How Not to Prepare Majales: A Meaning-Centred Analysis of Subversive Student Performances in Communist Czechoslovakia

Werner Binder,Dominik Želinský

doi:10.5817/soc2016-4-61

Werner Binder, Dominik Želinský

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.5817/soc2016-4-61

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Abstract

This study offers a sociological analysis of a student carnival in communist Czechoslovakia, the Majales in Bratislava and Prague in May 1956. Utilizing sources such as newspaper articles, photographs and witness accounts, this case study aims to reconstruct the conditions, meanings and consequences of Majales, employing a theoretical framework that highlights processes of communication between centre and periphery. It is argued that the Majales were facilitated by a destabilization of the symbolic centre, triggered by Stalin’s death in March 1953 and Khrushchev’s speech in February 1956. This set the stage for the students, who criticized the centre with subversive performances and playful demonstrations of dissatisfaction. Finally, the initial reception of the performances in the official media and the efforts of the state apparatus to control the meanings of Majales are discussed.

Highlights

The year 1956 marked a turning point in the political, cultural and social history of Central and Eastern Europe
The audacious attempts of Polish and Hungarian protesters seemed to have had no counterpart in neighbouring Czechoslovakia, at that time known as a fortress of Stalinism
The Majales in Bratislava and Prague were not motivated by poverty, low housing quality or crowded cafeterias ‒ despite some specific concerns voiced by students. They arose at a time when the symbolic centre was destabilized and the state apparatus lost its grip over the periphery

Summary

Introduction

The year 1956 marked a turning point in the political, cultural and social history of Central and Eastern Europe. After Stalin’s death in 1953, a cultural thaw was already on the way, but it was only in 1956 that “de-Stalinization” fully took off In this new situation, various social groups began to publicly voice their feeling of disillusionment with the political system of state socialism. Majales were organized by the communist youth until the coup d’état in February 1948, after which they were prohibited (Pernes 2008: 141). It was not until 1956 that once again Majales celebrations were held in Bratislava (May 12) and Prague (May 20). All of a sudden, choose to criticize the Communist regime, and what cultural resources did they use to do so? And how did the state-controlled media and the political apparatus respond to this challenge?

Methodology and theoretical framework

Conclusion