Capek, Karel
Capek, Karel (1890–1938),Czech writer, most famous for his play R.U.R. (1920), in which the word ‘robot’ was coined, and the dystopian novel Salamander War (1935). His collection Nine Fairy Tales (1931) contains humorous and satirical fairy tales based on traditional patterns, but taking place in everyday surroundings, mostly small Czech villages. The mundus inversus device is the most prominent feature of these fairy tales; for instance, a robber is nice and kind, but turns into a real villain when he becomes a state tax collector (‘A Robber Tale’); a beggar appears to be the most honest person in the world (‘A Beggar Tale’). Fairy‐tale characters behave like ordinary people: a water spirit gets rheumatic fever, a wizard chokes on a plum stone and needs a doctor (‘The Great Doctor Tale’); while ordinary people, like a woodcutter or a postmaster, become heroes. Even when kings and princesses...
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