ('By the Chalice) on Na Bojististreet, Prague. Despite refusal to discuss any politics3('it smells Pankrc") Palivec is eventually arrestedby Bretschneider (see below) after commenting thatnies shit on the portrait of Franz Joseph in the pub.BretschneiderAsecret policeman for the Austro-Hungarian government, whorepeatedly tries tocatch Svejk and others out on their anti-monarchistviews. He was eventually eaten by his own dogs, af-ter buying a succession of animals from Svejk in anattempt to incriminate him.Sta Warder SlavkA cruel and corrupt prison omcial(revealed to have himself ended up in prison underthe Republic of Czechoslovakia).Military chaplain Otto Katzwith a fondness fordrinking, especiallygoodcommunionwine, andgambling.Svejk seems fond of Katz, but the latterloses the services of Svejk to Lieutenant Luks in agame of cards.Oberleutnant LuksSvejk`s long-sunering companycommander. A Czech from South Bohemia, Luksis something of a womanizer but is depicted in abroadly sympathetic manner by Hasek (the recordsof the real-life 91st Regiment show an Oberleut-nant Rudolf Lukas (the same rank as the charac-ter) at the time of Hasek`s service; Hasek admiredLukas and even wrote him a number of poems).Lukas was Hasek`s company commander.[3] ThoughSvejk`s actions eventually lead to Luks being la-belled as a notorious philanderer in the Hungariannational press, he starts to miss Svejk after the latteris promoted to company orderly.Colonel Friedrich Kraus von Zillergut An idioticAustrianomcer witha penchant for givinghiscolleagues long-winded, moronic explanationsof everydayobjects (suchas thermometers andpostage stamps) and situations; run over by a cartwhile attempting to demonstrate what a pavementis. Kraus`s dog is stolen by Svejk as a gift to Luks;the enraged colonel subsequently arranges Luks'stransfer to the front.Captain SgnerOne of the regiment`s professional of-hcers and commander of Svejk`s march battalion;an ambitious careerist, he is later revealed to havebeen a closet Czech patriot in his youth. A CaptainVinzenz Sagner served in the 91st Regiment, wherehe was Hasek`s battalion commander.[3]Colonel SchrderThe bad-tempered colonel of Svejk`sregiment, and a caricature of the typical German-speaking senior omcers of the Austro-Hungarianarmy.Jura]daThe battalion`s spiritualist cook; before militaryservice he had edited an 'occultist journal. Spendstime attempting to avoid frontline service throughletters he is writing to his wife, in which he detailsmeals he is intending to cook for senior omcers.2nd Lieutenant DubDub is a Czech schoolmaster, of-hcer of the reserve, and commander of the bat-talion`s 3rd company: he has strongly monarchistviews. As a conservative, pro-Habsburg Czech, Dubis the subject of some of Hasek`s most vicious satire.Repeatedly placed in humiliating situations, such asbeing found drunk in a brothel or falling on a horse(in all Slavonic languages the word 'dub' ('oak') itselfis a common synonym for a dull, idiotic person). Heis said to have been based on a lieutenant of the re-serve, Mechlek, who served in Hasek`s regiment.[3]Quartermaster Sergeant-Ma]or VankAnotherrecurring character, Vank (a chemist from Kralupynad Vltavou in civilian life) is an example of aneasy-going but self-serving senior NCO, whosemain concern is to make his own existence as com-fortable as possible. A Jan Vank served in Hasek`sregiment, and has some traits in common with thehgure from the novel (domicile and occupation).