A conversation about the past and the present, especially when concerning what is suppressed and has been displaced, purifies and can help to banish complexes. It certainly encourages to confront them. A brilliant essayist and ironist who lacks nothing of academic precision, Rudolf Chmel persistently confronts the national complex of the Slovaks.
Chmel believes that knowledge of history is a prerequisite to understand contemporary political behaviours. Equally important is the knowledge of Slovak literature as it has encompassed the most important national debates. That is why, he weaves a multi-narrative tale of a country that strives with the burden of history and its own limitations, discusses the key questions in Slovak identity and narrative, and brings their ambiguous nature to light.
His essays provide an important and daring voice in discussing the national identity not only in Slovakia but throughout Central Europe.
Translated into Polish by Magdalena Bystrzak and Tomasz Grabiński