by Professor Dr. Imrich Sedlák

The work of Slovak writers living abroad may generally be classified as either compatriotic or exile literature.
Compatriotic literature with its specific features (having an active and creative inclination to ‘the old homeland’ and Slovak literature in general, but also being influenced by the environment and literature of the country in which the author resides) is viewed as a part of Slovak literary life, but as a separate unit. Therefore we do not include it the process within the History of Slovak Literature. Compatriotic literature includes works written on the territory of Serbian Vojvodina, Hungary and Romania and may also be said to incorporate works written by Slovaks living in Croatia, Bulgaria, Poland and Ukraine, although the extent of literary development there has hardly been remarkable. The subject of our attention is a very specific phenomenon, and thus Slovak compatriotic literature written in the Czech Republic.
The work of Slovak writers in exile grew within the context of the native Slovak literary environment and the main character of their literary creation was not significantly disrupted by their stay in a foreign environment. Such works (also those written in exile) are considered to be an organic natural component of the literary process in the period of literary development they left behind when departing their homeland. They retain an appropriate and lasting place in the work named History of Slovak Literature (two volumes issued in 2004 and 2009).