Czech cultural journal celebrates 80 eventful years
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Czech cultural journal Pritomnost, which published its first issue in January 1924. Down through the years, the publication has always strived to promote social and political debate among the country's intellectual classes. We have taken a look back at the publication's eventful past
In many ways, the fortunes of Pritomnost magazine reflect the twists and turns of modern Czech history. It began publishing as a weekly journal 80 years ago, shortly after the foundation of the first Czechoslovak Republic, with the legendary Czech journalist Ferdinand Peroutka at the helm. It soon established itself as a democratically oriented periodical, which published contributions from leading intellectuals of that time such as Karel Capek.
The journal was shut down in 1939 shortly after Czechoslovakia was annexed by the Nazis. It resumed publication in 1945 under the name Dnesek only to be closed once again following the communist coup of 1948.
The magazine was not to return for over 40 years until after the collapse of communism. Dr. Martin Jan Stransky, whose family published the original Pritomnost, relaunched the publication in 1995, not long after moving here from the United States. I asked Dr. Stransky what had compelled him to reissue Pritomnost after such a long interruption:
"Most of all, genetics probably played a role: My family has been in the publishing business for over a hundred years in this country - founding Lidove Noviny - and my grandfather was the first publisher of Pritomnost as well. Secondly, it was simply down to the fact that - after I got settled in here and looked around - I saw that there was a huge need for a magazine of this type and that there simply wasn't one here. Along with this, I had access to a number of authors and intellectuals because of the family name, so all of these three forces came together and we started the magazine."
Pritomnost is now published as a non-profit quarterly journal. Like its inter-war predecessor it focuses on in-depth investigative reporting aimed at promoting intellectual debate on contemporary social and cultural issues. The magazine's modern incarnation also attracts contributions from leading intellectuals such as former president Vaclav Havel and the academic Jiri Pehe.
At a reception held to mark the magazine's anniversary, I asked the sociologist Petr Mateju, who is also an occasional contributor, whether he thought the publication differed from other media outlets:
"Well, although we have had democracy for almost 15 years, a lack of independent thinking is still a problem in Czech society, unfortunately. The Czech media is of course independent, but 'thinking' is something that needs support, which needs debate and an intellectual environment. My hunch is that the Czech media does not support that kind of discussion, which is mostly intellectual. And I think that Pritomnost offers us this environment for debate."
I asked Dr. Stransky if he thought the magazine would keep going for at least another 80 years:
"That's not going to be up to me, but it is true that the strength of certain national cultures is to a huge degree dependent on national institutions. Pritomnost genuinely is a national institution and I think it's a good institution and that it should continue."
If you are interested in finding out more about Pritomnost, you can visit their bilingual website at www.pritomnost.cz.
