University chronicle in contemporary Slovak literature:Pavol Rankov’s novel The Legend of the Tongue

Abstract

The article aims at reading Pavol Rankov’s novel Legenda o jazyku (The Legend of the Tongue) as the campus novel. Set primarily in the times of Normalization in Czechoslovakia (1969-1989), the novel focuses on the university as the means of political control and interpellation of the dominant ideology after the Soviet invasion. Rankov’s presentation of the tyrannical and anti-religious nature of the Communist regime the author interprets in relation to the university as an institution of higher education that aimed to prepare the next generations of obedient Czechoslovak citizens. The author concludes that by situating the narrative on a university campus, Rankov presents a unique example of campus fiction that grapples with one of the most challenging themes in contemporary Slovak fiction: the Slovak collective memory of the recent past.