Lenka Pořízková
Methodological issues surrounding research into (literary) hoaxes
This paper attempts to summarize various methodological approaches to research into literary
hoaxes, referring to the different bases for the actual hoax concept in various historical and
regional contexts. It refers to the issues surrounding the actual definition of the hoax concept and
its detachment from the set of literary frauds and deceptions. It contrasts the horizontal and
vertical
model of literary hoax, the former being characteristically a combination of a hoax and frauds or
errors in the broader sense, while the latter sees a hoax as an extreme example of literary
stylization, a playful literary gesture, which can be detected at various textual levels. It presents
arguments for understanding hoaxes as verbal conceptual art.
hoax – literary fraud – literary deception – conceptual art
design by Bedřich Vémola
