Fathers, Lovers and Lorry Drivers: Male Characters in the Universe of Ivana Dobrakovová’s Prose

Abstract

The paper analyses the depiction of male characters in the select texts of the Slovak writer Ivana Dobrakovová. Although male protagonists are not rare in her prose, little attention is paid to them. This literary approach to their depiction is determined by the writer’s strong focus on the main female protagonists – the female characters make the majority in Dobrakovová’s short stories. However, men regularly appear as fathers or intimate partners of her female characters, and these relationships – ranging from informal to institutional – play a specific role in her works.