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PanoramaDictionary of Communist Totalitarianism decodes the language of propaganda
How did communist propaganda brainwash people? What were the most frequent
words used in the communist press? And was it at all possible to learn any
real news from the censored newspapers? These are some of the questions a
team of Czech linguists is trying to answer in their Dictionary of
Communist Totalitarianism. More
PanoramaDictionary of Communist Totalitarianism decodes the language of propaganda
How did communist propaganda brainwash people? What were the most frequent
words used in the communist press? And was it at all possible to learn any
real news from the censored newspapers? These are some of the questions a
team of Czech linguists is trying to answer in their Dictionary of
Communist Totalitarianism.
More
Current AffairsCharter 77 signatories want Nobel nomination for Chinese contemporaries
Some of the original signatories of the human rights appeal Charter 77 have
called on Czech politicians and academics to nominate the Chinese human
rights initiative Charter 08 for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize. Charter
08 was originally signed by more than 300 people, including the human
rights activist Liu Xiaobo, who’s been sentenced to 11 years in prison
for his involvement.
More
From the Archives“Hooligans and swindlers”: the communist regime and the Plastic People
In the 1970s the communist authorities tolerated popular music as long as
it was insipid, colourless and unoriginal – everything that the Czech
psychedelic rock band The Plastic People of the Universe most definitely
was not. Their music was inspired by Frank Zappa and The Velvet
Underground, their lyrics anarchic, their behaviour unconventional and
their hair long. In 1976 four members of the band were sentenced to prison
terms for what was described as “organised disturbance of the peace”,
and in December of the same year Czechoslovak Radio broadcast a documentary
that painted the band in the darkest possible colours and included extracts
from their music, recorded secretly at their concerts.
More
One on OnePřemysl Janýr: Czechs and Austrians are like twins
The Czech Republic currently, for the first time ever, has good relations
with all of its neighbours – with perhaps one exception. Relations
between Czechs and Austrians, hampered by a feud over the Temelín nuclear
power plant in southern Bohemia, sank to a historic low in the 1990s, and
are only slowly improving. In this edition of One on One, we speak to
Přemysl Janýr, the Vienna-based chairman of the Forum for Czech-Austrian
Dialogue. More
One on OneMartin Palouš – Czech ambassador to the United Nations in New York
Martin Palouš was one of the first signatories of the Charter 77 protest
document. Since 1989 he has been a parliamentary deputy, an academic, and
Czech ambassador to Washington. Now, however, Mr Palouš represents the
Czech Republic at the United Nations in New York. When we spoke last week
at his office on Manhattan’s Madison Avenue, we began with the subject of
Charter 77 and his days as a dissident.
More
One on OneDelhi, Oxford, Prague – the three homes of Paul Flather
On the occasion of its 660th anniversary, Charles University recently
hosted an annual meeting of Europaeum, an association of ten leading
European universities, including Oxford. Europaeum also organized a
workshop on European migration at the Institute of Economics, drawing young
scholars from Leiden, Geneva, Prague, Oxford and Krakow. At the end of the
week I met with Europaeum’s secretary general Paul Flather and asked him
to tell me more about its history:
More
Czechs TodayOndřej Kohout: exiled artist who made Vienna his home
In this edition of Czechs Today, we talk to Ondřej Kohout, a painter and
stage designer who left Czechoslovakia with his family in the early 1980s
after signing the Charter 77 manifesto. He went to live in Vienna where he
reunited with his father, the poet and playwright Pavel Kohout, who had
been forced out of his country by communist authorities. In the Austrian
capital Ondřej Kohout established himself as an independent artist, and
since 1983 he has had more than 60 exhibitions in Austria, the Czech
Republic, Germany and other European countries. Most recently, Czechs have
had a chance to see his work featured at exhibitions in Mikulov and at the
Nová Síň gallery in Prague last year.
More
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