Czech Reader Research Articles

Genderové aspekty rozvodovosti. Co může studium rozvodu nabídnout teoreticky zaměřené sociologii rodiny?

This review article maps a specific area of divorce research, which is important, but almost uncited in Czech sociology of the family: the connection between divorce and gender. It shows that although the concept of gender is implicitly embedded in the social phenomenon of divorce, the majority of empirical research on divorce conceptualises gender only as differences in the behaviour of men and women. This approach can be useful for explaining the gender structure of the causes and consequences of divorce. Here more attention is given to studies that explicitly mention the concept of gender at the structural, institutional, and interactional levels. It reviews the literature on gender as part of the institutional environment, and in this context it introduces the perspectives on changing gender roles as a factor influencing divorce and the literature mapping the potential of divorce to change the gender order of society. These theoretical perspectives are relatively rare in the divorce literature; therefore, it is useful to provide Czech readers with a review of some inspiring conceptualisations and put them in the context of knowledge about divorce in the Czech Republic.

Kurdská diaspora ve střední Evropě, její reakce na aktuální vývoj v Sýrii a Iráku a predikce dalšího vývoje

Following article deals with the Kurdish diaspora in Middle-Europe at the background of current conflict with so called Islamic State. Kurds are one of the main actors of this strong regional conflict and their diaspora in Germany and Austria are forced to react to such a situation. The text is focused not only on actual situation in Syria and Iraq, but mainly on Kurdish reaction towards it. Not only for Czech reader there is interesting part dealing with Kurdish community in Czech Republic, although this diaspora is not as numerous and strong as in Germany or Austria. One of the important outcomes of the article is an attempt to predict future scenarios of Kurds situation development. But it is necessary to mention the high dynamics of conflict with Islamic State complicates any such an attempt of prediction.

“Songs of Ancient China” – A Myth of “The Other” Appropriated by an Emerging Sinology

Legendary Czech Sinologist Průšek was attached to the ideal world created by Mathesius. And as can be seen from the words of contemporary senior Sinologists, the power of Průšek’s translations had a universal appeal among Czech readers at that time, inspiring interest in Sinology. The poet Mathesius, and later the Sinologist Průšek, with his authority of a scholar and teacher, used Chinese poetry to build up the idea of China as a world that would be an alternative to their own imperfect reality. This vision was transmitted to Průšeks pupils and through the power of popularization, which was according to Průšekan integral part of the academic duties of each scholar, was spread all over the cultural public. This alternative imaginary world enabled them to immerse in a beautiful fairy-tale, yet at the same time a fairy-tale in which familiar things could be recognized and desired, a world for which it is worth living among all the tragedies and desperation of the lived reality.Mongolian Journal of International Affairs Vol.19 2014: 134-152

120 let od (ne)vydání českého překladu knihy "Pojednání o účetnictví" od Luca Pacioliho

První tištěná učebnice podvojného účetnictví na světě, Pojednání o účetnictví Luca Pacioliho, vyšla jako část matematické učebnice Summa de arithmetica, geometria, proportii et proportionalita v Benátkách v roce 1494, letos je to tedy již 520 let. Zásluhou českých účetních historiků, K. P. Kheila ml. (1843-1908) a H. Raulicha (1866-1940) má český čtenář a zájemce o účetní historii dnes k dispozici vedle originálního textu, dále italské, německé, anglické a ruské verze, rovněž české verze Pacioliho Pojednání. Cesta k českým překladům nebyla jednoduchá. V případě Kheilova překladu zůstalo dokonce u ne zcela dokončené podoby překladatelské práce. Vzpomínáme letos především 120. výročí příprav vydání Kheilova překladu tiskem; vydání, které se nakonec neuskutečnilo.

Limity antropologie dětství

The aim of this study is to acquaint Czech readers with an often unmentioned sub-discipline of anthropology. This case study of "childhood" in the situation of social exclusion should open discussion on the epistemological barriers that the fieldworker faces when he wants an insight into the child's emic perspective. The main question that the study focuses on is how "childhood" is conceptualised in socially excluded localities. We will try to show a de-essentialised look at childhood as a phenomenon and its clash with the educational system. We will analyse socially excluded "childhood" using Berger's and Luckman's concept of social constructivism and Granovetter's concept of strong and weak ties. The result will be linked with pedagogical discourse, which, until now, entirely formed the way of thinking about children and childhood.

