The Good Soldier Švejk
Encyclopedia
The Good Soldier Švejk also spelled Schweik or Schwejk, is the abbreviated title of a unfinished
satirical/dark comedy novel by Jaroslav Hašek
. It was illustrated by Josef Lada
and George Grosz
after Hašek's death. The original Czech
title of the work is Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka za světové války, literally The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk During the World War. He has become the Czech national personification
.
Hašek originally intended Švejk to cover a total of six volumes, but had completed only four (which are now usually merged into one book) upon his death from tuberculosis
in 1923.
The novel is set during World War I
in Austria-Hungary
, a multi-ethnic empire full of long-standing tensions. Fifteen million people died in the War, one million of them Austro-Hungarian soldiers of whom around 140,000 were Czechs. Jaroslav Hašek participated in this conflict and examined it in The Good Soldier Švejk.
Many of the situations and characters seem to have been inspired, at least in part, by Hašek's service in the 91st Infantry Regiment of the Austro-Hungarian Army
. However, the novel also deals with broader anti-war themes: essentially a series of absurdly comic episodes, it explores both the pointlessness and futility of conflict in general and of military discipline, specifically Austrian military discipline, in particular. Many of its characters, especially the Czechs, are participating in a conflict they do not understand on behalf of a country to which they have no loyalty.
The character of Josef Švejk is a development of this theme. Through possibly-feigned idiocy or incompetence he repeatedly manages to frustrate military authority and expose its stupidity in a form of passive resistance: the reader is left unclear, however, as to whether Švejk is genuinely incompetent, or acting quite deliberately with dumb insolence
. These absurd events reach a climax when Švejk, wearing a Russian uniform, is mistakenly taken prisoner by his own troops.
In addition to satirising Habsburg
authority, Hašek repeatedly sets out corruption and hypocrisy attributed to priests of the Catholic Church.
.
Švejk displays such enthusiasm about faithfully serving the Austrian Emperor in battle that no one can decide whether he is merely an imbecile or is craftily undermining the war effort. However, he is arrested by a member of the secret police, Bretschneider, after making some politically sensitive remarks, and is sent to prison. After being certified insane he is transferred to a madhouse, before being ejected.
Švejk gets his charwoman to wheel him (he claims to be suffering from rheumatism
) to the recruitment offices in Prague, where his apparent zeal causes a minor sensation. Unfortunately, he is transferred to a hospital for malingerers because of his rheumatism. He finally joins the army as batman to army chaplain
Otto Katz; Katz loses him at cards to Lieutenant Lukáš, whose batman he then becomes. Lukáš is posted with his march battalion to barracks in České Budějovice
, in Southern Bohemia, preparatory to being sent to the front. After missing the train to Budějovice, Švejk embarks on a long anabasis on foot around Southern Bohemia in a vain attempt to find Budějovice, before being arrested as a possible spy and deserter (a charge he strenuously denies) and escorted to his regiment. He is then promoted to company orderly.
The unit embarks on a long train journey towards Galicia
and the Eastern Front
. Stopping in a town on the border between Austria and Hungary, in which relations between the two nationalities are somewhat sensitive, Švejk is again arrested, this time for causing an affray involving a respectable Hungarian citizen and engaging in a street fight. After a further long journey and close to the front line, Švejk is taken prisoner by his own side as a suspected Russian deserter, after arriving at a lake and trying on an abandoned Russian uniform. Narrowly avoiding execution, he manages to rejoin his unit. The unfinished novel breaks off abruptly before Švejk has a chance to be involved in any combat or enter the trenches, though it appears Hašek may have conceived that the characters would have continued the war in a POW camp, much as he had done.
The book also includes a very large number of anecdotes told by Švejk (usually either to deflect the attentions of an authority figure, or to insult them in a concealed manner) which are not directly related to the plot.
of Czech or German they speak, a quality that does not translate easily. Many German- and Polish-speaking characters, for example, are shown as speaking comedically broken or heavily accented Czech, while many Czechs speak broken German; much use is also made of slang
y expressions.
Some characters seem to have been partly based on real people serving with the Imperial and Royal 91st Infantry Regiment, in which Hašek served as a one-year volunteer.
Josef Švejk: The novel's hero: in civilian life a dealer in stolen dogs.
