Main entry:

Berglund, Bruce, 1968- author.

Title & Author:

Castle and cathedral in modern Prague : longing for the sacred in a skeptical age / Bruce R. Berglund.

Publication:

Budapest ; New York : Central European University Press, 2017.

Description:

xvi, 372 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references (pages 343-359) and index.
Three Portraits of the Modern Believer -- The Philosopher in Search of Truth -- Imagining a New Religion -- The Spiritual Pastor -- Care for the Soul of the Nation -- "She Formed Me" -- The Architect Creating for the Ages -- Finding a Path in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna -- Caught between Prague, Vienna, and Ljubljana -- The Professor as Spiritual Mentor -- Cubists and Monument Builders -- The Social Worker Longing to Serve -- Discovering Faith and Vocation -- Looking to America -- From Jan Hus to Clean Underwear -- Building Her House or the Rocks -- Czechoslovakia Under the Perspective of Eternity -- The Mouse of Masaryk and the Moral Republic -- The Philosopher as President -- The House of Masaryk and Managed Democracy -- The President's Conscience -- A Fortress of the Mighty God -- The Moral Republic and Its Discontents -- Dissonant Voices in the Castle -- Catholic intellectuals and the "Culture War" -- Masaryk's Message Is Our Message -- Mysterious Stones at the Castle -- Building Cathedrals in Modern Prague -- Religious Institutions and Masaryk's Civil Religion -- Faith, Truth, and the Culture of the Republic -- The Blasphemies of Jaroslav Durych -- A Cathedral for the Modern Nation -- The War of the Absolute -- Convictions of the President-Liberator -- Reigniting the Culture War -- T. G. Masarvk-Mortal and Immortal.

Summary:

This book takes a new approach to interwar Prague by addressing religion as an integral part of the city's cultural history. Berglund views Prague's cultural history in the broader context of religious change and secularization in 20th-century Europe. Based on detailed knowledge of sources, the monograph explores the interdisciplinary linkages between politics, architecture and theology in the building of symbolism and a "new mythology" of the first Czechoslovak republic (1918-1938). Berglunds text provides an important service for understanding both Czech history as well as current Czech political debate. The author's method can be characterized as culture history, able to connect several disciplines, emphasizing common topic (religion, politics, symbolics). Modern Czech elites, superficially characterized as "ateistic", appears in a new light to be deeply religious, a transition from more traditional, (mostly) Catholic religiosity, to a concept of a new, modern, ethical religion. The study incorporates biographical research, focusing on three principal characters: Tomás Garrigue Masaryk, Czechoslovakia's first president; his daughter Alice Garrigue Masaryková, founding director of the Czechoslovak Red Cross; and Joze Plecnik, the Slovenian architect who directed the renovations of Prague Castle.

ISBN:

9789633861578 (hardcover ; alk. paper)
9633861578 (hardcover ; alk. paper)
(pdf ; alk. paper)
9789633861585

Subject:

Masaryk, Tomáš Garrigue 1850-1937
Masaryková, Alice Garrigue 1879-1966
Plečnik, Jože 1872-1957
Pražský hrad (Prague, Czech Republic)
Centre for Environmental Studies London Planning Research Applications Group
Sacred space Czech Republic Prague History 20th century.
Church buildings Czech Republic Prague History 20th century.
Lieux sacrés République tchèque Prague Histoire 20e siècle.
Church buildings.
Religion.
Sacred space.
Religiosität
Prague (Czech Republic) Religion.
Prague (Czech Republic) Religious life and customs.
Czechoslovakia History 20th century.
Tchécoslovaquie Histoire 20e siècle.
Czech Republic Prague.
Czechoslovakia.

Form/genre:

History.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 296191
Call No.: BIB 242601
Status: Available