“When a Boy Becomes a Man.” Masculinity in Czechoslovak/Czech Cinema on the Compulsory Military Service

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The study focuses on the representation of masculinity in Czechoslovak/Czech cinemas focused on compulsory military service. The analysis of relevant film production covers the issue from a long-term perspective, from the 1950s until the full professionalization of the Czech army in 2005. The research concentrates on identifying the preferred image of masculinity in the analysed works and possible subversive models for this preferred image. At the same time, the long time frame of the analysis makes it possible to explore possible continuities and discontinuities of images of masculinity between the communist regime (Czechoslovak People’s Army) and the democratic era after 1989 (Army of the Czech Republic). Here, the analytical outputs prove the persisting traditional gender hierarchy and the issues of militarization as a way how to support it.