Between Apology and Refusal, Between Persuasion and Manipulation - Andrej Hlinka in the Forming of the Institutionalized Memory of the Slovak Community Ii

Abstract

Changes in evaluation of Andrej Hlinka when making eff orts to form systemically the thinking of children and adolescents have in principle the same stages and milestones as the milestones of writing about Hlinka in the Slovak historical science, however, the dispute with respect to Hlinka in the area of education reached more remarkable even bizarre dimensions. Th is is proven by diff erences between offi cial texts of school textbooks, teaching aids published in the period of 1919-2013 and individual memory of adolescents which can be found in the whole above mentioned period in spite of the absence of relevant sources.Textbooks of interwar national (state) schools are characterized in particular by neglecting Hlinka, which is clearly visible when comparing the representation of other much less significant personalities of the modern Slovak history in their texts; however, we cannot state that this fact was aff ected only by the period doctrine (Czechoslovakism and republicanism). Moreover, we are still less aware of the impact of church schools of that period. A principal change of the paradigm in the image of Andrej Hlinka created for the young generation (aft er a typical boom of interim period of the First Slovak Republic) took place only aft er 1948 (and lasted until 1989). Th e analysis of texts in the textbooks of the related subjects should be included in the research of history textbooks; however, even now we can notice typical features of the displacement even elimination of Hlinka's personality from curricula, as well as its methodologically and didactically incorrect form (the use of Hlinka's Slovak National Party without explanation of the notion " A.H." etc.). It is still questionable to what extent this image, similarly as in historiography, has been formed besides ideological factors by the weakness of the Slovak methodology of history. Another even more serious question is a suffi ciently verifi ed analysis of Andrej Hlinka's popularity which is apparent among young generations of the period before and aft er revolution having minimum information about his personality acquired from offi cial (formal) education.