[3]Volunteer MarekThe character of one-year volunteerMarek is to some degree a self-portrait by the au-thor, who was himself a one-year volunteer in the91st. For example, Marek - like Hasek - washred from the editorship of a natural history mag-azineafter writingarticlesabout imaginaryani-mals. Is appointed the battalion historian by Sgnerand occupies himself with devising memorable andheroic deaths in advance for his colleagues.VodickaA sapper friend of Svejk noted mainly for hisextreme hatred of Hungarians, which leads to an un-fortunate incident in Bruck an der Leitha.Cadet BieglerBiegler is a young junior omcer with pre-tensions to nobility, despite being the middle-classson of a furrier. Biegler takes his military dutiesso seriously he is ridiculed even by his senior of-hcers, and is mistakenly hospitalised as a 'carrierof cholera germs after medical stan misdiagnose(for army PR purposes) a cognac-induced hangover.Cadet Biegler also had a real-life model in the 91stregiment (Cadet Johann Biegler, later lieutenant).[3]Captain TayrleThe brigade adjutant and a particularlydisgusting example of a headquarters omcer, whoseinterests appear to lie mainly in crude jokes andsampling of local prostitutes.General Fink von FinkensteinAn aristocratic, viciousand near-insane senior Austrian omcer and com-mander of the garrison fort of Przemysl, Fink treatshis men with extreme brutality. Almost succeeds inhaving Svejk executed after the latter is taken pris-oner by his own side.Chaplain MartinecA chaplain plagued by drink-induced spiritual doubts, whose attempt to providespiritual consolation to Svejk ends in disaster.4 7 ADAP1A1IONS~Sergeant TevelesAmaninpossessionofasilverMilitary Merit Medal, purchased from a Bosnian,and claiming to be a Sergeant Teveles, who had pre-viously disappeared along with the entire 6 MarchCompany during hghting in Belgrade.BalounA miller from Cesk Krumlov in civilian life,and Svejk`s successor as Luks's batman, Baloun is aglutton and is regularly punished for stealing Luks'sfood. Will eat raw dough, sausage skins, etc., whennothing else is available.5 Literary signihcance and criti-cismA number of literary critics consider 1he Good SoldierSeJk to be one of the hrst anti-war novels, predatingRemarque's All Quiet on the Western Front. Joseph Hellersaid that if he had not read 1he Good Soldier SeJk, hewould never have written his novel Catch-22.[4][5]6 Broader cultural inuenceThe idiocy and subversion of Svejk has entered the Czechlanguage in the form of words such as seJkoina ("sve-jking), seJkoat ('to svejk), seJkrna (military ab-surdity), etc.[6] The name has also entered English, inthe form of Schveik, 'A person likened to the characterof Schweik, pictured as an unlucky and simple-mindedbut resourceful little man oppressed by higher authori-ties, and the derivative formstoSchveik, Schveikism,and Schveikist.[7]In the British television documentary Holl,vood (1979),a history of American silent hlms, director Frank Capraclaimed the screen character of comedian Harry Lang-don, which Capra helped to formulate, was partially in-spired by 1he Good Soldier SeJk.7 AdaptationsSvejk is the subject of hlms, plays, an opera, a musical,comic books, and statues, even the theme of restaurants ina number of European countries. Svejk have statues andmonuments for example in Humenn, Slovakia, Przemysland Sanok in Poland, in Russian Saint Petersburg, Omskand Bugulma and in Ukraine Kiev, Lviv and Donetsk.[8]The hrst statue of Svejk in the Czech Republic was un-veiled in August 2014, in the village of Putim in SouthBohemia.[9]1935: Arthur Koestler mentions in his autobiog-raphy that in 1935 he was commissioned by WillyMnzenberg, the Comintern propagandist, to writePortrait oJ SeJk in one oJ Pragues pubs.a novel called 1he Good Soldier Schveik Goes to WarAgain. He adds that the project was cancelled bythe Communist Party when half the book had beenwritten due to what they termed the book`s 'pacihsterrors.[10]1943: Bertolt Brecht writes Schveik in the SecondWorld War, a play which continues the adventuresof Svejk into World War II.1957: Robert Kurka writes an opera based on thenovel.1965: BBC 60 minute television adaptation1heGood Soldier Schveik starring Kenneth Colley, JohnCollin and Felix Felton.2002: Sotha of the Caf de la Gare writes a play,Le Brae Soldat Chk s'en a au Ciel (1he GoodSoldier Schveik goes to Heaen), based on novel.