Socialist Festivity at the Crossroads Between Ritual, Ideology and (Popular) Culture: The Case of Czechoslovak Spartakiads
Abstract
Czechoslovak Spartakiads, held between 1955 and 1985, was an unique phenomenon which combined a mass gymnastic performance, a collective ritual, a magnificient propaganda event and, mostly in late socialism, a complexe of widely available free time activities. It was also quite specific (even in comparison with other propaganda mass events organized in non-democratic countries during 20th century), that into preparation of the Spartakiads and its performances were involved almost all social groups in Czechoslovakia and a large number of official institutions (as, for exemple, schools, universities, army, trade unions, hobby clubs etc.) which closely cooperated not only during the event itself, but also within whole so-called "Spartakiad Year".
As an important ideological event whose role can be considered as kind of emblem of general ideology of changing socialist regime, the Spartakiad generated specific complexes of symbols and cultural meannings which developed in close interaction both with this ideology and the public opinion. Over time, the Spartiakiad as a "plastical" cultural phenomenon was also able to absorb many elements which were not explicitly ideological - such as popular free time activities, diverse manifestations of modern popular culture and, to some extent, consumerism.
The contribution will focus on analysis of the Spartakiad as a cultural and sporting event and a particular exemple of collective ritual in conditions of socialist dictatorship. Moreover we will try to regard possibilities to define the Spartakiads in the context of performative genres and aesthetics of performativity.
We will focus mainly on following questions: - In which way the Spartakiad draw on traditional elements of collective rituals? - How innovative it was as a kind of ritual? - What was its specifity as a performative genre? - To what extent and in which way was the shape of the events formed by mainstream social demand? - How these elements changed depending on the transformation of the regime itself? Based on analysis of ritual and performative role of this event and its relationship to social life in Czechoslovakia, we will follow the role of the Spartakiad in formation of socialist mythologies and its festivity, and also the Spartakiad's function in the process of the dictatorship's self-legitimation.