Dva životy, dvě kultury, dvě země: Řekové na českém území od 2. poloviny 20. století do současnosti
Two lives, two cultures, two countries: Greeks on Czech territory since the mid-20th century

Author(s): Jana Poláková
Subject(s): Cultural history, Customs / Folklore, Cultural Anthropology / Ethnology, Sociology of Culture, Post-War period (1950 - 1989), Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), Present Times (2010 - today), Migration Studies, Ethnic Minorities Studies, Identity of Collectives
Published by: Masarykova univerzita nakladatelství
Keywords: Greek diaspora on Czech territory; Institutional support of Greek emigration in Czechoslovakia; Music and dance; relationship of Greek migrants to religion;
Summary/Abstract: The book is part of a long term project of the Hellenika Foundation Brno Greeks on Czech territory since the mid-20th century in the implementation of which the Ethnographic Institute of the Moravian Museum has been participating on professional basis. The main goal of the project was to present, on the occasion of its 70th anniversary, the first big immigration wave of Greek refugees on the territory of the then Czechoslovakia. The foundation started preparing worthy celebrations as soon as in 2017 with interviewing 19 selected respondents in the average duration of 45 minutes resulting in separate video and audio records. This research became then a stepping stone of activities in following several years. The first output was the exhibition Two lives, two cultures, two countries. Greeks on Czech territory since the mid-20th century. The public could learn about the arrival of Greeks on Czechoslovak soil in consequence of the civil war, about their gradual integration as well as preservation of their specific culture. During the exhibition opening in November 2018 a documentary with the same title was shown that had come into being through the combination of extracts from interviews, period shots and examples of archive materials of various kinds. In the following year the film was presented at the festival of museum movies Musaionfilm in Comenius Museum in Uherský Brod. It was awarded the main prize „Černý Janek“ for an innovative treatment of the fortunes of the Greek minority in this country. In 2019 a travelling version of the exhibition was created available today to educational and memory institutions throughout the country. In the same year the transcription of the recorded interviews into a written form was carried out. Their publication, analysis and interpretation complemented with a brief survey of the past and present are the core of this book.

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