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This original study revisits the critical historical and cultural debates in Czech society immediately following World War II. Bradley F. Abrams discovers that communist public figures were largely successful in controlling the discourse over the nation's recent past_the interwar First Republic and the experiences of Munich and World War II_and over its location on the East-West continuum. This success was later mirrored in the struggles over socialism, the burning political issue of the time. The communists engaged their political foes in the democratic socialist and Roman Catholic camps, and, surprisingly, found significant support from a major Protestant church. The author's careful reading of major publications of the day vividly recreates a postwar mood sympathetic to radical social change, thus casting doubt on the standard view of the communists' rise to power. A rich contribution to our understanding of Czech history, this book also raises provocative questions about the relationship between war and radical social change, the communist takeover of the region, and the role of intellectuals in public life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A reappraisal of the appeal of communism in the Czech lands after WWII
This volume is part of the Harvard Cold War Studies series and is a valuable reappraisal of communist electoral strength in the Czech lands following World War II. The text is scholarly, heavily researched, well documented, and erudite. At times, a desire for completeness and detail conflict with readability but overall the text reads well.

While there will be those who will argue with Abrams premise, and while some will argue about the narrow focus on Czech (as opposed to Slovak) interests, this book provided a sensitive insight into the social and political complexities that followed the upheavals of World War II. The books three main sections (Czech intellectual context; reinterpretation of Czech history and the reorientation of the Czech nation; and the different meaning of socialism) are extensively addressed with interesting interweaving of ideas and motifs. The book is a solid, very informed read that leaves this reader, at least, considerably more aware of the political and social forces at work in this critical period of Czech (and Slovak) history. Abrams does an excellent job of engaging his reader's attention and suggesting complex questions rather than provide facile answers.

An excellent detailed study of the rise of communism within the matrix of ideas about Czech national identity and aspirations.

Fascinating, infuriating
The 1948 Communist seizure of power was the only time when Communism came to power in a country with strong democratic traditions.Previously, it has been the leading member of the democratically elected coalition government that had ruled the country since 1945.During the cold war, American and emigre scholars argued that this was a classic example of Communist subversion, of how it pretended to offer a democratic visage while plotting to install totalitarian government.As time went on, some scholars were skeptical of this, wondering whether if it had not been for the cold war the coalition government might have been continued.Bradley Abrams seeks to look at this period again in a new book, whose focus is fascinating and infuriating.Abrams' argument is that a key reason why the Communists were successful in 1948 was because they were able to construct intellectual debate in such a way as to give them a decisive advantage.Although Abrams doesn't use this term, the CPC had a hegemony in Czech political life.Partly this was the result of the shock of Munich, which ruined the image of the West in Czech eyes, as well as the Nazi occupation.But by looking at such issues as the widespread socialist consensus, the need for a new national consciousness, the generation of 1945, and the reputation of the first republic, we can see the Communist advantage in one arena of debate after another.Abrams looks at three groups:the "democratic socialists" who ended up accepting too many of the Communists' premises, the Czech Protestants, who enthusiastically endorsed more of them, and the Czech Catholics, who were properly skeptical and reasonable, but who were too weak to have sufficient influence.Abrams is useful in providing a good comparative account of Eastern Europe, both in its war experiences, as well as the strength of local Communist parties, based on the latest research.Nor were the CPC's claims for a moderate, parliamentary road to socialism mere subterfuge, though obviously they were not sincere enough.There is one particularly useful passage about 1948 Czech opinion.For many years people thought independent opinion polls showed that Communist support was falling noticeably from the 38% it won in 1948, and that is why the carried out the Prague coup.But Abrams notes that the Communist polls suggested they would win a majority in 1948, while other scholars suggest that their support was stable.In general, Abrams provides new detail and information about the 1945-1948 period.



