Artistic influence, its conclusiveness and relevance TOWARDS A TYPOLOGY OF THE 19TH CENTURY FICTION REFERENCES

This study focuses on the issues surrounding artistic influence in high literature and the ways that the extent and relevance of this influence can be comprehended. It is loosely associated with intertextual and comparative examination of fiction and in this context it attempts to redefine and revive the little used concept of influence, working with the idea of the (literary) reference and distinguishing between the principle of the proximity of references, which examines the analogy between pretext and posttext, and the principle of the individuation of references, which reflects the innovative share of the poet or writer in the creative treatment of the pretext. The examples to which these hypotheses relate are taken from the literary reception of the Dvifir Kralove and Zelena Hora manuscripts in 19th century Czech literature.