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Bronislava Volkova, Ph.D.

Professor
Director of the Czech Program
Adjunct Professor of Comparative Literature and Jewish Studies

Bronislava Volkova

Bronislava Volkova, Ph.D.

Degree: Ph.D., Charles University, 1970.

Dissertation: "Functions of Repetition in Russian and Spanish."

Specialties/Research Interests: Semiotics; emotive language; Czech literature.

Current project(s): 20th century poetry translation, semiotic cultural studies of Czech Literature and exile poetry writing and characteristics of Czech exile.

Courses regularly taught:

Recent publications:

Scholarly Publications
Books:
  • Emotive Signs in Language and Semantic Functioning of Derived Nouns in Russian, John Benjamins, Amsterdam 1987, 270pp. (Volek).
  • A Feminist's Semiotic Odyssey through Czech Literature, Edwin Mellen Press, Leiwston, N.Y., 1997, 195 pp.
Articles since 2000:
  • Entry on "Ludvík; Vaculík;" for Censorship: International Encyclopedia, Fritz Dearborn, England, 2002.
  • "Scholarly Style as a Subjective Evaluation of Reality." Proceedings from the International Linguistic Conference Linguistic Personality: Genre Speech Activity, Volgograd State Pedagogical University, 1999.
  • "Vaněk; and Palaverer - Two Sons of the Same Father: Protagonist as a Semiotic Axiological Device., The Transformation of Czech and Slovak Societies on the Threshold of the New Millennium and their Role in the Global World. Selected Papers from the 21st World Congress, University of West Bohemia, Plzeň, Czech Republic, June 23-30, 2002. Edited by Jan P. Skalný and Miloslav Rechcígl, Jr., Plzeň: Aleš Čenék, 2004.
  • "Metaphysical Woman Poet's Perspective", Selected Papers from the 22 SVU World Congress, Palacky University, Olomouc, CR, 26 June – 4 July 2004.
  • *Smrt jako sémiotická událost", Listopad 2005.
  • *"Smrt jako sémiotická událost: Čapek versus Kundera" in Otázky Českéhokánonu, Sborník pŕíspévků z III. kongresu svétové literárnévédné bohemistiky (23.6.-3.7.2005 Praha), svazek 1, ed. Stanislava Fedrová, Ústav pro Českou literaturu Akademie véd ČSR, 2006, str. 512-519.
  • *"Smrt jako sémiotická událost: Mácha, Némcová, Neruda, Hrabal a Kundera", Česká literatura, Praha. (continuation of previous article), in print.
  • "Exile Inside and Out", Proceedings of the Conference on Writer Uprooted, Indiana University Press, Bloomington, in print.
Selected Original Poetry and Creative Writing

For a more extensive list please see Professor Volkova's personal website: http://www.bronislavavolkova.com

