Ceskoslovensko ocima latinskoamerickych intelektualu 1947-1959

MICHAL ZOUREK

Runa

Lugar: Praga; Año: 2018 p. 304

978-80-87792-25-4

The book presents and analyzes written testimonies of Latin American intellectuals on the subject of their visits to Communist Czechoslovakia. It combines the genres of scientific study and annotated edition. The chosen period of 1947?1959 was defined by the beginning of the Cold War and by the Cuban Revolution. After World War II, the sympathies of left ‑wing intellectuals towards the Soviet Union reached its peak. After 1956, in connection with revelations regarding Stalin?s cult of personality, there was a noticeable change towards sobriety and disillusionment. For many Latin American intellectuals, Cuba became the new symbol of social justice and belief in a better world. The introductory chapters put the selected testimonies into historical con‑ text. They deal with the role the intellectuals played in communist propaganda, discourse analysis, and the specific position occupied by Czechoslovakia. This Central European country was an important transit centre, an imaginary bridge between the Soviet Union and Western Europe. At the same time, it was a sig‑ nificant meeting point for Latin American intellectuals and their European col‑ leagues. The subsequent chapters are dedicated to the intellectuals themselves and their written testimonies, most of which are being published in Czech for the first time. Each of the texts is preceded by a study dedicated to the pre‑ sentation of its author, with an emphasis on their ties to Czechoslovakia. The thirteen intellectuals presented include greats from the world literature, such as Gabriel García Márquez, Pablo Neruda, Jorge Amado and Nicolás Guillén, as well as other intellectuals who are almost unknown in the Czech environment. The final chapter analyzes the subsequent reflections of the individual authors. The texts presented reflect communist imagination at that time. To a great extent, they reflect how the socialist camp wanted to present itself abroad, i.e. as an advanced, altruistic region that was ready to support and achieve a non ‑Western way of development that would allow for rapid modernization, whereby negative factors were set aside. Despite strong politicisation, the texts provide valuable information about Czechoslovakia and the intellectuals themselves. It is a significant contribution to exploring the image of the ?other?, which is very common in various branches of modern historiography, as well as an important source for the study of relations between Central and Eastern Europe and the Latin American world.