Representation of the socialist heritage in Prague city guidebooks

• Thesis title in Czech: Reprezentace socialistického dědictví v pražských městských průvodcích
• Thesis title in English: Representation of the socialist heritage in Prague city guidebooks
• Key words: Praha|průvodce|turistické trasy|kulturní dědictví socialismu|architektonické dědictví
• English key words: Prague|guidebook|heritage trails|socialist heritage|built heritage
• Academic year of topic announcement: 2019/2020
• Thesis type: diploma thesis
• Thesis language: angličtina
• Department: Institute of General History (21-USD)
• Supervisor: Mgr. Jaroslav Ira, Ph.D.
• Author: hidden - assigned and confirmed by the Study Dept.
• Date of registration: 19.12.2019
• Date of assignment: 20.12.2019
• Administrator's approval: not processed yet
• Confirmed by Study dept. on: 16.01.2020
• Date and time of defence: 10.09.2020 15:15
• Date of electronic submission: 17.08.2020
• Date of proceeded defence: 10.09.2020
• Submitted/finalized: committed by student and finalized
• Opponents: doc. PhDr. Richard Biegel, Ph.D.

Guidelines

The thesis deals with the question how guidebooks have reflected the changing representation of built socialist heritage in Prague. According to my hypothesis, socialist heritage have never played any significant role in the representation of Prague; however, the socialist ideology during socialism, as well as the tourists’ interest in socialism after the fall of the Iron Curtain, might have been factors that motivated displaying socialist buildings in the Prague city guidebooks. The first part of the research deals with theoretical concepts, such as socialism, socialist urban development, strategies of legitimization, the image of the city, built socialist heritage, heritage trails and tourist gaze. The main part focuses on the analysis of guidebooks. As a methodology I am using textual and visual analysis of guidebooks from the socialist and the post-socialist period, focusing on frequency and type of highlighted socialist buildings, inclusion of socialism-related places in the suggested walks, interpretation of relation between old and new buildings and representation of socialist narratives in prefaces. To support results of my analysis, I will adopt comparative perspective and compare Prague with a similar city, Budapest. Both cities are historical capitals; neither Budapest’s nor Prague’s old town were changed dramatically during the Socialist period. The basic sources of analysis are official and conventional guidebooks of Prague and Budapest, addressed to both domestic and the English-reading foreign visitors. In the final and applied part, using the outcomes of my research, I will suggest a trail of built socialist heritage in Prague.

References

· Aman, Anders. Architecture and Ideology in Eastern Europe during the Stalin Era. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992.
· Atkinson, David. Totalitarianism and the street, in: Images of the street: Planning, identity and control in public space, ed.: Nichola R. Fyfe. London: Routledge, 1998.
· Bernier, Lyne, Mathieu Dormaels and Yann Le Fur. La patrimonialisation de l’Urbain, Montreal : Presses de l’Université du Québec, 2012.
· Crowley, David and Reid, Susan E. Reid. Socialist Spaces: Sites of Everyday Life in the Eastern Bloc. Oxford: Berg Publishers, 2002.
· Czepczyński, Mariusz. Cultural Landscapes of Post-Socialist Cities: Representation of Powers and Needs. Burlington: Ashgate, 2008.
· Heinich, Nathalie. La Fabrique du Patrimoine: de la cathédrale à la petite cuillère, Paris: Maison des sciences de l'homme, 2009.
· Molnár, Virág. Building the state: architecture, politics, and state formation in post-war central Europe, London: Routledge, 2013.
· Murzyn, Monika A.: Heritage Transformation in Central and Eastern Europe, in: The Ashgate Research Companion to Heritage and Identity, ed.: Brian Graham and Peter Howard, Burlington: Ashgate, 2008.
· Reid, Susan. E and Crowley, David. Style and Socialism: modernity and material culture in post-war Eastern Europe. Oxford: Berg, 2000.
· Timothy, Dallen J. and Boyd, Stephen W. Tourism and Trails: Cultural, Ecological and Management Issues, Channel View Publications, 2014.
· Urry, John. The tourist gaze, London: Sage, 1990.
· Heritage at Risk - Special Edition 2006: The Soviet Heritage and Europe Modernism, ed: Jörg Haspel, Michael Petzet, Anke Zalivako and John Ziesemer, Berlin: Hendrik Bäßler Verlag, 2007.
Guidebooks
· Svoboda, Alois. Prague-an intimate guide to Czechoslovakia’s 1000 year old capital, Prague: Olympia, 1968.
· Jenšík, Miloslav. Toulky Prahou, Prague: Práce, 1973.
· Rybár, Ctibor. Prague Guide, Information, Facts, Prague: Olympia, 1979.
· Flegl, Michal. Prague, Prague: Olympia, 1988.
· Tkáč, Vladimír. Praha, město kulturních pokladů, Opava: OPTYS, 1993.
· Czech, Jan. A-Z Prague Culture Guide, Prague: Pražská scéna, 1994.
· Dudák, Vladislav. Prague: a guide to the magical heart of Europe. Prague: Práh, 2010.
· Ryska, Petr. Praha neznámá, Prague: Grada Publishing, 2016.
· Halász, Zoltán. A pocket guide to Budapest, Budapest: Pannónia, 1965.
· Pallai, Katalin. Your guide to Budapest, Budapest: Téka, 1988.
· Budapest guide: The official city guide. Budapest: BFTK Budapest Festival & Tourism Centre, 2019.