But there are less satisfactory aspects of the book.For a start, this book almost entirely deals with the CZECH experience.There is much less said about the Slovak experience.There is little said about the Czech experience of collaboration, either as a theme of intellectual debate or in retrospective scholarship.Nor is there any discussion of the Holocaust in Czechoslovakia.It is noteworthy that in his approval of Catholic criticisms of socialism, that Abrams does not really discuss Tiso, the Slovakian Quisling who happened to be a priest, and whose political party relied on Catholic mobilization for its political success.(It also makes one Protestant's crude denunciation of Catholicism as a "fascist religion" slightly more reasonable).One serious problem is that his discussion of "democratic socialists" lumps in both the right of the Social Democratic party and the National Socialists.The latter party, which incidentally had nothing to do with the Nazis, is glibly described as socialist.It certainly was not a socialist party in the first republic it dominated, where Abrams himself notes that the state sector was smaller than in most other Eastern European countries.And this leads to the real problem with Abrams' book.It has a top-down approach, with everything concentrating on intellectual discussion.We only get brief mentions of who supported the political parties, and even less on why people supported them or how the parties worked on a local and grassroots basis.Aside from a few opinion polls, we get little sense of what people actually thought about politics.In summary, Abrams' account follows contemporary Czech opinion which castigates the democratic opposition for not posing a more vigorous resistance.But it strikes me as unfair for criticizing Benes for lacking the heroism of a Havel.Havel, after all, was risking only his own life, as well as inconveniencing a few friends, while Benes faced the risk of civil war with little likelihood he could win, and less practical assistance from the United States.Moreover, the focus of intellectual discourse and the lack of focus of public opinion makes it difficult to judge the non-communist's strategy.If Communist support was declining, then the non-communists' tactful attitude was working.But even if the CPC was not declining, Abrams' account conflates intellectual matters with strategic and tactical ones.A more thorough account is needed to be really satisfactory. ... Read more

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Czech Film and Literature
Thomas, Alfred. "The Bohemian Body: Gender and Sexuality in Modern Czech Culture", University of Wisconsin Press, 2007.

Czech Literature and Film

Amos Lassen and Literary Pride

If you have followed my reviews you know that I usually dabble in lighter literature but every once in a while a scholarly book comes along that I feel deserves to be mentioned. Such is the case with Alfred Thomas's "The Bohemian Body". The Czech Republic has always been a land of intrigue as well as a place that we do not know much about. Alfred Thomas changes that. He looks at the gamut of the nation and writes about it with beauty. The Czech Republic is a small country that more than once has been on the verge of disappearing altogether culturally while still holding on to cosmopolitanism. Thomas looks at the culture of the country in ways that will undoubtedly bring about discussion.
Looking at modern Czech literature and film through a variety of lenses can only bring about greater understanding. Looking at the texts ad films from the point of view of gender analysis reveals a relationship between the personal and the political and also joins local and European identities. Thomas looks at the forces of modernism that helped to shape Czech nationalism and the interaction between the arts and between ethnic and social groups. He examines the contributions of all--gays and straights, men and women and Czechs and Germans.
Taking the period form the National Revival and going to the Velvet Revolution. We notice an attempt to be more personal and to separate from the political. Here is where the true culture of the country lies. The modern Czech identity has been brought about by those delving in the arts and culture and identity are very closely related and intertwined. Czech culture is filled with nuance and paradox and up until quite recently has been overlooked by the rest of the world. With this book, we get a clear look at the culture and the people.
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This is the first critical account of the life and writings of Ezekiel Landau, chief rabbi of Prague from 1754 to 1793 and one of the most significant figures of eighteenth-century Jewish history. His counsel was sought by a wide spectrum of rabbinic leaders, scholars, and laity, and his writings continue to shape Jewish law and rabbinic thought to this day.This study reconstructs the intellectual world of the traditional society in which Landau lived. In doing so it emphasizes the dominance of rabbinic culture in the city at this period, the importance of kabbalistic ideas and practices, and its numerous distinguished figures and institutions. In focusing on the city's vibrant rabbinic culture and analysing the spiritual trends that animated it, it demonstrates that Prague's late eighteenth-century rabbinate was more influential, more conservative, and less open to modernization and Haskalah than previously recognized, and shaped more by eastern European Jewish culture rather than by Western influences.Landau is best known for his authorship of the rabbinical responsa published as Noda biyehudah and is generally seen as staunchly opposed to esoteric practices.This study challenges that view, exposing the central importance of kabbalah in Landau's works and thought and showing that he frequently blended teachings from diverse kabbalistic schools and trends in a syncretic and original manner. It also identifies the factors underlying his reluctance to discuss kabbalah publicly. Instead of focusing solely on the history of events, this work examines the ideas that remained widespread among Prague Jews despite the tumultuous times in which they lived. Landau devoted much of his career to shaping the values and practices of his community and frequently tailored his works to their needs, beliefs, and mentalities. Accordingly, his writings and numerous other contemporary sources provide us with a unique glimpse into the spiritual and psychological world of eighteenth-century Prague Jews. All Landau's rabbinic writings are utilized in this book, as well as a variety of archival and published German, Yiddish, and Hebrew sources.By unraveling and examining the many diverse threads that were interwoven into the fabric of PragueA s eighteenth-century Jewish life, this study offers a more complete portrayal of rabbinic culture during the last years that it thrived in one of most important centres of European Jewry. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Countries and Their Cultures, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 5575 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Covers the broad range of popular religious culture of the United States at the close of the twentieth century. Beliefs, practices, symbols, traditions, movements, organizations, and leaders from the many traditions in the pluralistic American community are represented. Also includes cults and phenomena that drew followers, such as Heaven's Gale and UFOs. ... Read more

