Abstract
This article deals with representation of Otherness in the Cold War context. It uses the example of Czechoslovakia between 1948 and 1956 and the representation of its 'cultural Other', the United States of America.
Applying Transnationalist principles, the article tries to demonstrate the tendencies and mechanics behind the construction of 'Czechoslovak America,' focusing on contemporary American literature that was published at this time. It attempts to not only demonstrate some isomorphisms and mirror images on both sides of the Iron Curtain but also to pose some questions regarding our understanding of this period.
It claims that it was not only geopolitical perspective of the author, that played the crucial role, but the depiction of America in the texts themselves was the reason they were granted the 'literary visa' at a time so many other texts were not: the texts that were published in Czechoslovakia between 1948 and 1956 convert America as the 'Other' to 'the Other America', a space which does not stand in opposition to 'Us', but offers itself as a natural extension of our own space