Summer Adventures: Dr. Philip Gleissner
Hello and welcome back to another Summer Adventure story!
Today, we are featuring Dr. Philip Gleissner and his wonderful trip to Czechia. Check out his story below, and be sure to stay cool this Summer.
If you have an adventure to share, email ernst.150@osu.edu for more information. Stay up to date with the latest news and stories at Slavic.osu.edu.
Summertime is research time, and there is no place I would rather go to for research than the Czech Republic. Arriving to Central Europe always feels a bit like returning home—also because my family’s roots lie in Lower Silesia, in the borderlands of today’s Czech Republic and Poland.
I spent three weeks at the National Archive and the National Library in Prague, collecting material for my next book, a history of the leading socialist Czechoslovak state publisher. It is a history of resistance to and compliance with the authoritarian state, of navigating global isolation and openness. It reveals the fascinating creative energy, even genius, of writers, translators, editors, and artists. The National Archive gave me a look behind the scenes. Reading their correspondence, I came to understand how the publisher communicated with the government and the police, with writers and publishers abroad.
Whenever I travel, I try to go to new places outside major cities. This time, a side project brought me to several smaller cities in the Czech Republic. I traveled to Pardubice and Liberec to look at something rather morbid: crematoria. In the First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1938), cremation became closely intertwined with ideas of a modern society. It is also the theme of a film I am currently writing about (Juraj Herz’ 1969 The Cremator), so I wanted to see the places in person.
But even in Prague, there’s so much to do. I spent my weekends at museums and exhibitions of 20th-century art, saw a stage adaptation of one of my favorite novels, Karel Čapek’s Hordubal (1933), at the National Theater, and caught up with local colleagues. Fueled by excellent Czech food, I browsed the used book stores and walked around the city to look at old and new architectural favorites. In my mind, I keep taking notes for things to look at on a study abroad: I really hope that I will be able to travel to Prague and Central Europe with our students in the foreseeable future!
