TV Presentation of Jáchym Topol’s Novel “The Devil’s Workshop” (Video)

Topol’s dystopian and grotesque novel is set in the Czech city of Terezín, a former concentration camp where tens of thousands of people were tortured and killed. The televised premiere brought to the screen a black-humor phantasmagoria that explores trauma, memory and the transformation of tragedy into spectacle.

According to Gnel Nalbandyan, the defining feature of the book is its sharp and unsettling black humor.

“The book is a phantasmagoria that reaches the level of grotesque. It will especially appeal to readers drawn to darker, more complex literature. The author’s philosophy is to explore the tragedy of our ancestors and its consequences.

War tragedies and human suffering can serve different purposes: for some, they are tools of ideological revenge; for others, a way to revisit memory; for some, material for research; and for others, even a business opportunity.

Topol shows this through different layers of society. In post-war environments, artifacts often become objects of speculation. The grotesque begins when human tragedy turns into a means of propaganda or profit.”

Nalbandyan also reflected on the symbolic meaning of the novel’s title:

“The devil is a skilled craftsman, he polishes human souls, and sometimes we find ourselves in that workshop, becoming its raw material. A person ultimately chooses whether to end up in the workshop of good or evil.”

While rooted in historical reality, as Terezín indeed functioned as a concentration camp, the novel blends fact with fiction. The boundaries between reality and imagination are intentionally blurred.

“In the book, people from different parts of the world are drawn to Terezín. They all carry deep personal traumas and come face to face with their inner demons. Topol is deeply interested in the theme of trauma. 

When I met him, he recommended several books, including The Forty Days of Musa Dagh by Franz Werfel. He is genuinely engaged with the historical experiences and suffering of different nations.”

Translator Mariam Mansuryan noted that the original Czech title of the novel differs from its widely known translations. Although Topol initially titled the book “The Devil’s Workshop,” he later changed it after learning that a concentration camp survivor had already published a book under the same title. 

Nevertheless, in many languages, including Armenian, the novel is published under its original, now widely recognized name.