Palivec: The foul-mouthed landlord of Švejk's local pub - the "U Kalicha" on Na Bojišti street, Prague. Palivec is eventually arrested by Bretschneider (see below) after commenting that flies shit on the pub's portrait of Franz Joseph I of Austria
.
Bretschneider: A secret policeman for the Austro-Hungarian government, who repeatedly tries to catch Švejk and others out on their anti-monarchist views. Is eventually eaten by his own dogs, after buying a succession of animals from Švejk in an attempt to incriminate him.
Staff Warder Slavík: A cruel and corrupt prison official (revealed to have himself ended up in prison under the Republic of Czechoslovakia).
Chaplain Otto Katz: Katz is an army chaplain with a fondness for drinking, especially good communion wine, and gambling. A convert to Catholicism
, many aspects of Katz's character are something of an anti-semitic caricature. Švejk seems fond of Katz, but the latter loses the services of Švejk to Lieutenant Lukáš in a game of cards.
Lieutenant Lukáš: Švejk's long-suffering company
commander. A Czech from South Bohemia, Lukáš is something of a womanizer but is depicted in a broadly sympathetic manner by Hašek (the records of the real-life 91st Regiment show an Oberleutnant
Rudolf Lukáš (the same rank as the character) at the time of Hašek's service; Hašek admired Lukáš and even wrote him a number of poems). Though Švejk's actions eventually lead to Lukáš being labelled as a notorious philanderer in the Hungarian national press, he starts to miss Švejk after the latter is promoted to company orderly.
Colonel Friedrich Kraus von Zillergut: An idiotic Austrian officer with a penchant for giving his colleagues long-winded, moronic explanations of everyday objects (such as thermometers and postage stamps) and situations; run over by a cart while attempting to demonstrate what a pavement
is. Kraus's dog is stolen by Švejk as a gift to Lukáš; the enraged colonel subsequently arranges Lukáš's transfer to the front.
Captain Sagner: One of the regiment's professional officers and commander of Švejk's march battalion
; an ambitious careerist, he is later revealed to have been a closet Czech patriot in his youth. A Captain Sagner appears to have served in the 91st Regiment, where he was Hašek's battalion commander.
Colonel Schröder: The bad-tempered colonel
of Švejk's regiment, and a caricature of the typical German-speaking senior officers of the Austro-Hungarian army.
Jurajda: The battalion's spiritualist cook; before military service he had edited an "occultist" journal. Spends time attempting to avoid frontline service through letters he is writing to his wife, in which he details meals he is intending to cook for senior officers.
2nd Lieutenant Dub: Dub is a Czech schoolmaster, officer of the reserve, and commander of the battalion's 3rd company: he has strongly monarchist views. As a conservative, pro-Habsburg
Czech, Dub is the subject of some of Hašek's most vicious satire. Repeatedly placed in humiliating situations, such as being found drunk in a brothel
or falling off a horse (in all Slavonic
languages the word 'dub' ('oak') itself is a common synonym for a dull, idiotic person). Is said to have been based on a lieutenant of the reserve, Mechalek, who served in Hašek's regiment.
Quartermaster Sergeant-Major Vaněk: Another recurring character, Vaněk (a chemist from Kralupy nad Vltavou
in civilian life) is an example of an easy-going but self-serving senior NCO
, whose main concern is to make his own existence as comfortable as possible.
Volunteer Marek: The character of one-year volunteer Marek is to some degree a self-portrait by the author, who was himself a one-year volunteer in the 91st. For example, Marek — like Hašek — was fired from the editorship of a natural history magazine after writing articles about imaginary animals. Is appointed the battalion historian by Sagner and occupies himself with devising memorable and heroic deaths in advance for his colleagues.
Vodička: A sapper
friend of Švejk noted mainly for his extreme hatred of Hungarians, which leads to an unfortunate incident in Bruck an der Leitha
.
Cadet Biegler: Biegler is a young junior officer with pretensions to nobility, despite being the middle-class son of a furrier. Biegler takes his military duties so seriously he is ridiculed even by his senior officers, and is mistakenly hospitalised as a "carrier of cholera
germs" after medical staff misdiagnose (for army PR purposes) a cognac
-induced hangover
.
Captain Tayrle: The brigade adjutant
and a particularly disgusting example of a headquarters officer, whose interests appear to lie mainly in crude jokes and sampling of local prostitutes.
