CNR 2012: Lectures: Karel Capek - Czech Frankenstein (CZE)

Jana Horakova (Masaryk University) Brno, Czech Republic

"Who were you if you admired him?" asked Robert Wechsler in the article Capek in America (1992). "Well, that question was answered very soon [.].You were a sci-fi fan." Capek has been considered an important part of the science-fiction history, if for no other reason than that he had invented one of the principal characters of science fiction, the robot.


The title of the lecture is a remake of Karel Capek's R.U.R., Rossum's Universal Robots (1920/1921) first stage production in U.S.A. review by John Corbin headline, who called Karel Capek "A Czecho-Slovak Frankenstein"(1922). I will introduce more examples of Karel Capek's play R.U.R. reception in the first decade since its official first night in the National Theatre in Prague (January 25, 1921) during my lecture. An audience will be introduced with photographs and reviews of R.U.R. stage productions in Prague (1921), Berlin (1923), Vienna (1923), New York (1922), London (1923), and Paris (1924) with special attention to Robot character reception in different cultural contexts, as well as with first embodiments of mechanical robots immediately inspired by Capek's Robots. I will deal with Robot as a metaphor of state of humanity in the Age of Machine. The Robot as a dramatic character will be subjected to the semiological analyses to find set of motives that accompany the robot as an artistic medium till nowadays. The lecture wants to be a contribution to a media archeology of robot.

Links:
Jana Horáková

More info on RUR:
http://preprints.readingroo.ms/RUR/rur.pdf
http://capek.misto.cz/english/rur.html
http://jerz.setonhill.edu/resources/RUR/index.html
http://davidszondy.com/future/robot/robot.htm

[image source: Jana Horáková]
[source: Vive Les Robots!]

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Cafe Neu Romance 2012:
Program
Exhibition
Lectures
Events
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Cafe Neu Romance - Jana Horakova

Karel Capek - Czech Frankenstein
The opening lecture of Cafe Neu Romance, Karel Capek - Czech Frankenstein by Jana Horakova (CZE), will be presented at the National Technical Library (NTK) at 7:30 pm on the 26. of November 2012.

National Technical Library (NTK)
Technická 6
16080 Prague.