Constructions of modern Czech masculinity and feminity in memoirs written at the turn of the 19th century (1870–1918)

Abstract

This article explores the ways the masculinity and feminity of the emerging Czech elite were constructed at the turn of the 19th century. Using an often neglected literary genre of the memoirs, the study draws on extensive excerpts from memoir related to the town of Hradec Králové (Königgrätz), situated in Bohemia’s part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy at that time. Embodied in the new constructions of masculinity and feminity, the nation-building process was particularly vivid here. The article shows that the education of the young Czech elite was shaped by a particular ‘masculine schizophrenia’ and that their new modern masculinity was constructed in relation to their Austrian counterparts. In analyzing the identity constructions of women, the article identifies discrepancies found between the highly approved women’s emancipatory process in Czech society and the traditional gender order which allocated women to the household. Particularly, the study contributes to a revival of the memoir as an important history source, containing extremely valuable and highly nuanced insights into the formation of a new gender order which are not available in official narratives.