What matters in the Czech Republic now

Abstract

This is Jan Čulík's presentation for this year's Conference of the Association of Slavíc, East European and Euroasian Studies, which took place virtually in the USA in November 2020. The presentation was given on Friday 6th November 2020. The presentation outlines three major issues in the current Czech public discourse: 1. islamophobia and hatred of refugees, 2. anticommunist protests against professional work of historians, 3. attempts to discredit the globally recognised Czech writer Milan Kundera. These topics are used to deflect citizens from real problems that the country is facing. As examples how literature and cinema reacts to the current situation in the Czech Republic, the presentation then discusses the first Czech fascist novel "Beyond the Alps" by David Zábranský and a new feature film "The Owners", which points out that Czechs are currently absolutely incapable of tackling their social and political problems