Novelist, dramatist and translator, Martina Drijverová was born on 10 July 1951 in Prague. Her father was Dutch, so Martina grew up in a bilingual environment. After graduating from secondary school in 1969, she read art history, for three years, at the Sorbonne in Paris. From 1974, she read production at the Film and TV School of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. She taught French and worked as an interpreter and translator. From the early 1980s to 1986, when she became a fulltime writer, Drijverová worked in the children's section of Czech Radio in Prague. She contributed to a number of children's magazines, for example the ABC of Young Technicians and Scientists (ABC mladých techniků a přírodovědců), Wild Thyme (Mateřídouška), Seven (Sedmička) and Sunshine (Sluníčko). Since the late 1970s, she has written almost thirty books for children, as well as having adapted her own work and others for radio and TV.
Drijverová's prose falls into two categories. Firstly, there are contemporary stories with a child as the protagonist. The author isn’t interested in modern or fashionable topics and trends; rather she wants to explore the endless problems that life holds for school-children and teenagers. In this environment, she’s a sensitive and playful guide. The narrative is constructed so that even situations, that don’t appear to be giving a moral message, still act as examples of ethical human behaviour. What is typical of Drijverová's work is her aim for harmony in everyday life, the need for to have transcendent goals in life and to overcome the petty problems that life brings. Even in the most difficult of situations, Drijverová offers a solution: love for our fellow creatures. She helps her characters by giving them a sense of irony, in this way their troubles and problems are diminished. This characteristic is most visible in those texts where Drijverová sets her characters in societies that are bound by various rules. Even in the most difficult moments, these characters act according to their positivist ideals and their belief in good. However, the author manages to avoid idealizing either relationships or any particular ideology.
The same can be said about Drijverová's attitude to providing a ‘message’; even though the range of trials and tribulations that affect her characters can be very wide. In her book, Christopher and Carl (Kryštof a Karel), these trials are represented by the hero’s illness. A child's life in a difficult social situation is explored in Drijverová's trilogy about the mother's search for a new partner (Dad for Next Christmas - Táta k příštím Vánocům; Dad for Joy and Grievance - Táta pro radost i pro zlost; Dad Doesn't Like the Blues - Táta nemá smutky rád). All these are very accomplished texts; even though the first was Drijverová's debut novel. She presents her readers with an engaging and traumatizing mix: family conflicts that mostly affect the child, the very demanding task of searching for a new dad, and so on. Drijverová's aim is to make the reader understand that even such difficult situations can have positive effects. She is sensitive but open when writing about the social isolation of physically handicapped children. In her novel, Home for Martians (Domov pro Marťany), Drijverová describes the difficult life of a girl who has moved to a new area with her parents and her younger brother, who suffers from Down syndrome. Not only does the girl have to start with a new group of children, she also has to deal with the reactions to her brother of the people around her. Such familiar conflicts are also described in two novels about a fierce schoolgirl, which Drijverová published through the Albatros publishing house. When the first of these - Sisa the Sour (Sísa Kyselá) appeared in 1988, it immediately joined a collection of interesting books that tried to appeal to the younger reader by depicting his, or her, problems. Unique language, lively dialogues and funny story - all these characteristics lie behind the success that this book has received from both the audience and from literary critics. In 2002, Drijverová published a sequel to Sisa the Sour, called Sisa the Sour and the Shabby Knight (Sísa Kyselá a ušmudlaný rytíř). However, the story seemed artificial and lacked immediacy, so the book failed to achieve the same success as its forerunner.
The other aspect of Drijverová's work, consists of fairy tales and historical novels. She often adapts well known stories, such as Christmas Tales From All Over the World (Vánoční pohádky z celého světa) and uses the same method in her Fairy Tales About Water (Pohádky o vodě), Fairy Tales About Ghosts (Pohádky o strašidlech) and Fairy Tales From All Over the World (Pohádky z celého světa). In Robins, (Robinové), she creates a world of characters similar to Tove Jansson's moomins. The world of these small elves is an educational, yet funny depiction of a small but functioning community. Included in Drijverová's adaptations are books dealing with Czech history; she has published two which, in an original way, introduce the reader to Czech history and myths. For younger readers attending primary school, there is her Czech Myths for Small Children (České pověsti pro malé děti). A diverting attempt to picture Czech history in an amusing way is Drijverová's Czech History Seen Through Dog's Eyes (České dějiny očima Psa). In this, the most important historic events, from the mythical coming of Slavs, led by the forefather Čech, to the Hussite movement, are described by the author with the introduction of an unusual narrator with its own sense of humor and exaggeration. The main story line stresses the importance of the timeless co-existence of man and dog. The dog is depicted here as the most faithful of humanity's fellow-travelers. It acts as a commentator on, and sometimes even the perpetrator of, historic events. The dog stays the same throughout all history and is always there to observe as rulers, dynasties and uprisings come and go. The dog is the central character of the novel, never misses anything of importance, and is a frequent visitor to all the European courts.
Martina Drijverová has also adapted her own texts for radio and TV, (Moura and Matylda - Moura a Matylda; Mister Weeping and the Thistle - Pan Uplakán a bodlák; Dad for Next Christmas). She also adapted the texts of her favourite author, Selma Lagerlöf, into Nils and the Wild Duck (Nils a divoké kachny) and she is working on Pilgrims (Poutníci), which is based on texts written by Božena Němcová. Her experience with the youngest of readers can be seen in the TV cartoon series, Pablo and the Jaguar (Pablo a jaguár), Camomiles (Heřmánci) and The Mysterious Candlestick (Tajemný svícen).
Today, Martina Drijverová combines features of both aspects of her work into one. A narrative with a child as protagonist, which once used to be the main topic of her books, is now complemented by projects that deal with the past. She has moved from the fairy tale to historical romance and has achieved it with her own unique sense of humor. She remains convinced that with a smile and a positive attitude, one can face nearly everything that life brings.
(mr)
The profile updated as of 1 April 2008
