Abstract: The article examines the image of Svätopluk in the novel Svätopluk (1928) by L. N. Jégé, using the techniques of textual, historical and literary-historical analysis, as well as interpretation and comparison. In examining the image of Svätopluk, emphasis is placed on the methods of construction and instrumentation of this image, taking into consideration extra-literary goals, within which we devote special attention to the author’s instrumentalisation of historical facts and analyse the author’s conception of the novel in relation to his political views and his understanding of the concept of Slovak and Czechoslovak history. In analysing literary-historical factors, we reflect on the influences of naturalism and the intertextual connection to the concept of the The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli. Jégé’s image of Svätopluk is conceptually multilayered, ambiguous and ambivalent, which is manifested, based on our findings, in the oscillation between three basic aspects – the naturalistic, Machiavellian and (de)mythization aspects. Within the naturalistic aspect, Jégé demonstrates the formative influence of the environment on the individual through the figure of Svätopluk. Within the Machiavellian aspect, he constructs Svätopluk as a Machiavellian ruler and reformer of his era. Finally, within the mythization aspect, he searches for parallels between the first Czechoslovak Republic and Great Moravia and monumentalises the figure of Svätopluk in opposition to the figure of Rastislav, while simultaneously demythicizing Svätopluk through naturalistically conditioned regressions.

Author: Vašš, Martin

DOI: 10.17846/CL.2025.18.1.120-131

Publication order reference: Doc. Mgr. Martin Vašš, PhD.; Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Arts, Department of Slovak History, Gondova 2, 811 02 Bratislava, Slovakia; email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Source: Konštantínove listy, 2025, vol.: 18, issue: 1, pages: 120-131 (PDF file)

Keywords: SVÄTOPLUK, IMAGE, L. N. JÉGÉ, GREAT MORAVIA, SLOVAK NOVEL, NATURALISM, MACHIAVELLIANISM, MYTHIZATION, DEMYTHIZATION

Language: ENGLISH

Recommended Citation:

Vašš, Martin. 2025. Between Naturalism, Machiavellianism and (De)Mythization: The Image of Svätopluk in Jégé’s Novel Svätopluk. In Konštantínove listy [Constantine’s Letters] 18/1, 120-131.