General Fink von Finkenstein: An aristocratic, vicious and near-insane senior Austrian officer and commander of the garrison fort of Przemyśl
, Fink treats his men with extreme brutality. Almost succeeds in having Švejk executed after the latter is taken prisoner by his own side.
Chaplain Martinec: A chaplain plagued by drink-induced spiritual doubts, whose attempt to provide spiritual consolation to Švejk ends in disaster.
"Sergeant Teveles": A man in possession of a silver Military Merit Medal, purchased from a Bosnian
, and claiming to be a Sergeant Teveles, who had previously disappeared along with the entire 6 March Company during fighting in Belgrade
.
Baloun: A miller
from Český Krumlov
in civilian life, and Švejk's successor as Lukáš's batman, Baloun is a glutton and is regularly punished for stealing Lukáš's food. Will eat raw dough, sausage skins, etc., when nothing else is available.
's All Quiet on the Western Front
. Furthermore, Joseph Heller
said that if he had not read The Good Soldier Švejk, he would never have written his novel Catch-22
.
Peter Sellers in his movie A Shot in the Dark
, uses two comic extracts from Švejk. From the overbearing general, "You know what a road is? - simplistic overstatement, and poor Lieutenant Lukáš in despair to Švejk, "I should have shot you — who would have said anything ? who ?", (this was put to Clouseau by Captain Dreyfuss in the movie).
Švejk is the subject of films, plays, an opera, a musical, comic books, and statues—even the theme of restaurants in a number of European countries.
The first translation does not give a full impression of Hašek's original. Whole passages are missing (such as the famous imaginary-animals passage on the Animal World Magazine, and the whole of Volume 4 after Švejk's capture as a Russian), various passages are bowdlerised, and the style is somewhat stifling and unimaginative, contrary to the language used by Hašek.
There is also an orchestral suite and an opera, both for wind ensemble, written by Robert Kurka, as well as a stage adaptation, Svejk, by Colin Teevan.
Unfinished work
An unfinished work is creative work that has not been finished. Its creator may have chosen never to finish it or may have been prevented from doing so by circumstances outside of their control such as death. Such pieces are often the subject of speculation as to what the finished piece would have...
satirical/dark comedy novel by Jaroslav Hašek
Jaroslav Hašek
Jaroslav Hašek was a Czech humorist, satirist, writer and socialist anarchist best known for his novel The Good Soldier Švejk, an unfinished collection of farcical incidents about a soldier in World War I and a satire on the ineptitude of authority figures, which has been translated into sixty...
. It was illustrated by Josef Lada
Josef Lada
Josef Lada was a Czech painter and writer.He is best known as the illustrator of Jaroslav Hašek's World War One novel The Good Soldier Švejk...
and George Grosz
George Grosz
Georg Ehrenfried Groß was a German artist known especially for his savagely caricatural drawings of Berlin life in the 1920s...
after Hašek's death. The original Czech
Czech language
Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
title of the work is Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka za světové války, literally The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk During the World War. He has become the Czech national personification
National personification
A national personification is an anthropomorphization of a nation or its people; it can appear in both editorial cartoons and propaganda.Some early personifications in the Western world tended to be national manifestations of the majestic wisdom and war goddess Minerva/Athena, and often took the...
.
Hašek originally intended Švejk to cover a total of six volumes, but had completed only four (which are now usually merged into one book) upon his death from tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
in 1923.
Themes
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, a multi-ethnic empire full of long-standing tensions. Fifteen million people died in the War, one million of them Austro-Hungarian soldiers of whom around 140,000 were Czechs. Jaroslav Hašek participated in this conflict and examined it in The Good Soldier Švejk.
Many of the situations and characters seem to have been inspired, at least in part, by Hašek's service in the 91st Infantry Regiment of the Austro-Hungarian Army
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...
. However, the novel also deals with broader anti-war themes: essentially a series of absurdly comic episodes, it explores both the pointlessness and futility of conflict in general and of military discipline, specifically Austrian military discipline, in particular. Many of its characters, especially the Czechs, are participating in a conflict they do not understand on behalf of a country to which they have no loyalty.
