Jak bojovat proti nesmyslům [How to fight nonsense]

Čulík, J. (2021) Jak bojovat proti nesmyslům [How to fight nonsense]. Britské Listy, 9 May.

Abstract

This is a Czech translation of Jan Čulík's contribution to the ASN 21 World Convention (Association for the Study of Nationalities) which took place online at Columbia University, New York, from 5th to 8th May, 2021. In this piece, Jan Čulík talks about the worrying convergence of Western and Eastern Europe: It was expected that after the fall of communism thirty two years ago, the East might gradually adopt Western democratic principles. In fact, what seems to have happened is that the West has adapted itself to the East and now both parts of Europe seem to be suffering from populism, xenophobia. They both seem to support of authoritarianism. Both parts of Europe, as well as the US, seem to be suffering from a mythological interpretation of their history, which seems to affect their current decision-making. Czech society is extremely tribal and it does not like when independent historians point out the current distortions in the received interpretation of the past. What is more, people seem to react to minor semantic signifiers which they use to pigeon hole and reject "unorthodox" commentators. These signifiers are often grossly misleading because they create an image of a person on the basis of a miniscule fragment of his or her argumentation. It is a challenge for historians and the students of nationalities how to fight against these misinterpretations, which seem to be getting worse as a result of the impact of social media.

• Item Type: Articles
• Keywords: Nationalities, populism, historians, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, xenophobia, islamophobia, social networks, Association for the Study of Nationalities.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: No
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Culik, Dr Jan
• Authors: Čulík, J.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Modern Languages and Cultures > Slavonic Studies
• Journal Name: Britské Listy
• Publisher: Britské Listy
• ISSN: 1213-1792

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