ATTACK ON CULTURE: MILAN KNÍŽÁK AND THE CZECH ROCK POETRY FROM THE END OF THE 1960s

VOL. 56, BOOK 1, PART B, 2018, pp. 208 – 217 Full text (Bg)

Author: Aleksandra Aleksandrova

Affiliation: St. Kliment Ohridski Umiversity of Sofia

Abstract

This article examines the concept of proto-underground in the Czech counter-culture during the 1960s. This temr is comparatively new – it is used by František Stárek Čuňas in 2012. The vision of the proto-underground is mainly represented through the multi-genred art of the complex and controversial figure Milan Knížák. He is not only a founder of the proto-underground rock band Aktual, but also the author of their lyrics which are non-conformist, rebellious, self-ironic, and self-destructive. Knížák is also the founder and ideologist of the eponymous union of artists which is a forerunner of the real underground in the 70s.

Key words: Protounderground, Czech Underground, rock poetry, Milan Knížák, counterculture, 1960s, Aktual, stage performance, delirium, nonconformism