Janko Silan as a Poet and Representative of Slovak Catholic Modernism
Authors: Príhodová Edita 
Published: January 2025

The paper aims to map the chronological development of the poetic work of Janko Silan, a representative of Slovak Catholic Modernism. It focuses on the development of his poetic method from his debut to posthumously published works. Literary scholarship in Slovakia regards his poetry timeless for its appealing subjectivism, authentic spirituality and humanity.

Janko Silan’s debut Kuvici [Owls] displays distinct modernist tendencies. Silan adopted the motif of little owls from Slovak folklore, where they were known as harbingers of death. The lyrical subject too presents himself as one who is sad and aware of his mortality. The author also incorporated autobiographical motifs into his collection, especially the motif of eye disease and blindness.

The poetry of Silan, the seminarian, includes three thematically distinct collections: the spiritual Rebrík do neba [Ladder to Heaven], the love poems in the Sonety májové [May Sonnets] and the commemorative poetic composition Slávme to spoločne [Let us Celebrate It Together]. The explicit spiritual theme in his seminarian’s poetry does not contain aesthetic value; it is baroquely patulous and sentimental. The love theme of Sonety májové [May Sonnets] is surprising to the reader coming from an author who is preparing for priestly celibacy. It seems that as an anthropological value, sexuality too is a gift from God and needs to be incorporated into the spiritual life. The book of poems, Slávme to spoločne [Let us Celebrate It Together] is dedicated to the author’s mother, Helena. Silan describes her as a “beautifully holy woman”.

The poetry of the priest period, between 1942 and 1945, includes Silan’s collections Kým nebudeme doma [Until We Are Home] and Piesne z Javoriny [Songs from Javorina]. Literary critics and historians highly praise the second of Silan’s priestly collections. It is described as Franciscan because of many natural motifs that the author utilizes.

Janko Silan is described as a “verbumist” because he was involved in a group of poets gathered around the magazine and publishing house Verbum (1946–1949). This period includes the collections Piesne zo Ždiaru [Songs from Ždiar] and Úbohá duša na zemi [Poor Soul on Earth]. In them, the author expresses his anxiety about the political situation and threat of Communist totalitarianism.

Silan’s collection of poetry from the 1960s Oslnenie [Sun Blindness] corresponds with a relaxed political and social context. His poetry is “grounded”, human-centred, without explicit spiritualization. The smile that the author allows himself adds to the anthropological value.

When Janko Silan was banned from publishing his poetry, he wrote “for the desk drawer”. The most famous from this period is the collection Katolícke piesne z Važca [The Catholic songs from Važec] and the novel Dom opustenosti [The House of Abandonment]. The prevalent themes are the violation of human rights in Czechoslovakia and the repressive impact of totalitarianism on an individual who, for reasons of conscience, is not willing to conform to Communist ideology. Of several works written in this period, Dom opustenosti [The House of Abandonment] has been particularly popular with readers and scholars.