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The story of Czech theatre in the twentieth century involvesgenerations of mesmerizing players and memorable productions. Beyondthese artistic considerations, however, lies a larger story: a theatrethat has resonated with the intense concerns of its audiences acquiresa significance and a force beyond anything created by strikingindividual talents or random stage hits. Amid the variety ofperformances during the past hundred years, that basic and provocativereality has been repeatedly demonstrated, as Jarka Burian reveals inhis extraordinary history of the dramatic world of Czech theatre.

Following a brief historical background, Burian provides achronological series of perspectives and observations on the evolvingnature of Czech theatre productions during this century in relation totheir similarly evolving social and political contexts. OnceCzecho-slovak independence was achieved in 1918, a repeated interplayof theatre with political realities became the norm, sometimesstifling the creative urge but often producing even greaterartistry. When playwright Vaclav Havel became president in 1990, thiswas but the latest and most celebrated example of the vital engagementbetween stage and society that has been a repeated condition of Czechtheatre for the past two hundred years.

Underlying all questions of the Czech theatre's relevance to itsaudience is the historically and culturally shaped relationshipbetween the two. In Jarka Burian's skillful hands, it also becomes anextremely important touchstone for understanding the history of moderntheatre within western culture. ... Read more

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This work represents a rare historical and theological reflection in the English language on the role of the Christian church in an eastern European community. The Czech Republic, one of the most secularized nations in Europe, presents a unique study of the struggle of the Christian Church to engage in a dialogue with a profoundly secularized society. The book begins with a brief historical overview of Czech religious history from the Fourteenth to the Twentieth Century and then goes on to both identify and analyze in greater depth the issues that have surfaced since the revolution of 1989 as an ecclesiastical culture clashes with an evolving secularized one dominated by goals determined by a new economic system. The author believes that the experience of the Church in the Czech Republic offers valuable insights to the universal Church as it confronts the phenomenon of secularization in its Twenty-First Century expression. ... Read more

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American expatriates and long-term visitors have been coming to the Czech Republic in droves for generations, and many of them will tell you that there is nowhere in Europe with more to offer in terms of hospitality, entertainment, culture, sports and outdoors activities, cost of living, and the ability for someone from outside the country to blend in almost perfectly after learning the language.

There are a few American customs which are looked upon askance here and which American newcomers will have to avoid. One is American informality. Czechs never put their feet on their desks. Women and men should not walk into a church with their hands in their pockets, it is considered disrespectful. In the old days women were not supposed to smoke on the streets – this has changed among the young. Czech women never cross their legs across their knee when they are in pants.

One thing that puts Americans off is that Czechs will tell you exactly how they feel when you ask them how they feel- Jak se mate? Yiak se mate? how are you?

Most Czechs will tell you, just o.k., or bad or not good or so so, because in fact, life is tough on them here, and often they don’t feel fine and are honest about it. Following that, Czechs are very likely to go on to tell you in some detail about the medical problems that their family, children or friends have. Very rarely would they tell you any other detail about their personal lives, but they seem to delight in discussing their maladies.

