Ivan Sviták was a Czech philosopher, critic, and poet who ranked among Europe's most prominent proponents of Marxist humanism

Marxist humanism

Marxist humanism is a branch of Marxism that primarily focuses on Marx's earlier writings, especially the Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 in which Marx espoused his theory of alienation, as opposed to his later works, which are considered to be concerned more with his structural...

. In a vast oeuvre of essays, Sviták addressed questions of democracy and socialism, of art in bureaucratic and consumer societies, and of the "unbearable burden" of political catastrophe in Czech history. In addition, Sviták wrote an extensive body of fiction and poetry, in which he "sought a unity of philosophy, literature, and politics, a unity of engagement, wisdom, and poetry." In this, Sviták consciously followed in the footsteps of the surrealist

Surrealism

Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....

 movement that he admired and critically defended on numerous occasions

In the 1960s, Sviták was one of Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...

's most vocal advocates of democratic socialism

Prague Spring

The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...

 (a distinction he shared with Karel Kosík

Karel Kosík

Karel Kosík was a Czech Neomarxist philosopher. In his most famous philosophical work Dialectics of the Concrete Kosík presents an original synthesis of Martin Heidegger's version of phenomenology and the ideas of Young Marx...

, Czechoslovakia's other prominent Marxist humanist philosopher). After the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia in August, 1968, Sviták was stripped of his citizenship and sentenced to a lengthy jail term. Instead of serving the jail term, he chose to emigrate, first to New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 and in 1970 to Chico, California

Chico, California

Chico is the most populous city in Butte County, California, United States. The population was 86,187 at the 2010 census, up from 59,954 at the time of the 2000 census...

, where he was offered an academic position. Sviták worked at Cal State Chico until 1990, when he returned to Czechoslovakia after the end of Communist Party

Communist party

A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...

 rule. In the early 1990s Sviták remained a staunch proponent of democratic socialism

Democratic socialism

Democratic socialism is a description used by various socialist movements and organizations to emphasize the democratic character of their political orientation...

, turning his critical pen to the new, post-Communist regime. He died in Prague

Prague

Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

in 1994.

Selected Publications in English

• Man and his World: A Marxian View, New York, Dell Pub. Co., 1970 (translation of Lidský smysl kultury, including a slightly different selection of essays)
• The Czechoslovak experiment, 1968-1969, New York, Columbia U. Press, 1971
• “Illusions of Czech Socialist Democracy”. Telos 22 (Winter 1974-75). New York: Telos Press.
• The Unbearable Burden of History: The Sovietization of Czechoslovakia, Academia, 1990

Selected Publications in Czech

• Lidský smysl kultury : eseje ("The Human Meaning of Culture," translated as "Man and His World"), Prague 1968
• Dialektika moci ("The Dialectic of Power"), Cologne, 1973
• Děvčátko s červenou mašlí : povídky a pohádky ("The Girl with the Red Ribbon: Stories and Fairy Tales"), Zürich, 1975
• Nevědecká antropologie : dialectica modo bohemico demonstrata ("Unscientific Anthropology"), Chico, California, 1984
• Národ na křižovatce : dialektika dějin ("The Nation at a Crossroads: The Dialectic of History"), Prague, 1989
• Budoucnost bez komunismu ("The Future without Communism"), Prague, 1990
• Kulatý čtverec : dialektika demokratizace : úvahy a statě, članky z let 1968-1969 ("Squaring the Circle: The Dialectic of Democratization: Reflections and Articles from 1968-1969"), Prague, 1990
• Ztracené iluze : výroční zpráva o sametové revoluci ("Lost Illusions: An Anniversary Message about the Velvet Revolution"), Prague, 1990
• Cesta odnikud nikam ("The Road from Nowhere to Nowhere"), Prague, 1991
• Devět životů : konkrétní dialektika ("Nine Lives: Concrete Dialectics"), Prague, 1992