[11]2008: BBC Radio 4 broadcasts a two-part radioadaptation starring Sam Kelly.[12]7.1 Film1931: Martin Fric hlms a black-and-white comedybased on the novel, starring Sasa Rasilov as Svejk.1955: The Czech animator Jiri Trnka adapts thenovel as the animated hlm1he Good Soldier Schveik(1955 Jlm), consisting of three episodes, with JanWerich starring as the narrator.1956 and 1957: 1he Good Soldier Schveik (1956Jlm) - The most famous hlm adaptation.[13] Czechhlm director Karel Stekl depicts the adventures ofSvejk in two color hlms, starring Rudolf Hrusinskas the title character. It was nominated for the 1957Crystal Globe Awards.51960: InWest Germanythebookwasadaptedto black-and-white hlm 1he Good Soldier Schveik(1960 Jlm) starring Heinz Rhmann.[14]1967-8:In Finland the book was adapted for tele-vision as a ten-part series calledKunnonsotamiesSeJkin seikkailuJa (1he Adentures oJ the Good Sol-dier SeJk), starring Matti Varjo in the eponymousrole.[15]1972: A 13-part TV series in German, Die Aben-teuer des braen Soldaten SchveJk (1he AdenturesoJ the Good Soldier SchveJk), directed by WolfgangLiebeneiner, is made and broadcast by the Austrianstate TV(ORF). The title role is played by Fritz Mu-liar.1986: Czechoslovak puppetoon version Osud, do-brho oJka SeJka (1he FateJul Adentures oJ theGood Soldier Schveik) appears.[16]2009: 1heGoodSoldier Shveik, animatedhlm,United Kingdom/Ukraine, directed by RobertCrombie.8 TranslationsIt is the most translated novel of Czech literature (58 lan-guages in 2013).[17] Three major English-language trans-lations of SeJk have been published:1he Good Soldier Schveik, tr. Paul Selver, 1930.1he GoodSoldier SeJkandHis Fortunes intheWorld War, tr. Cecil Parrott, 1973; reprints: ISBN0-14-018274-8 & ISBN 978-0-14-044991-4.1heFateJul AdenturesoJtheGoodSoldierSeJkDuringthe WorldWar, tr. ZdenkSadlonandEmmit Joyce, in three volumes, 1997; ISBN1585004286, ISBN 9781585004287.[18]9 See alsoCzech literatureIvan Chonkin, a Soviet SvejkMandel KarlssonKannoneer Jaburek10 References[1] Jares, Michal; Toms Prokupek (2010). 'Translated Title:The Good Soldier Svejk and His Fortunes in the WorldWar and Comics. Czech Literature (5): 607-625.[2] 1[3] Parrott, C. 'Introduction to 1he Good Soldier SeJk, Pen-guin, 1974, p.xi[4] 'Apersonal testimony by Arnost Lustig. Retrieved 2008-06-04.[5] Lustig, Arnost (2003). 3x18(portrt,apostreh,) (inCzech). Nakladatelstvi Andrej Stastn. p. 271. ISBN80-903116-8-7.[6] Cervinkov, Hana (2004). 'Time to Waste. 1he JournaloJ Pover Institutions In Post-Soiet Societies 1.Retrieved2008-06-04.[7] Schveik. Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed.). OxfordUniversity Press. September 2005.[8] Svejkovy stopy[9] Willoughby, Ian (23 August 2014). 'Czech Republic gets'hrst Svejk statue"". Radio Prague. Retrieved 16 Novem-ber 2014.[10] Koestler, Arthur (1954). 1he Inisible Writing.An Auto-biograph,. New York: Harper. p. 283.[11] 30th Anniversary of Caf de la Gare, L'Express, August15, 2002, (in French)[12] BBC Radio 4 The Good Soldier Svejk, episode 1 and TheGood Soldier Svejk, episode 2[13] Progetto Repubblica Ceca. Svejk in hlm and theatre,when satire becomes tradition.[14] Svejk Central, hlm versions[15][16] 'Osudy dobrho vojka Svejka (1986)". Internet MovieDatabase. Retrieved 2008-06-19.[17] Hasek je na roztrhni, m vlastni pomnik z osmi kusu[18] The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Svejk Duringthe World War11 External linksVirtulni muzeum Jaroslava Haska a Josefa Svejka(Czech)The Good Soldier Svejk (English/Norwegian)Svejk |shvke CentralSoldier Schweik - Bronze miniatureSvejk Central: Film versionsThe cover of the original Czech editionShort essay by John H. LienhardIllustrations to Svejk6 12 1EX1 AND IMAGE SOURCES, CON1RIBU1ORS, AND LICENSES12 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses12.1 Text The Good Soldier Sve]kSource. