Puppets/Dolls as a Socio-Critical Element in the Later Texts of Lenka Reinerová

Abstract

In Reinerová's literary texts, puppets and marionettes represent one of the means of exercising a socio-critical function. In the description of the puppets and marionettes, Reinerová takes the (Czech) puppet theatre as a starting point. The criticism of society is expressed primarily through pronounced facial features of the puppet/marionette in question. The themes referred to are mostly related to Judaism and are intertwined with memories of the Holocaust. This, in turn, has to do with the fact that all of Reinerová’s close relatives died in concentration camps. At the same time, the topics of the Holocaust and anti-Semitism also relate to the future and warn against the repetition of similar atrocities.