Lubomír Doležel
- January 28, 2017
- 94 years
About Lubomír Doležel
Lubomír Doležel, 94, Czech literary theorist.
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Full Biography
|Lubomír Doležel (3 October 1922, Lesnice – 28 January 2017, Verona) was a Czech literary theorist and one of the founders of the so-called fictional worlds theory.
Life, work, and academic career
Doležel was born in 1922 in Lesnice in Czechoslovakia. He was educated at Charles University in Prague and received his CSc (roughly equivalent to a PhD) in Slavic philology from the Institute of the Czech Language of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. Many of his teachers and mentors were representatives of the so-called Prague School, an internationally recognized and influential center of inter-war structuralist and semiotic thought. The influence of the Prague School is evident in Dolezel's PhD thesis On the Style of Modern Czech Prose Fiction (published in Czech in 1960) and inspires his later work.[citation needed] In the 1960s Dolezel worked concurrently as research fellow in the Institute of Czech Language and as assistant, and later associate, professor of the Philosophical Faculty of Charles University. He was engaged primarily in the application of mathematics (especially statistics), information theory and cybernetics to the study of language and literature. He founded and co-edited a series entitled Prague Studies in Mathematical Linguistics.
In 1965, Doležel was invited as visiting professor to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, where he stayed till 1968. He co-edited (with Richard W. Bailey) a collection of studies Statistics and Style (American Elsevier, 1969). On his return to Prague he was appointed research fellow of the Institute of Czech Literature of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, but in the fall of 1968 he left the country after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. He was invited to the University of Toronto as visiting professor in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, where he later became full professor. He established the study of Czech language and literature at the university. In 1982, he was cross-appointed to the Centre for Comparative Literature. His main research interest was the theory of literature, with a focus on narrative (narratology). Doležel's theoretical position was strongly influenced by analytic philosophy, especially by the conceptual framework of possible worlds. On his retirement in 1988, the Centre organized an international conference "Fictions and Worlds".
Doležel presented papers at many North American and European universities and international conferences. He was visiting professor at the University of Amsterdam, LMU Munich and Charles University. He published numerous papers on the history of poetics, narratology and fictional semantics, and a couple of books on the same subjects.
He died on 28 January 2017 in Verona, Italy.
Works
- O stylu moderní české prózy (On the Style of Modern Czech Prose Fiction), 1960
- Narrative Modes in Czech Literature, 1973 (revised edition in Czech 1993)
- Occidental Poetics: Tradition and Progress, 1990
- Heterocosmica: Fiction and Possible Worlds, 1997
- Possible Worlds of Fiction and History: The Postmodern Stage, 2010.
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Sources
- Wikipedia
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lubom%C3%ADr_Dole%C5%BEel
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Sep 26, 2026
- View article
- Sep 26, 2026
Trivia & Knowledge· 16 questions
Questions drawn from Lubomír Doležel's archived record and the sources above.
1.Where did Lubomír Doležel receive his CSc degree?
- A.Institute of the Czech Languagecorrect
- B.University of Amsterdam
- C.University of Toronto
- D.University of Michigan
Lubomír Doležel received his CSc degree from the Institute of the Czech Language of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences.
Source: academic career section
2.What academic school influenced Lubomír Doležel's early work?
- A.The Vienna Circle
- B.The Prague Schoolcorrect
- C.The Frankfurt School
- D.The Moscow Linguistic Circle
Many of Lubomír Doležel's mentors were representatives of the Prague School, which influenced his later work.
Source: academic career section
3.Which field did Lubomír Doležel primarily apply to literature in the 1960s?
- A.Geopolitical theory
- B.Mathematics and statisticscorrect
- C.Historical archaeology
- D.Quantum mechanics
Lubomír Doležel was engaged in the application of mathematics, statistics, information theory, and cybernetics to language.
Source: academic career section
4.What is the title of the book Lubomír Doležel published in 1960?
- A.On the Style of Modern Czech Prose Fictioncorrect
- B.Occidental Poetics
- C.Narrative Modes in Czech Literature
- D.Heterocosmica
Lubomír Doležel published his PhD thesis titled On the Style of Modern Czech Prose Fiction in 1960.
Source: works section
5.In what year did Lubomír Doležel leave Czechoslovakia after the Soviet invasion?
- A.1965
- B.1968correct
- C.1973
- D.1982
In the fall of 1968, Lubomír Doležel left the country after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.
Source: academic career section
6.At which institution did Lubomír Doležel establish the study of Czech language and literature?
- A.University of Michigan
- B.LMU Munich
- C.University of Torontocorrect
- D.Charles University
Upon joining the University of Toronto, Lubomír Doležel established the study of Czech language and literature there.
Source: academic career section
7.Which conceptual framework strongly influenced Lubomír Doležel's theoretical position?
- A.Possible worldscorrect
- B.Marxist dialectics
- C.Structuralist anthropology
- D.Existentialism
Lubomír Doležel's theoretical position was strongly influenced by analytic philosophy, especially the framework of possible worlds.
Source: academic career section
8.When did Lubomír Doležel retire from his university position?
- A.1978
- B.1988correct
- C.1993
- D.1982
Lubomír Doležel retired from the University of Toronto in 1988.
Source: academic career section
9.What event was organized by the Centre for Comparative Literature upon Lubomír Doležel's retirement?
- A.A retirement gala in Lesnice
- B.A symposium on the Soviet invasion
- C.An international conference titled Fictions and Worldscorrect
- D.A lecture on Slavic philology
On his retirement in 1988, the Centre organized an international conference titled Fictions and Worlds.
Source: academic career section
10.Which of these books was authored by Lubomír Doležel?
- A.The Structuralist Manifesto
- B.Cybernetic Literature
- C.Heterocosmica: Fiction and Possible Worldscorrect
- D.The History of Czech Prose
Heterocosmica: Fiction and Possible Worlds is listed among the works published by Lubomír Doležel.
Source: works section
11.What is the publication year of Occidental Poetics: Tradition and Progress?
- A.1997
- B.1990correct
- C.1973
- D.1982
Occidental Poetics: Tradition and Progress was published in 1990.
Source: works section
12.In which city did Lubomír Doležel die?
- A.Veronacorrect
- B.Prague
- C.Toronto
- D.Ann Arbor
Lubomír Doležel died on 28 January 2017 in Verona, Italy.
Source: academic career section
13.Which of these universities did Lubomír Doležel visit as a professor?
- A.University of Vienna
- B.University of Oxford
- C.University of Paris
- D.University of Amsterdamcorrect
Lubomír Doležel served as a visiting professor at the University of Amsterdam, LMU Munich, and Charles University.
Source: academic career section
14.What was the main research interest of Lubomír Doležel?
- A.Political science
- B.Narratologycorrect
- C.Computational linguistics
- D.Classical history
Lubomír Doležel's main research interest was the theory of literature, with a focus on narrative or narratology.
Source: academic career section
15.Who co-edited the collection Statistics and Style with Lubomír Doležel?
- A.Roman Jakobson
- B.Noam Chomsky
- C.Richard W. Baileycorrect
- D.Umberto Eco
Lubomír Doležel co-edited the collection Statistics and Style with Richard W. Bailey.
Source: academic career section
16.In what year was Lubomír Doležel born?
- A.1922correct
- B.1942
- C.1912
- D.1932
Lubomír Doležel was born in 1922 in Lesnice in Czechoslovakia.
Source: biographical introduction
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