Soochow Celebrates 2024 Library Week with Czech Literature Events

From December 5 to 18, Soochow University Library marked Library Week 2024 with a theme titled “The Romantic Czech Republic on the Paper.” The event featured two lectures and a book exhibition, held both on-site and online, exploring issues of freedom, resistance, and romanticism in Czech literature.

A talk on December 9th, titled “The Pursuit of Freedom: Dialogues between Czech and Taiwanese Literature,” featured Tomáš Kubíček, Director of the Moravian Library, and Wei-Yun Lin-Górecka, a Polish literature expert, who discussed how Czech and Taiwanese literature reflect ideas of freedom and identity through different themes and narrative styles.

On December 13th, another session focused on “Romance and Resistance in the Free-spirited Czech Literature,” bringing together professors from German Language and Culture, Human Rights, and Sociology, who explored the spirit of freedom in Czech literary works and drew parallels to Taiwan's historical experiences.

A book exhibition complemented the lectures, showcasing Czech contemporary works by Milan Kundera, Bohumil Hrabal, Franz Kafka, and Václav Havel. Their writings highlighted themes of courage, resistance, and the enduring struggle for human rights.

The event fostered meaningful cross-cultural dialogues, encouraging participants to reflect on universal values embedded in literature across different historical and social contexts.