Interview with Václav Cílek
RNDr. Václav Cílek, CSc.
He prefers being presented as a Czech geologist. He is also known as a climatologist, a philosopher and last but not least as a Czech writer. He studied secondary school in Tanzania, then secondary technical school in Pribram. He finished his studies at Charles University in Prague - Faculty of Science, field of study Geology. Now he works as a scientific worker in Institute of Geology of the CAS. Vaclav Cilek has collaborated approximately on thirty books. He also publishes his writings in many Czech magazines. He cooperates also with Czech Radio and Czech Television. He guided us through broadcasts about Czech countryside. Vaclav Cilek has also won many awards. For example for the book Krajiny vnitrni a vnejsi (Landscapes Inner And Outer) and following book Makom: Kniha mist (Makom: Book Of Places) he won The Tom Stoppard Prize in 2004 (prize for literary essays).
Landscape, human and nation
Firstly, I would like to ask you what is the best way, how to introduce yourself... As a geologist. I prefer it, because when you give too many degrees, it does not make a good impression.
Thank you. I read that you studied secondary school in Tanzania. How did you get into this? My parents had worked there. Dad worked on geological survey in Tanzania, so that is the way how I came into the school. I was the only white man there.
So you tended to geology in younger days? I actually collected stones from childhood, since ten or twelve years, so it grew into this.
One of the books which you have written is Krajiny vnejsi a vnitrni (Landscapes Inner And Outer). There is an idea that landscape is connected to human soul – I am open to correction in case of inaccuracy :) Yes, this is an old ancient idea and in ancient times the issue was that – there are always just mentions - they evaluated what effect do the climate or wind have. Even each of the basic eight winds had its own psychological characteristic. And this is forgotten now. So every landscape somehow forms people and their soul. They tried to utilize this knowledge, they said – yes, the Celts from mountains endanger us, because mountains make people tough through the rough life there. So we resettle them to the lowland in order to rid them of the aggressiveness.
Ok, I see. So if the Czech Republic is surrounded by mountains, can we conclude something about our people from this? Today it is not so easy, because there is a big migration. And it is always easier in localities, from where people only leave. For example many people used to leave from the south Bohemia and almost nobody moved in. It changed over time, but these places, where emigrants dominated, used to keep the old customs.
That is interesting, thank you. I do not know if you travel a lot or if you travelled… Did you perceive some difference in landscape and the nation that lives there? Sure, you can also perceive this in the Czech Republic. For example Chodsko, that is typical, there were no immigrants until recently. For Europe is typical, that the cultural range changes every thirty or forty years.
I perceive changes of surroundings in buildings a lot - just even in the Czech Republic. Can we conclude something about us, about our nation? Perhaps not when we moved, it is so? Maybe we can, in a small way. For example Sudetenland is different till now, kind of colder and unfriendly. But sometimes it comes through out of the common. I have been in Palava and actually I have never realized that the wine-growing region Pavlov used to be a German village where the wine growers were moved, for example from Kladno and it was difficult to form an attachment to the new landscape for them. In the early fiftieth, Pavlov was more likely meant for disposal.
I would like to ask you another question, if it is not off-topic. Do we as a nation appreciate our landscape or not? In the Czech Republic it is a little bit complicated. Other authors, even foreign have written that there is a very strong attitude to this country, but only in part of people. But there is strong predatory instinct as well. So what we can see is more likely destruction of landscape and we can also see that it is hard on them. There are both.
Pictures, books and future
I came across your book Borgesuv svet (Borges's World) recently and it took my fancy. I found out that it was created with pictures of Helena Wernischova which were first of all. That is very interesting. How did it happen that the book arose this way? I imagined that you had taken a picture and it reminded you some interesting theme… Or was it in a different way? No, no. When I made for example Podzemni Prahu (the book Subterranean Prague), it was Martin Majer and Milan Korba who brought me to write about underground Prague through their beautiful pictures. And it was the same with Cesky kras (the book Czech Kras) that I made with Karel Zak. Initially we thought that we will take the beautiful pictures and write a longer description to them. I like the visual part. The sense of sight tells us more than we think. And long ago I loved pictures from Ms Wernischova, in the eighties it was very poetic. For me it was in connection with work of poet Ivan Wernisch, husband of Helena Wernischova. So I thought what book I could write to the pictures.
I think it is very interesting idea that it is in reverse order then usually. When you have a common period, you write a text and then you add pictures. But our time nowadays is more and more visual, so you can have the pictures firstly and then the text. I made the illustration in reverse order.
I also like pictures of Ms Wernischova and I am sorry that she is not more famous. Finally, I read a book from you and the team – Tri svice a budoucnost: Navody a napady jak prezit konec sveta (Three Candles For The Future: Guidance And Ideas How To Survive The End Of The World). How did this book arise? And how did this theme occur to you? In the long term I believe that we are not in front of some disaster, but in front of some great change of the world. And I watch it closely. Zdenko Pavelka, a meritorious editor came to me with an idea of making a publication about the end of the world. I know him from the table where Bohumil Hrabal used to sit. I am not a big fan of these catastrophic themes so I took it more like the end of the world have already happened in our thinking and the old world advanced and is changing. That is my constant theme, the effort to make the world change as little painful as possible. It is not a question of this or the next year, but for example decade or more decades. When we look back to the history, it always takes about thirty or forty years. So everybody goes through some change of the world. We did not want to be exaggerated practical, we wanted to start the mentality when people realize that we do not have this world forever. This world will probably end one day and we are enough rational or strong to be able to deal with this transition to something different – for example more expensive water, climatic changes or problems with gaining crude oil.
In your book, you also mentioned that we should not take ourselves too much tragically. Can I ask what exactly do you mean? I like it, but I imagine more ways how to understand it… Sure. I will add one more thing – the book actually arose in a way that Zdenko Pavelka suggested me some co-authors. Then people came with various ideas and I told them – write it. Or I sent the first article to somebody, it caused the second article and so it got together. There will be a sequel now but I do not know when exactly – the book Neco se muselo stat, which arose similarly, but there are already about sixty authors.
I see, so the articles are sent and things like that… Yes, or somebody sends me an email and asks me for something or points out something. The result is a hotchpotch, but it does not mind, because there will never be one direction anyway. And about the tragic feeling… I think that sometimes we tend to be regretful about ourselves and stand ourselves to the center of action. People who are really in some tragic situation – for example my friend has been in Sarajevo after the floods recently – these people often take themselves with more considerable humor and detached view than us.
Finally, I would ask you if you want to send some word to the young generation that lives here right now. Anything that occurs to you… You know, I do not send word or tell people what to do on principal. We were brought up through Platon so that we open the window or the door and now it depends on the people, if they will enter or not. It means it is not my duty trying to persuade anybody or say what to do, but more like open the opportunity, which will be realized or not.
Once again, thank you for the interview.