Czech Vašek (literal. "Czech Václav", German: "Böhmischer Wenzel") is a historical figure representing the national character of the Czech people used in time of national competition with German nationalism at the end of the 19th century.
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Overview
editSuch figures differ from those that serve as personifications of the nation itself, as Čechie did the Czech nation and Marianne the French.[1] He is usually depicted in a folk costume combining hat from the Plzeň region with clothes from different regions.
They were used as a negative caricature of Czechs by Germans, symbolising them as street musicians. But also positively by Czech themselves.
Czech Vašek is considered a counterpart to Deutscher Michel, a figure representing the national character of the German people.[2]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Eric Hobsbawm, "Mass-Producing Traditions: Europe, 1870–1914," in Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger, eds., The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge, 1983), 276.
- ^ Hájek, Adam (5 September 2010). "Každý národ má svého Švejka. Ten izraelský neváhá sáhnout po samopalu". iDNES (in Czech). Retrieved 19 June 2014.