The chronotope (time-space) represents Bakhtin’s most ambiguous and therewith most problematic concept. In scholarly discourse, the chronotope is primarily interpreted either as an epistemological concept expressing the experience of perception, or alternatively as being primarily an anthropological concept expressing the possibilities of the action of a subject in time-space. The study represents a contribution to the existing discussion in its being a response to the contradiction between these interpretive tendencies. By means of the contextualization of the chronotope with Bakhtin’s early concept of participative thinking, the article not only clarifies the interaction of the epistemological and anthropological dimensions of the concept, but also presents a new view of the chronotope as a sign of event in Being and of chronotopic analysis as the realization of Bakhtin’s effort to relate to Being-as-event in participative manner. and Chronotop (časopriestor) predstavuje Bachtinov najnejasnejší a najproblematickejší koncept. V odbornom diskurze je chronotop interpretovaný ako primárne epistemologický koncept vyjadrujúci nazeranie a skúsenosť nazerania/percepcie, alebo ako primárne antropologický koncept vyjadrujúci možnosti konania subjektu v časopriestore. Štúdia predstavuje príspevok do existujúcej diskusie ako reakciu na protichodnosť týchto interpretačných tendencií. Prostredníctvom kontextualizácie chronotopu s Bachtinovou ranou koncepciou účastného myslenia v článku nielen objasňujeme vzájomnú interakciu epistemologickej a antropologickej dimenzie konceptu, ale taktiež predstavujeme nový pohľad na chronotop ako na označenie udalosti v Bytí a na chronotopickú analýzu ako na realizáciu Bachtinovej snahy účastne sa vzťahovať na Bytie-ako-udalosť.
This study analyses the chromotope of the suburb of Stínadla (“The Shades”), which plays a key role in the narrative organization of the cult “Stínadla” trilogy by Jaroslav Foglar, comprising his novels Záhada hlavolamu (Mystery of the Conundrum, 1941), Stínadla se bouří (The Shades in Revolt, 1947) and Tajemství velkého Vonta (Secret of the High Vont, 1986). The spacial structure of the trilogy’s text is divided into two spheres — the suburbs separated by a boundary, with their distinctive structure. By crossing this boundary the boys in the Rychlé šípy (“Rapid Arrows”) gang enter Stínadla, a labyrinthine chronotope with radically different rules, a dangerous unknown space where they lose their bearings and continually find themselves in danger. The labyrinthine topology of Stínadla impedes the gang and causes them to get lost. As they are escaping, Rychlé šípy come across transverse passageways between individual locations. The atmosphere is another stylistic and motif-based emanation of the Stínadla chronotope. and The chronotope textually constructed in this manner helps to generate the mysterious adventure story: as by crossing the boundary and infiltrating the Vont community the protagonists find themselves encountering a space where they generate the events of an adventure story. Another emanation of this chronotope is the special caste of boys who inhabit this space — the Vonts, whose character is determined by the topography and architecture of this labyrinthine suburb. The Vonts’ organization is structured on the model of a secret society with sacralized rituals. The “hedgehog in a cage” conundrum as a talisman is a sacral object symbolizing power and safeguarding unity within Stínadla. It is a mysterious object, a quest object, which sets the story in motion, as well as an object with a market value (an invention). In the trilogy the Stínadla chronotope generates three analogous plots, each of which is a mystery story built on the structure of an investigation, a quest for a mysterious object and the revelation of a dark tale from the past, in each of which the motif of the tragic demise of a boy plays a role, together with the mystery of his death and the notes he wrote before his death. The demonic Stínadla even has a destructive effect upon the Rychlé šípy boys themselves, sowing discord amongst them and an atmosphere of suspicion. For example, this chronotope even generates a dark doppelgänger of the exemplary Mirek Dušín.