Sokolíčková Zdenka

“The Paradox of Svalbard” by Zdenka Sokolíčková
On the occasion of her book “The Paradox of Svalbard”, Czech social anthropologist and writer Zdenka Sokolíčková discusses with the poet, translator and philologist Yiannis Doukas about what it’s like to live and work in the northernmost inhabited point of the planet, the Archipelago’s transition from coal mining to Arctic tourism, the alarming -and perhaps hopeless- depiction of climate change, and the strained boundaries of globalization, in terms of class, language, and economy.

4th Chania Book Festival 2025

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Documentary Screening: “The Visitors” / Zdenka Sokolíčková
Duration: 83 min. With English subtitles.
The film follows Zdenka, a young anthropologist who moves with her family to Svalbard, Norway, to study how life is changing in the polar regions. She falls in love with her new home, but discovers that in the Arctic Circle, it’s not only the icebergs that disappear. Her research uncovers the impact of globalization, as well as underground tensions within a small, diverse community. What she intended to do was simply observe, but now she must decide how much she can – and should – become involved.

4th Chania Book Festival 2025