The character of Josef Švejk is a development of this theme. Through possibly-feigned idiocy or incompetence he repeatedly manages to frustrate military authority and expose its stupidity in a form of passive resistance: the reader is left unclear, however, as to whether Švejk is genuinely incompetent, or acting quite deliberately with dumb insolence
Dumb insolence
Dumb insolence is an offence against military discipline in which a subordinate displays an attitude of defiance towards a superior without open disagreement. It is also found in settings such as education in which obedience and deference to a teacher is expected but may be refused by unruly...
. These absurd events reach a climax when Švejk, wearing a Russian uniform, is mistakenly taken prisoner by his own troops.
In addition to satirising Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
authority, Hašek repeatedly sets out corruption and hypocrisy attributed to priests of the Catholic Church.
Plot summary
The story begins in Prague with news of the assassination in Sarajevo that precipitates World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Švejk displays such enthusiasm about faithfully serving the Austrian Emperor in battle that no one can decide whether he is merely an imbecile or is craftily undermining the war effort. However, he is arrested by a member of the secret police, Bretschneider, after making some politically sensitive remarks, and is sent to prison. After being certified insane he is transferred to a madhouse, before being ejected.
Švejk gets his charwoman to wheel him (he claims to be suffering from rheumatism
Rheumatism
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorder is a non-specific term for medical problems affecting the joints and connective tissue. The study of, and therapeutic interventions in, such disorders is called rheumatology.-Terminology:...
) to the recruitment offices in Prague, where his apparent zeal causes a minor sensation. Unfortunately, he is transferred to a hospital for malingerers because of his rheumatism. He finally joins the army as batman to army chaplain
Chaplain
Traditionally, a chaplain is a minister in a specialized setting such as a priest, pastor, rabbi, or imam or lay representative of a religion attached to a secular institution such as a hospital, prison, military unit, police department, university, or private chapel...
Otto Katz; Katz loses him at cards to Lieutenant Lukáš, whose batman he then becomes. Lukáš is posted with his march battalion to barracks in České Budějovice
Ceské Budejovice
České Budějovice is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the largest city in the South Bohemian Region and is the political and commercial capital of the region and centre of the Roman Catholic Diocese of České Budějovice and of the University of South Bohemia and the Academy of Sciences...
, in Southern Bohemia, preparatory to being sent to the front. After missing the train to Budějovice, Švejk embarks on a long anabasis on foot around Southern Bohemia in a vain attempt to find Budějovice, before being arrested as a possible spy and deserter (a charge he strenuously denies) and escorted to his regiment. He is then promoted to company orderly.
The unit embarks on a long train journey towards Galicia
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria was a crownland of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire, and Austria–Hungary from 1772 to 1918 .This historical region in eastern Central Europe is currently divided between Poland and Ukraine...
and the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War I)
The Eastern Front was a theatre of war during World War I in Central and, primarily, Eastern Europe. The term is in contrast to the Western Front. Despite the geographical separation, the events in the two theatres strongly influenced each other...
. Stopping in a town on the border between Austria and Hungary, in which relations between the two nationalities are somewhat sensitive, Švejk is again arrested, this time for causing an affray involving a respectable Hungarian citizen and engaging in a street fight. After a further long journey and close to the front line, Švejk is taken prisoner by his own side as a suspected Russian deserter, after arriving at a lake and trying on an abandoned Russian uniform. Narrowly avoiding execution, he manages to rejoin his unit. The unfinished novel breaks off abruptly before Švejk has a chance to be involved in any combat or enter the trenches, though it appears Hašek may have conceived that the characters would have continued the war in a POW camp, much as he had done.
The book also includes a very large number of anecdotes told by Švejk (usually either to deflect the attentions of an authority figure, or to insult them in a concealed manner) which are not directly related to the plot.
Selected characters
The characters of The Good Soldier Švejk generally either are used as the butt of Hašek's absurdist humour or represent fairly broad social and ethnic stereotypes found in the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time. People are often distinguished by the dialect and registerRegister (sociolinguistics)
In linguistics, a register is a variety of a language used for a particular purpose or in a particular social setting. For example, when speaking in a formal setting an English speaker may be more likely to adhere more closely to prescribed grammar, pronounce words ending in -ing with a velar nasal...
of Czech or German they speak, a quality that does not translate easily. Many German- and Polish-speaking characters, for example, are shown as speaking comedically broken or heavily accented Czech, while many Czechs speak broken German; much use is also made of slang
Slang
Slang is the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speaker's language or dialect but are considered more acceptable when used socially. Slang is often to be found in areas of the lexicon that refer to things considered taboo...
y expressions.
