Postavách

Postavách is the locative plural form of the Czech noun postava, meaning a character or figure in a narrative, or a person’s physical form or bearing. In literary and media contexts, the term refers to the individuals who populate a story, film, play, or other work, as well as to the way they are presented or perceived by the audience. The sense can cover fictional characters as well as real persons described or depicted within a text, depending on the context.

Grammatical and usage notes: postavách is used with prepositions that require the locative case, for example in phrases such as o postavách (about the characters) or ve postavách (in the characters’ portrayal). It is the plural counterpart to the singular locative postavě. The word is commonly employed in literary criticism, film analysis, theatre studies, and journalism when discussing characterisation, development, motivations, or relationships between characters.

Relation to other terms: postavách is closely related to the singular postava (character, figure) and the nominative plural postavy (the characters). It contrasts with terms focused on physical appearance or identity in non-fiction contexts, such as osoba (person) or postava as a general sense of form or bearing. In some analyses, postavy are treated as agents shaping the narrative rather than merely as background.

See also: postava, postavy, character (in Czech literature), characterisation, narrative analysis.