This course explores the deep connections between music, nationalism, and state-building in the Czech context, focusing particularly on Bedřich Smetana's Má vlast as a key case study. Students will critically engage with how music can be employed as a tool for shaping national identity, a concept especially relevant to the Czech nation from the mid-19th century to the present.
The central theme investigates how composers, performers, and critics contributed to creating and perpetuating the notion of "Czech national music" and how such music was wielded as propaganda to promote political and ideological narratives. The broader objective is to help students understand how meaning is ascribed to music—both by its creators and its audience—within specific historical and cultural contexts.
- Teacher: Pavel Kodýtek