The Czech Reader: History, Culture, and Politics ed. by Jan Bažant, Nina Bažantová, and Frances Starn (review)

The Czech Reader: History, Culture, and Politics ed. by Jan Bažant, Nina Bažantová, and Frances Starn (review)

The Czech Reader: History, Culture and Politics – Edited by Jan Bažant, Nina Bažantová and Frances Starn

The Czech Reader: History, Culture and Politics – Edited by Jan Bažant, Nina Bažantová and Frances Starn

Josef Svatopluk Machar, Zenon Przesmycki und die Wiener Wochenschrift „Die Zeit“

The essay presents hitherto unpublished letters from Josef Svatopluk Machar, Zenon Przesmycki and Hermann Bahr, which are focussing on the Viennese weekly “Die Zeit”, edited by Bahr between 1894 and 1899. The correspondence between Bahr and the Czech writer and critic Machar shows up the dense modernist network, which came up due to Machar’s regular contributions to Bahr’s journal. This network was based on a mutual benefit, since both critics by means of their co-operation were able to work out their specific notion of modernism. Machar helped Bahr to present in “Die Zeit” the most actual tendencies in Czech literature, whereas Bahr due to the authority of his journal among Czech readers confirmed Machar’s aesthetic positions. The Polish critic Zenon Przesmycki, on the other hand, did not participate in this network because of his disregard for Bahr’s literary abilities.

Islam: Ideal and Reality

Under this title, another publication of a group of workers of the CSAV Oriental Institute, dealing with this highly topical issue, was published. Reviewed the book represents the logical culmination of the efforts of our most professional scientific workplace to bring the various aspects and spheres of influence of this world religion closer to the Czech reader. After the previously published books/ which showed how Islam influenced and still influences to a considerable extent the sphere of politics and the place of Muslim states in the world, the authors of the current publication took the step that is probably the most necessary from the point of view of our public, to comprehensively shed light on Islam by itself. It is necessary to say at the outset that they succeeded. The reader got his hands on a book that presents the basic characteristics of Islam in a readable form, explains the main concepts, brings Islamic institutions closer to it, etc. At the same time, the author's collective is based not only on theory and what is written, but also on practice and how the regulations of Islam are practically applied. In this regard, the subtitle of the book Ideal and Reality is really justified. The authors managed to capture different interpretations of the regulations, although they did not get bogged down in excessive details.

A Czech Winston Smith

A dissident writer on his country's real-life experience of 1984 George Orwell's famous novel about the horrendous future in store for all of us appeared just too late to achieve publication in Czechoslovakia: that country was being converted to a one-party totalitarian state when 1984 came out in England, and not surprisingly it has remained on ‘the index’ or black list of Prague's rulers ever since. Very appropriately it is to make its belated appearance in Prague this year, in a samizdat typescript translation. This is accompanied by a long introductory essay by one of Czechoslovakia's best-known and most interesting dissident writers, Milan Šimečka, who explains how he discovered staggering similarities between George Orwell's fiction and his own life experience. 1984 thus finds quite a different resonance among Czech readers than it could ever hope to do in its author's own country. For in Prague, many of Orwell's fantastic-sounding flights of the imagination have been everyday reality for the past 35 years. Here is a brief extract from the first part of Šimečka's graphic account of ‘Czechoslovakia, 1984’.

Great Society

The possibility of obtaining information about the problems of the United States of America for the Czech reader in recent years 112 so rare. Works by historians (N. N. Inozemcev, J. Volek), soldiers (O. Mahler, H. Kahn), sociologists (I. Dubská), publicists (P. Tva-roh, D. Pokorný) or writers (M. Ho-lub) and the articles and studies of many others make it possible, at least indirectly, to get acquainted with the issues of this world power, which is very distant for most of us due to normal communication. Recently, another contribution has been added to these views by the historian J. Volk, who in the library of the Alphabet of International Relations (in one of their final volumes) deals with the internal politics - and we will say right away, very successfully - of the American presidents I.F. Kennedy and L.B. Johnson. The author chose the "Great Society" of the current president as his main topic, who wanted to differentiate himself from his predecessor even in the name of his policy. Volek primarily wanted to "explain the questions of the internal, economic, social and above all political situation with an emphasis on the analysis of the concept of the Great Society". Regarding the origin of the invitation, I would like to draw attention to the interesting work of the Moscow IMEMO workers' collective,) where the authors mention the Great Society already in 1914 (Graham Wallace's book), but I see the theoretical basis for John's program in the work of Prof. Galbraith.