Some characters seem to have been partly based on real people serving with the Imperial and Royal 91st Infantry Regiment, in which Hašek served as a one-year volunteer.
Josef Švejk: The novel's hero: in civilian life a dealer in stolen dogs.
Palivec: The foul-mouthed landlord of Švejk's local pub - the "U Kalicha" on Na Bojišti street, Prague. Palivec is eventually arrested by Bretschneider (see below) after commenting that flies shit on the pub's portrait of Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...
.
Bretschneider: A secret policeman for the Austro-Hungarian government, who repeatedly tries to catch Švejk and others out on their anti-monarchist views. Is eventually eaten by his own dogs, after buying a succession of animals from Švejk in an attempt to incriminate him.
Staff Warder Slavík: A cruel and corrupt prison official (revealed to have himself ended up in prison under the Republic of Czechoslovakia).
Chaplain Otto Katz: Katz is an army chaplain with a fondness for drinking, especially good communion wine, and gambling. A convert to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
, many aspects of Katz's character are something of an anti-semitic caricature. Švejk seems fond of Katz, but the latter loses the services of Švejk to Lieutenant Lukáš in a game of cards.
Lieutenant Lukáš: Švejk's long-suffering company
Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...
commander. A Czech from South Bohemia, Lukáš is something of a womanizer but is depicted in a broadly sympathetic manner by Hašek (the records of the real-life 91st Regiment show an Oberleutnant
Oberleutnant
Oberleutnant is a junior officer rank in the militaries of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. In the German Army, it dates from the early 19th century. Translated as "Senior Lieutenant", the rank is typically bestowed upon commissioned officers after five to six years of active duty...
Rudolf Lukáš (the same rank as the character) at the time of Hašek's service; Hašek admired Lukáš and even wrote him a number of poems). Though Švejk's actions eventually lead to Lukáš being labelled as a notorious philanderer in the Hungarian national press, he starts to miss Švejk after the latter is promoted to company orderly.
Colonel Friedrich Kraus von Zillergut: An idiotic Austrian officer with a penchant for giving his colleagues long-winded, moronic explanations of everyday objects (such as thermometers and postage stamps) and situations; run over by a cart while attempting to demonstrate what a pavement
Sidewalk
A sidewalk, or pavement, footpath, footway, and sometimes platform, is a path along the side of a road. A sidewalk may accommodate moderate changes in grade and is normally separated from the vehicular section by a curb...
is. Kraus's dog is stolen by Švejk as a gift to Lukáš; the enraged colonel subsequently arranges Lukáš's transfer to the front.
Captain Sagner: One of the regiment's professional officers and commander of Švejk's march battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
; an ambitious careerist, he is later revealed to have been a closet Czech patriot in his youth. A Captain Sagner appears to have served in the 91st Regiment, where he was Hašek's battalion commander.
Colonel Schröder: The bad-tempered colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
of Švejk's regiment, and a caricature of the typical German-speaking senior officers of the Austro-Hungarian army.
Jurajda: The battalion's spiritualist cook; before military service he had edited an "occultist" journal. Spends time attempting to avoid frontline service through letters he is writing to his wife, in which he details meals he is intending to cook for senior officers.
2nd Lieutenant Dub: Dub is a Czech schoolmaster, officer of the reserve, and commander of the battalion's 3rd company: he has strongly monarchist views. As a conservative, pro-Habsburg
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
Czech, Dub is the subject of some of Hašek's most vicious satire. Repeatedly placed in humiliating situations, such as being found drunk in a brothel
Brothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
or falling off a horse (in all Slavonic
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages , a group of closely related languages of the Slavic peoples and a subgroup of Indo-European languages, have speakers in most of Eastern Europe, in much of the Balkans, in parts of Central Europe, and in the northern part of Asia.-Branches:Scholars traditionally divide Slavic...
languages the word 'dub' ('oak') itself is a common synonym for a dull, idiotic person). Is said to have been based on a lieutenant of the reserve, Mechalek, who served in Hašek's regiment.