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Good_Soldier_%C5%A0vejk?oldid=670892668 Contributors.Derek Ross, Gsl, KF, Infrogmation, Gabbe, Ihcoyc, Goblin, Ineuw, Dcoetzee, Lfh, Zoicon5, Silvonen, LMB, Merkwurdigliebe, Qertis,AlainV, Sanders muc, Altenmann, Halibutt, Michael Snow, Guy Peters, GreatWhiteNortherner, Adam78, Curps, Foobar, Chameleon,SarekOfVulcan, Piotrus, Girolamo Savonarola, Balcer, Karl-Henner, MasterSlowPoke, Rgrg, Zisky, EagleOne, Perl guy, MeltBanana,Pavel Vozenilek, Violetriga, Kwamikagami, Kross, Man vyi, Hesperian, Fwb22, Miranche, CyberSkull, Andrew Gray, Trotboy, Kusma,Woohookitty, Wnjr, Carcharoth, GregorB, Mandarax, Obersachse, Bensin, FlaBot, MacRusgail, Volunteer Marek, Dainfomaster, Ea-monnPKeane, YurikBot, JarrahTree, Chris Capoccia, Meteor2017, Barkeep49, Bjf, Szalas, Salmanazar, Wikibert~enwiki, Dobieg, Maisoui!, Tsiaojian lee, Curpsbot-unicodify, GrinBot~enwiki, SmackBot, Herostratus, Kevinalewis, SaltyWater, Sadads, Can't sleep, clownwill eat me, Zone46, Escottf, Jan.Kamenicek, Petr Kopac, John, Colonel Warden, Heqs, CmdrObot, Joegoodfriend, John M Baker,Cydebot, Buistr, Thijs!bot, Nathraq, Chubbles, Yomangani, KP Botany, Glotter, JAnDbot, Denective, Dsp13, Dead-or-Red, JaGa,Cloudz679, Jim.henderson, NatureBoyMD, Robertgreer, 2Q, Goku122, GrahamHardy, Idioma-bot, VolkovBot, PNG crusade bot, Hob-bit13, Billinghurst, DarthBotto, SieBot, Jack1956, KathrynLybarger, ImageRemovalBot, WikiSkeptic, ShinePhantom, Wikivortex, Flight-sonancy, Sun Creator, Victorianist, Svejk74, Kikos, Editor2020, BodhisattvaBot, Sergey Hristov, Tkech, Addbot, Laurinavicius, LeszekJanczuk, Cantabrigidian, Favonian, Ehrenkater, F Notebook, Zorrobot, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Vltava 68, AnomieBOT, Ulric1313, Aquila89,Estlandia~enwiki, Voletyvole, Omnipaedista, RibotBOT, El Kael, Foobarnix, Jirka.h23, Lotje, Jfmantis, TjBot, QuipQuotch, EmausBot,John of Reading, Wingman4l7, CocuBot, Paradox199, Lemuellio, Helpful Pixie Bot, NeuP, AvocatoBot, WikiHannibal, Electricmumn11,Stuart Victor, Makecat-bot, Jomar Hnsi, AfadsBad, Neretin, Monkbot and Anonymous: 11112.2 Images File:Book_collection.]pg Source.https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Book_collection.jpg License.CC BY-SA 3.0Contributors. ? Original artist. ? File:Commons-logo.svg Source. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License. ? Contributors. ? Originalartist. ? File:Dobry_wo]ak_Szwe]k_-_Przemysl2.]pg Source.https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Dobry_wojak_Szwejk_-_Przemysl2.jpg License. GFDL Contributors. Own work Original artist. Goku122 File:Sve]k.]pg Source. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Svejk.jpg License. GFDL Contributors. de.wikipedia [1](5. Jan 2006 (10:56), original upload by Silar Original artist. Marek Silarski File:Sve]k_04.png Source. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1b/Svejk_04.png License. Fair use Contributors.Transwikied from Commons, where it was mislabeled as PD and subsequently deleted; the only known source is fr:, but it is probably a scanfrom the book. Original artist. ? File:Sve]k_hospoda.]pgSource. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Svejk_hospoda.jpgLicense. CC BY-SA 4.0Contributors. Self-photographed Original artist. Jirka.h23 File:Wikiquote-logo.svgSource. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svgLicense. Public domainContributors. ? Original artist. ? File:Wikisource-logo.svg Source. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg License. CC BY-SA 3.0Contributors. Rei-artur Original artist. Nicholas Moreau12.3 Content license Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0