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Hawk among tramps: Jaroslav Foglar and hybridity of Czech tramping movement

Publication at Faculty of Arts |
2019

Abstract

The main aim of the study is to explore the character of tramps movement in the 1960's. It is based on the example of relationship between tramps and Jaroslav Foglar, famous Czech writer of adventurous literature intended for youth.

It uses mostly the extant Foglar's correspondence with the tramps and combines it with other printed sources to prove that Foglar could be understood as one of symbolic centres of Czech tramping's movement, especially by the generation that grew up at the of 1950s'and 1960's. Those youth could hardly continue in tradition of the tramping which had been established during the first Czechoslovak republic in the 1920's and especially 1930's.

After the Stalinist culture purges in the 1950's they had at disposal only own experience of membership in the reading clubs established by Foglar in 1930's and after 1945 and his literary works which they did appropriate as the source of tramps values, i.e. love and admiration to the nature together with boyish sociability of smaller bunches. The face of tramping in the 1960's was also influenced by the effort of Czechoslovak Youth Union (Československý svaz mládeže) to establish a campcraft as state-controlled counterpart of tramping, scouting and other former leisure time youth activities in the frame of unified socialist education.

Tramping and campcraft were tightly connected together, their boundaries were unclear and mutually open. Instead of former exotic or sport self-presentation tried the tramps in 1960's to be perceived as woodsman learning the useful skills.

Gradual attempts to resuscitate and legitimate contributed also to rehabilitation and restoration of scout organization in the 1968.