Quartermaster Sergeant-Major Vaněk: Another recurring character, Vaněk (a chemist from Kralupy nad Vltavou
Kralupy nad Vltavou
Kralupy nad Vltavou is a city in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 18,000 inhabitants. The city lies on the Vltava River some north of Prague, the capital of both the Czech Republic and the Central Bohemian Region...
in civilian life) is an example of an easy-going but self-serving senior NCO
Non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
, whose main concern is to make his own existence as comfortable as possible.
Volunteer Marek: The character of one-year volunteer Marek is to some degree a self-portrait by the author, who was himself a one-year volunteer in the 91st. For example, Marek — like Hašek — was fired from the editorship of a natural history magazine after writing articles about imaginary animals. Is appointed the battalion historian by Sagner and occupies himself with devising memorable and heroic deaths in advance for his colleagues.
Vodička: A sapper
Sapper
A sapper, pioneer or combat engineer is a combatant soldier who performs a wide variety of combat engineering duties, typically including, but not limited to, bridge-building, laying or clearing minefields, demolitions, field defences, general construction and building, as well as road and airfield...
friend of Švejk noted mainly for his extreme hatred of Hungarians, which leads to an unfortunate incident in Bruck an der Leitha
Bruck an der Leitha
Bruck an der Leitha is a city located in Lower Austria, Austria at the border to the Burgenland, which is marked by the Leitha river....
.
Cadet Biegler: Biegler is a young junior officer with pretensions to nobility, despite being the middle-class son of a furrier. Biegler takes his military duties so seriously he is ridiculed even by his senior officers, and is mistakenly hospitalised as a "carrier of cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
germs" after medical staff misdiagnose (for army PR purposes) a cognac
Cognac
Cognac is a commune in the Charente department in southwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Geography:Cognac is situated on the river Charente between the towns of Angoulême and Saintes. The majority of the town has been built on the river's left bank, with the smaller right...
-induced hangover
Hangover
A hangover describes the sum of unpleasant physiological effects following heavy consumption of alcoholic beverages. The most commonly reported characteristics of a hangover include headache, nausea, sensitivity to light and noise, lethargy, dysphoria, diarrhea and thirst, typically after the...
.
Captain Tayrle: The brigade adjutant
Adjutant
Adjutant is a military rank or appointment. In some armies, including most English-speaking ones, it is an officer who assists a more senior officer, while in other armies, especially Francophone ones, it is an NCO , normally corresponding roughly to a Staff Sergeant or Warrant Officer.An Adjutant...
and a particularly disgusting example of a headquarters officer, whose interests appear to lie mainly in crude jokes and sampling of local prostitutes.
General Fink von Finkenstein: An aristocratic, vicious and near-insane senior Austrian officer and commander of the garrison fort of Przemyśl
Przemysl
Przemyśl is a city in south-eastern Poland with 66,756 inhabitants, as of June 2009. In 1999, it became part of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship; it was previously the capital of Przemyśl Voivodeship....
, Fink treats his men with extreme brutality. Almost succeeds in having Švejk executed after the latter is taken prisoner by his own side.
Chaplain Martinec: A chaplain plagued by drink-induced spiritual doubts, whose attempt to provide spiritual consolation to Švejk ends in disaster.
"Sergeant Teveles": A man in possession of a silver Military Merit Medal, purchased from a Bosnian
Bosnians
Bosnians are people who reside in, or come from, Bosnia and Herzegovina. By the modern state definition a Bosnian can be anyone who holds citizenship of the state. This includes, but is not limited to, members of the constituent ethnic groups of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Bosnian Serbs and...
, and claiming to be a Sergeant Teveles, who had previously disappeared along with the entire 6 March Company during fighting in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
.
Baloun: A miller
Miller
A miller usually refers to a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a cereal crop to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents in other languages around the world...
from Český Krumlov
Český Krumlov
Český Krumlov is a small city in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic, best known for the fine architecture and art of the historic old town and Český Krumlov Castle...
in civilian life, and Švejk's successor as Lukáš's batman, Baloun is a glutton and is regularly punished for stealing Lukáš's food. Will eat raw dough, sausage skins, etc., when nothing else is available.
Literary significance and criticism
A number of literary critics consider The Good Soldier Švejk to be one of the first anti-war novels, predating RemarqueErich Maria Remarque
Erich Maria Remarque was a German author, best known for his novel All Quiet on the Western Front.-Life and work:...
