Mayflower and Trash on the Moon
America in Czech Literature
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
In Czech literature, the United States appears initially as an exotic place, soon thereafter as a place to which to emigrate. America is associated with the idea of political freedom, social mobility, and economic advancement, but also uncertainty in the face of a confusing mix of ethnicities and an alien culture. In the 20th century, the fronts of the real wartime alliances and of the Cold War are reflected in literature. Differentiated, often ambivalent descriptions of the United States are again found more frequently only after 1989.
(Osteuropa 1/2011, pp. 207–222)