History of the Czech Nation in Bohemia and Moravia

Bažant, Jan; Bažantová, Nina; Starn, Frances; Kirk, Robin

doi:10.1215/9780822393030-029

Cited by 1 publication

(5 citation statements)

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“… 9. For Patočka, it is really Přemysl Otakar II who deserves the title of the greatest Czech, in that he envisaged Bohemia as an ‘outpost’ of Western expansion in the East (Patočka, 2006: 269–270). This contrasts sharply with the view of Palacký, who saw Přemysl as an illustration of what happens when a Czech king abandons Slavic spiritual peacefulness and attempts to imitate German imperial aggressiveness: ‘from the beginning of his rule Přemysl’s attitudes were such that he seemed to be more of a German than a Slav’ (Palacký, 1930b: 52). Cf.…”

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confidence: 77%

“…With him,Bohemia once more, and for the last time, entered the wide stage of the world and became a European power; once more it became obvious what important part the Czech nation played in the middle of Europe, what seeds of statehood and humanity it contained and how serious its contribution to the destiny of mankind was. (Palacký, 1931a: 281)There was also another reason why the Hussites were symbolically important for Palacký. Although the ground of the Hussite movement was religious, to some extent, it was also a fight between the Czech artisan strata against the richer German families, and it resulted in a Czechization of Bohemian towns and the development of Czech language (Sayer, 1998: 41).…”

Section: Czech Particularist Master Myth (Mm1)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bohemia once more, and for the last time, entered the wide stage of the world and became a European power; once more it became obvious what important part the Czech nation played in the middle of Europe, what seeds of statehood and humanity it contained and how serious its contribution to the destiny of mankind was. (Palacký, 1931a: 281)…”

Section: Czech Particularist Master Myth (Mm1)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Czech nation is thus seen within MM1 as an active subject of history with a distinct international mission. ‘In their historical development and progress, the Czechs were isolated and left solely to themselves’ (Palacký, 1931b: 351). When the Czechs do enter the stage of world history, it is by actively initiating new spiritual impulses, which are sadly ignored by others.…”

Section: Particularism and Universalism Combinedmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 5. Palacký (1930a: 104): Czech history ‘is in general based mainly on the strife, or mixing and struggling [stýkání a potýkání] of the Slavic and the German element; in other words, on the permanent adopting and rejecting of German manners and orders by the Czechs’. Cf.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Competing myths of Czech identity

Chlup

2020

New Perspectives

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The article analyses the current antagonism between the Czech pro-Western liberal democratic discourse and the discourse of national sovereignty from the perspective of long-term conceptions of Czech national identity and the mythical narratives through which they have been expressed. I identify two basic mythical perspectives that have been crucial for the Czechs since the 19th century: the ‘particularist’ and the ‘universalist’. The latter originally only existed as a complement of the former, and it was not until 1968 that it was clearly expressed on its own (in its pro-Western version) in opposition to the particularist myth, eventually becoming the dominant narrative of the 1990s with their ethos of returning to the West. Once the post-revolutionary enthusiasm evaporated, however, the subsequent disillusion again came to be expressed through the particularist myth. While at present the universalist myth might seem as superior to the particularist one, from the perspective of theories of nationalism, both have their bright and dark sides, and it is only due to their present-day opposition that the particularist myth has taken the illiberal turn. A critical reflection of the limitations of both myths might allow us to soften their antagonism.

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mentioning

confidence: 77%

Section: Czech Particularist Master Myth (Mm1)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Czech Particularist Master Myth (Mm1)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Particularism and Universalism Combinedmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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