's All Quiet on the Western Front
All Quiet on the Western Front
All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel by Erich Maria Remarque, a German veteran of World War I. The book describes the German soldiers' extreme physical and mental stress during the war, and the detachment from civilian life felt by many of these soldiers upon returning home from the front.The...
. Furthermore, Joseph Heller
Joseph Heller
Joseph Heller was a US satirical novelist, short story writer, and playwright. His best known work is Catch-22, a novel about US servicemen during World War II...
said that if he had not read The Good Soldier Švejk, he would never have written his novel Catch-22
Catch-22
Catch-22 is a satirical, historical novel by the American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953, and the novel was first published in 1961. It is set during World War II in 1943 and is frequently cited as one of the great literary works of the twentieth century...
.
Broader cultural influence
The idiocy/subversion of Švejk has entered the Czech language in the form of words such as švejkovina ("švejking"), švejkovať ("to švejk"), švejkárna (military absurdity), etc.Peter Sellers in his movie A Shot in the Dark
A Shot in the Dark (1964 film)
A Shot in the Dark is a 1964 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards and is the second installment in the Pink Panther series. Peter Sellers is featured again as Inspector Jacques Clouseau of the French Sûreté...
, uses two comic extracts from Švejk. From the overbearing general, "You know what a road is? - simplistic overstatement, and poor Lieutenant Lukáš in despair to Švejk, "I should have shot you — who would have said anything ? who ?", (this was put to Clouseau by Captain Dreyfuss in the movie).
Adaptations
- 1935: Arthur KoestlerArthur KoestlerArthur Koestler CBE was a Hungarian author and journalist. Koestler was born in Budapest and, apart from his early school years, was educated in Austria...
mentions in his autobiography that in 1935 he was commissioned by Willy Münzenberg, the CominternCominternThe Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern, also known as the Third International, was an international communist organization initiated in Moscow during March 1919...
propagandist, to write a novel called The Good Soldier Schweik Goes to War Again. He adds that the project was cancelled by the Communist Party when half the book had been written due to what they termed the book's "pacifist errors". - 1943: Bertolt BrechtBertolt BrechtBertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
writes Schweik in the Second World WarSchweik in the Second World WarSchweik in the Second World War is a play by German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht. It was written by Brecht in 1943 while in exile in California, and is a sequel to the 1923 novel The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek. It is set in Prague and on the Russian Front during World War II...
, a play which continues the adventures of Švejk into World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. - 1955: The Czech animator Jiří TrnkaJirí TrnkaJiří Trnka was a Czech puppet maker, illustrator, motion-picture animator and film director. In addition to his extensive career as an illustrator, especially of children's books, he is best known for his work in animation with puppets, which began in 1946...
adapts the novel as an animated film with Jan WerichJan WerichJan Werich was a Czech actor, playwright and writer.-Life:Between 1916 to 1924 he attended "reálné gymnasium" in Křemencová Street in Prague...
starring as the narrator. - 1956 and 1957: Czech film director Karel SteklýKarel SteklýKarel Steklý was a Czech film director of international renown. He is most famous for his film Siréna for which he won the Golden Lion.-External links:...
depicts the adventures of Švejk in two films, starring Rudolf HrušínskýRudolf HrušínskýRudolf Hrušínský was an acclaimed Czech actor.-Biography:He was born in Nová Včelnice to Hermina Červičková and Rudolf Hrušinský . He was born, literally, back stage during a showing of the play Taneček panny Marinky...
as the title character. - 1957: Robert KurkaRobert KurkaRobert Frank Kurka was an American composer, who also taught and conducted his own works.Kurka was born in Cicero, Illinois. He was mostly self-taught, though he studied for short periods under Darius Milhaud and Otto Luening, receiving his M.A. degree from Columbia University in 1948...
writes an opera based on the novel. - 1960: In West Germany the book was adapted to The Good Soldier SchweikThe Good Soldier Schweik (1960 film)The Good Soldier Schweik is a 1960 West German film directed by Axel von Ambesser.- Cast :*Heinz Rühmann as Schwejk*Ernst Stankovski as Oberleutnant Lukas*Franz Muxeneder as Woditschka...
starring Heinz RühmannHeinz RühmannHeinrich Wilhelm "Heinz" Rühmann was a popular German film actor.-Life and work:Rühmann was born in Essen, Westphalia. His role in the 1930 movie Die Drei von der Tankstelle led him to film stardom. He remained highly popular as a comedic actor throughout the 1930s and early 1940s...
