“What is the Bohemian nation?” Geneze povědomí o českém národu ve Spojených státech amerických do počátku 20. století

• Authors: Marek Vlha

Title variants

EN

“What is the Bohemian Nation?” A Genesis of the Awareness of the Czech Nation in the United States of America up to the Beginning of the 20th Century

• Languages of publication: CS

Abstracts

EN

Th is study focuses upon the topic of the formation of an image of the Czech nation in the United States of America during the 19th century and at the beginning of the 20th century. This process was hindered not merely by the geographical distance, small numbers of the Czech speaking populace and the absence of an independent Czech state but also by the polysemy of the term “Bohemian”, which was commonly used in the American environment to refer to Czechs. The principal role in the process under research was played by the direct interaction of American society with the Czech emigrant community. Yet, even on the threshold of the 20th century, the sense of familiarity with the Czech ethnic group within the USA remained problematic and, in fact, was restricted regionally with regard to the distribution of Czech immigration. Despite more information becoming available and the signifi cant importance of Czech immigrants in some regions, there did not emerge a specifi c national stereotype of a Czech person, and Czech nationality was included in broader categories.

Keywords

EN

Czech history; American history; 19th century; Czech-American relationships; ethnicity; emigration

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Institute of History, Czech Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Český časopis historický (The Czech Historical Review)
• Year: 2015
• Volume: 113
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 381-417

Contributors

author

Marek Vlha

• Masarykova univerzita, Filozofi cká fakulta, Historický ústav, Arna Nováka 1/1, 602 00 Brno, Czech Republic