Some of the most difficult things for new expatriates living in the Czech Republic to adjust to are:

1. Not being able to touch anything while you are shopping. Therefore you cannot look at merchandise closely as clerks are usually reluctant to pull things from the shelves. Also shop clerks tend to be quite surly.

2. Most restaurants have only one seating and will not allow you to make reservations – but then you may also not be able to sit down at what to you seems like an empty table if anybody else is coming that evening who the proprietor knows and likes.

3. The answer to any request you may make is usually no, rather than yes, from officials. Or, if they actually like you a little (maybe you’ve learned a bit of the Czech language) then you’ll hear“maybe”, which also never results in actual actions, but is intended to soften the blow. In other words, it is difficult to get things done and takes a long time. I always advise people to make their travel plans and purchase their tickets before they enter the Czech Republic, or to get somebody local to help them, because dealing with institutions is complex and frustrating. Czechs seem resigned to the fact that things often don’t work very well.

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Czech, German, and Noble examines the intellectual ideas and political challenges that inspired patriotic activity among the Bohemian nobility, the infusion of national identity into public and institutional life, and the role of the nobility in crafting and supporting the national ideal within Habsburg Bohemia. Patriotic aristocrats created the visible and public institutional framework that cultivated national sentiment and provided the national movement with a degree of intellectual and social legitimacy. The book argues that the mutating identity of the aristocracy was tied both to insecurity and to a belief in the power of science to address social problems, commitment to the ideals of enlightenment as well as individual and social improvement, and profound confidence that progress was inevitable and that intellectual achievement would save society. The aristocrats who helped create, endow and nationalize institutions were a critical component of the public sphere and necessary for the nationalization of public life overall. The book explores the myriad reasons for aristocratic participation in new or nationalized institutions, the fundamental changes in legal and social status, new ideas about civic responsibility and political participation, and the hope of reform and fear of revolution. The book examines the sociability within and creation of nascent national institutions that incorporated fundamentally new ways of thinking about community, culture, competition, and status. The argument, that class mattered to the degree that it was irrelevant, intersects with several important historical questions beyond theories of nationalism, including debates about modernization and the longevity of aristocratic power, the nature of the public sphere and class, and the measurable impact of science and intellectual movements on social and political life. ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The X Factor is a television music talent show franchise originating in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for the massively successful Pop Idol (Called Česko hledá SuperStar). A talent show is an event where contestants perform acting, singing, dancing, acrobatics,drumming, martial arts and other activities to showcase a unique form of talent, often for some sort of reward. Some very early known works include Shakespeare plays held in courtyards for the community to enjoy. In recent times, talent shows have become a notable genre of reality television. Shows such as Popstars, Idol series, The X Factor, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, BritAsiaSuperStar and Got Talent series have become very popular, and some participants have become famous as a result. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Junior Worldmark Encyclopedia of Foods and Recipes of the World, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 1226 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.Provides comprehensive coverage of the foods and recipes of approximately 75 cultural groups from more than 60 countries. Entries provide 10-15 recipes for each group and include data on the agriculture and dietary habits of each group as well as an overview of each group's nutrition and health. ... Read more

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Gender equality permeates all areas of action in the EU enlargement process. Although in principle equality has been achieved in all candidate countries, women have not yet practically benefitted from this since institutional mechanisms for implementation are missing. ... Read more

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This book examines forms of discursive resistance to joining theEuropean Union on a part of political elites from East Central Europe.Based on an analysis of party manifestos from 1990-2003 and 60in-depth interviews with Czech and Slovak parliamentarians in2000, the study provides a comprehensive consideration of themost heated issues during the years leading up to EU accession andreveals major shifts in the quality and directions of debate aboutEuropean integration. Among the study?s findings isthatoppositional stances in post-communist countries mobilising to jointhe EU were different from anti-European positions in existingmember states.In countries that were seeking to "return to Europe" after decades of totalitarian repression, political "euroscepticism" isinterwoven with strands of ambiguity as to the prospects of whatintegration in this new, market-based "world order" might mean forsmall nations on the European periphery, as well as sometimesopportunistic manipulation of the public?s fears of losing nationalidentity and sovereignty. ... Read more

