Abstract

The study addresses the issue of the depiction of homosexual partnerships and family relationships in contemporary Czech prose with LBGT+ themes. The introductory part defines the subject of interest. The family is defined as a union based not exclusively on genetic kinship, but also on other ties of social character (adoption, guardianship), while a long-term union of persons without children of their own is equally considered a family. The matter of cultivation theory in the field of fiction is discussed. Although fiction is an effective medium, it cannot perform a cultivation and awareness-raising function between the minority and the majority society, as minority LGBT+ literature is read nearly  exclusively by the minority. In the analytical part, the paper focuses on the analysis of titles of contemporary Czech literature for adult readers referring to lesbian relationships (Zuzana Brabcová Rok perel and Renáta Petříková Druhá šance) and titles intended mainly for children audiences which thematize family constellations in LGBT+ families with children. The article concludes that in contemporary Czech LGBT+ prose, fundamentally different narratives coexist, oscillating between a self-liberating or therapeutic function: texts dealing with the problem of coming out and coming to terms with one’s own identity – and free, joyful writing about the pleasant life of non-heteronormative individuals in the contemporary world. The basic defining characteristic of this kind of literature, then, is its inherent variety.