Books:
  • The Courage of the Rainbow: Selected Poems (English translations of original Czech poetry with the assistance of A. Durkin, W. Barnstone, L. Parrott and G. Orr), Sheep Meadow Press, New York 1993, 103 pp.
  • Roztŕíšténé svéty (The Shattered Worlds, selected poems), Votobia, Olomouc, The Czech Republic, 1995, 150 pp.
  • Promény/Transformations, a bilingual limited edition of original poetry in both languages with eight collages by author, Explorer Editions, Prague, 2000, second expanded bibliophile edition, Bloomington-Prague, 2001, 194 pp.
  • Vstup do svétla / Entering Light, a bilingual limited edition of original poetry in both languages with six collages by author, Explorer Editions, Bloomington-Prague, 2002, 133 pp.
  • Jistá nepŕítomnost / A Certain Absence, a bilingual limited edition of the Czech original published in 1990 in Munich. Translation by author with Clarice Cloutier, collage by Jiŕí Koláŕ, Explorer Editions, Bloomington-Prague, 2003, 154 pp.
  • Ze tmy zrozená, a limited edition with four collages by author, Explorer Editions, Bloomington-Prague, 2004.
  • Born out of Darkness, a limited edition with four color collages by author, Explorer Editions, Bloomington – Prague, 2005 (Supported by Individual Artist Project Grant of Indiana Arts Commission).
  • *Transformations, Backwoods Broadsides Chaplet Series, Number 91, Ellsworth, ME, Spring 2005, 750 copies.
  • The Slightest Reminder of Your Being… (Three Decades of Exile: 1974 -2004), CD from six books of poetry in English with musical inserts, 64:55 min., Explorer Editions 2005.
  • Nejmenší pŕipomínka Tvého bytí… (Tŕicet let exilu: 1974 -2004), non-identical twin CD from nine books of poetry in Czech with musical inserts, 79:07 min., Explorer Editions 2005.
Sequences of Poems, Stories and Essays:
  • Poetry (6 poems from Vstup do svétla / Entering Light), Aluze 11, Olomouc 2000.
  • "Like rain I ford the waves" in The Mending Wall 1, Farmington, WV, August 2000.
  • "Díté", "Dva hlasy" (A Child, Two Voices, stories), Listopad, Liberec 2000.
  • Ten poems, Listopad, Liberec 2001.
  • Seven poems in Chuť ztraceného domova/ The Taste of a Lost Homeland, A Bilingual Anthology of Czech and Slovak Exile Poetry Written in America, Prague/Pilsen, Czech Republic, 2002.
  • "Moje maminka, hrůza a já" (My Mother, Terror and I, a story), Listopad, Liberec, 2002.
  • Twelve poems in A Linen Weave of Bloomington Poets, Wind, Lexington, KY, 2002.
  • Two poems for Vespers: Religion and Spirituality in Contemporary American Poetry, University of Iowa Press, Iowa, 2003.
  • "We are…", Collage/Poem, Pense Aqui/Think here, a Mail Art magazine, No. 117, September 24-30, Brazil, 2003.
  • "Poems", Listopad, Prague 2003.
  • "Poems", Mésto D, edition Nomisterion, DéČín, 2004.
  • "Exil vnitŕní a vnéjší" (Exile Inside and Out, an essay), Listopad, Prague, 2004. Vrh kŕídel / Antologie České poezie (nejen) 20. století (Anthology of Czech Poetry [not only] of 20th Century), Petr Fabian, Vratislav Färber, Michal Jareš eds., www.sweb.cz/antologie/index.html, Prague, 2002-2004
  • "I am" in Poetry Vibes, Circle of Poets, Montreal, Canada 2005.
  • *"In the vacuum coating of dreams" in Only the Sea Keeps: Poetry of the Tsunami, anthology to benefit the Tsunami victims, Rupa and Co, New Delhi, India, 2005, Second edition Bayeux Arts of Calgary, Canada, 2005. Royalties from the sale of the book will be donated to relief organizations serving the victim/survivors of the Tsunami and Katrina. Bestseller in India and voted among the best poems of 2005 in the U.S. The authors reading the poems can be also listened to on PoetsforHumanity.com
  • *"Tsunami Tsunami Tsunami" in poetsforthetsunamivictims.org (electronic anthology), 2005.
  • *Poems and collage in World Literature Today, September-December, 2005.
  • "Byl Čas" in Úvod do knihy žalmů v zrcadle poesie (Introduction into the Book of Psalms) by Josel Blaha, KoneČn;ë, Brno 2005.
  • "Básné", Listopad 2005.
  • *"And the foliage falls" in The Dirty Goat, Host Publications, Austin, TX, 2006.
  • *2 poems and 2 collages, www.writersalliance.net.
  • Illustration in Petr Mazanec: Krátké texty 4, Pelhŕimov, Czech Republic.
  • "Zítra zazpívá slavík a další básné" (11 poems), Listopad, Pelhŕimov 2006, p. 5-9.
  • "Exile", requested poem for the Proceedings of the Conference on Writer Uprooted, Indiana UP, in print.

Office number: BH 512

Office telephone: (812)855-2359

E-mail address: volkova@indiana.edu

Mailing address:

Bronislava Volkova, Ph.D.
Indiana University
Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
1020 E. Kirkwood Avenue
Ballantine Hall 502
Bloomington, IN 47405-7103