HIB0399 „Minorities“ in Communist Czechoslovakia 1948-1989

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2009
Extent and Intensity
0/2. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mag. phil. Adrian Portmann, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
prof. PhDr. Jiří Malíř, CSc.
Department of History – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Mon 13:20–14:55 A21 stara
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 25 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/25, only registered: 0/25, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/25
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
there are 20 fields of study the course is directly associated with, display
Course objectives
The seminar shall provide basic knowledge about the existence, social status and internal constitution of so-called minority groups in postwar Czechoslovakia. As members of such entities can be regarded persons with other mother-tongues than Czech or Slovak, or generally speaking persons with a distinct cultural or geographical background in comparison to the majority of Czech (Slovak) society. It is not by chance that we will not operate with the term „national (ethnical) minority“, because the focus will not be laid only upon „traditional“ entities (like Germans, Magyars, Polish, Roma, Croats, Ukrainians/Rusyns, Lusitian Serbs), but also on entities which cannot be clearly characterized as „minorities“ or as part of some postulated majority. This is the case, for example, with so-called reemigrants, autochthonous inhabitants of Hlučín, Těšín and Vitorazsko region, within Slovakia among others with inhabitants of Spiš (Zips) and Orava area and the eastern part of the country. The central question shall be, which policy was chosen by the regime towards these groups and what kind of social demands were presented by their representants.
Syllabus
  • The aims of the seminar include getting aware of the problematic character of any clear assigning of human individuals to some large social groups. During the course it will become evident that the postwar ideal of constructing ethnically or linguistically homogene sociaties in the Bohemian lands and in Slovakia remained in some regions far beyond reality, even if this aim was reached very significantly in a overall (statewide) perspective. The course will be accompanied by the occasional lecture of texts, individual (oral) presentations of selected topics and probably also by conversations with invited hosts.
Literature
  • Staněk, Tomáš: Německá národnostní menšina v českých zemích 1948-1989. Praha 1993.
  • Von Arburg, Adrian: tak či onak. Nucené přesídlení v komplexním pojetí poválečné sídelní politiky v českých zemích. In: Soudobé dějiny X/3, 2003, s. 253-292.
  • PAVELČÍKOVÁ, Nina. Romové v českých zemích v letech 1945-1989. Vyd. 1. Praha: Úřad dokumentace a vyšetřování zločinů komunismu, 2004, 183 s. ISBN 8086621073. info
  • SIWEK, Tadeusz, Stanisław ZAHRADNIK and Józef SZYMECZEK. Polská národní menšina v Československu 1945-1954. Praha: Ústav pro soudobé dějiny AV ČR, 2001, 115 s. ISBN 80-7285-009-1. info
Teaching methods
Seminary with student discussions, interpretation of historical sources and presentation
Assessment methods
Written essay
Language of instruction
Czech
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2014.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2009, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2009/HIB0399