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On the demand side, exporters and strategic planners focusing on prepared culture media for the development of micro-organisms in Czech Republic face a number of questions. Which countries are supplying prepared culture media for the development of micro-organisms to Czech Republic? How important is Czech Republic compared to others in terms of the entire global and regional market? How much do the imports of prepared culture media for the development of micro-organisms vary from one country of origin to another in Czech Republic? On the supply side, Czech Republic also exports prepared culture media for the development of micro-organisms. Which countries receive the most exports from Czech Republic? How are these exports concentrated across buyers? What is the value of these exports and which countries are the largest buyers?

This report was created for strategic planners, international marketing executives and import/export managers who are concerned with the market for prepared culture media for the development of micro-organisms in Czech Republic. With the globalization of this market, managers can no longer be contented with a local view. Nor can managers be contented with out-of-date statistics which appear several years after the fact. I have developed a methodology, based on macroeconomic and trade models, to estimate the market for prepared culture media for the development of micro-organisms for those countries serving Czech Republic via exports, or supplying from Czech Republic via imports. It does so for the current year based on a variety of key historical indicators and econometric models.

In what follows, Chapter 2 begins by summarizing where Czech Republic fits into the world market for imported and exported prepared culture media for the development of micro-organisms. The total level of imports and exports on a worldwide basis, and those for Czech Republic in particular, is estimated using a model which ... Read more

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The time for autobiographies has arrived. Interest in authentic life stories seems greater than ever, even greater than well written works of fiction, because readers begin to recognise that nothing is more fantastic than the complicated reality through which we are forced to make our way. Accounts of everyday life have long since become a source of historic insight, and even historians are beginning to admit that concrete vignettes of an autobiographer's life are often better able to portray what the past was really like. All of this holds true for the memoirs of Jakob Ludwig Heller, who lived in the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the 19th and 20th centuries. The records that he left behind reveal that nostalgic individuals were not far wrong in viewing the Empire and its era as the quintessence of an intact world.Of course things were not as peaceful and happy for everyone in the Danube monarchy, but compared with today's world, Jakob Ludwig Heller's milieu was a true idyll, where marriages endured, family ties were strong, hard work was rewarded, and people rejoiced over simple social gatherings.Upbringing was strict, but caring, the children were well behaved, and earning a living was fun. Long live progress! The feeling that what he describes is lost forever is magnified further by the fact that he grew up in a Jewish, Central European milieu, where Jews perhaps did not live without tensions among neighbours of other faiths, but did live without being persecuted, robbed, and murdered. Not only Jewish readers will regret the loss of that normal way of life.Near the end of his memoirs, in retrospect the diarist complains about the inexplicable intrusions of lax morals, the disappearance of fixed norms, and the lack of the earlier, ever-present feeling of security and continuity. What would he say today? But what makes the reading of this simple story so rewarding, apart from the historic information, is the intelligent, humorous, warm-hearted man who is encountered on every page. His comments about the First World War are especially touching. Despite his extensive life experience, they betray his naive belief in Germany and Austria, in the government and the army.He is convinced that the Central Powers fight for a just cause at a time when Karl Kraus is writing "The Last Days of Mankind".But in those days the great satirist was still quite alone with his opinion. Most of the Jews, even most of the people, probably felt as did Jakob Ludwig Heller. And the waning of those certainties is the greatest tragedy of all, a sign of the insurmountable distance between our world and that of the past. ... Read more

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To date, remarkably little research attention has been paid to the development of Jewish beliefs and rituals about illness and death. Crossing the Jabbok presents an illuminating study of such views and practices among Ashkenazi Jews (1500s-1800s) and is one of the first works to apply history of mentalits methods to a topic in Jewish cultural studies. Focusing on Prague, then the center of Central and Western European Jewry, the author draws on a rich array of materials to explore what was distinctively Jewish about the approach of Jews to sickness and dying. Her discoveries shed new light on the institution of the hevra kaddisha, or burial society, and many existing customs. ... Read more