. - 1972: A 13-part TV series in GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Die Abenteuer des braven Soldaten Schwejk, directed by Wolfgang LiebeneinerWolfgang LiebeneinerWolfgang Georg Louis Liebeneiner was a German actor, film director and theater director.He was born in Liebau in Prussian Silesia. In 1928, he was taught by Otto Falckenberg, the director of the Munich Kammerspiele, in acting and directing...
, is made and broadcast by the AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n state TV (ORFORFORF may refer to:* ORF , the Austrian public service broadcaster.* Open reading frame, a portion of the genome.* The IATA airport code for Norfolk International Airport in Norfolk, Virginia.* ORF format , Olympus raw image file format....
). The title role is played by Fritz MuliarFritz MuliarFritz Muliar, born as Friedrich Ludwig Stand , was an Austrian actor who, due to his huge popularity, is often referred to by his countrymen as Volksschauspieler.- Biography :...
. - 1986: Czechoslovakian puppetoonPuppetoonPuppetoon animation is a type of replacement animation, which is itself a type of stop-motion animation. In traditional stop-motion, the puppets are made with movable parts which are repositioned between frames to create the illusion of motion when the frames are played in rapid sequence...
version Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka appears. - 2002: SothaSotha (actress)Sotha is a French actress, playwright, screenwriter, film & stage director, and composer. Her real name is Catherine Sigaux. She was one of the founders of the Café de la Gare where she acted and co-wrote many of the plays. She was twice married, both times to fellow actors from the Café de la...
of the Café de la GareCafé de la GareThe Café de la Gare is a dinner theater located at 41, rue du Temple in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. It lies in a square hidden between Notre Dame de Paris and the historic Marais district. It was originally created in 1968 by a close-knit group of comedy actors who fixed up an old factory...
writes a play, Le Brave Soldat Chvéïk s'en va au Ciel [The Good Soldier Schweik goes to Heaven], based on novel. - 2008: BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
broadcasts a two-part radio adaptation starring Sam KellySam KellySam Kelly is an English actor who has appeared in television, radio and theatre.-Career:He has had roles in British sitcoms such as Porridge as Bunny Warren, Allo 'Allo! as Captain Hans Geering leaving after series three, On the Up as Dennis Waterman's chauffeur and We'll Think of Something as Les...
.
Translations and adaptations
Three major English-language translations of Švejk have been published:- The Good Soldier Schweik, tr. Paul Selver, 1930.
- The Good Soldier Svejk and His Fortunes in the World War, tr. Cecil ParrottCecil ParrottSir Cecil Cuthbert Parrott was a British diplomat, translator, writer and scholar.After studies at Peterhouse, Cambridge, he became a teacher. He joined the Foreign Office in 1939. His diplomatic career culminated with his posting to Prague, where he was the British Ambassador from 1960 to 1966...
, 1973; reprints: ISBN 0140182748 & ISBN 978-0140449914. - The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Svejk During the World War, tr. Zdeněk Sadlon, in three volumes.
The first translation does not give a full impression of Hašek's original. Whole passages are missing (such as the famous imaginary-animals passage on the Animal World Magazine, and the whole of Volume 4 after Švejk's capture as a Russian), various passages are bowdlerised, and the style is somewhat stifling and unimaginative, contrary to the language used by Hašek.
There is also an orchestral suite and an opera, both for wind ensemble, written by Robert Kurka, as well as a stage adaptation, Svejk, by Colin Teevan.
See also
- Czech literatureCzech literatureCzech literature is the literature written by Czechs or other inhabitants of the Czech state, mostly in the Czech language, although other languages like Old Church Slavonic, Latin or German have been also used, especially in the past. Modern authors from the Czech territory who wrote in other...
- Ivan Chonkin, a Soviet Švejk
- Mandel KarlssonMandel KarlssonMandel Karlsson, also known as 91:an Karlsson or simply 91:an, is a cartoon character, the hero of the popular Swedish comic strip 91:an , created in 1932 by Rudolf Petersson...
- Austro-Hungarian ArmyAustro-Hungarian ArmyThe Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...
