Jaroslav Hašek, Josef Lada et Švejk

Jaroslav Hašek, Josef Lada and Švejk It is interesting to go back to the origins of the picture Josef Lada created of the Good Soldier Švejk, the hero of Jaroslav Hašek — a picture which has become one of the most popular emblems of twentieth century Czech culture. Indeed, between 1921, the year of the first illustrations, and 1924-25, when this long novel was published in a serialized form (after the death of the novelist), the physiognomy of that 'feeble-mindeď soldier totally changed under the pen of the illustrator, and this metamorphosis would be confirmed with Lada's completion of the cycle in the 1950s. This study analyzes the formal characteristics of these drawings, the features which link them with the historical culture of the time and which have made them difficult for the modern-day reader to understand. It also examines the differences between the novelist's and the illustrator's conception of the character.