American patriotism in Prague: Celebrating VE Day
April 30, 2009
We’ve been reading Czech author Milan Kundera’s Unbearable Lightness of Being in one of my classes, and one of the main themes of said novel is KITSCH.
The word usually refers to art that’s insincerely sentimental or nostalgic… but Kundera seems to broaden its meaning to include any cheaply-derived emotions (not just ones derived from art)… for example, he says:
“Kitsch causes two tears to flow in quick succession. The first tear says: How nice to see children running on the grass! The second tear says: How nice to be moved, together with all mankind, by children running on the grass. It is the second tear that makes kitsch kitsch.”
Hence, a feeling like patriotism conjured up by the mere sight of your homeland’s flag, might fall into the category of Kitsch.
Well, frankly, I don’t care if postmodern authors say so. Today, I felt immensely patriotic.
I was walking home from my preschool class, when I was alarmed to see American flags peppering the Wenceslas Square boulevard. There were American jeeps and military uniforms as well. I felt so confused but greeted the site fondly, as I haven’t seen that many Stars and Stripes since Fourth of July almost a year ago.
The flags, jeeps and uniforms were all in honor of the anniversary of VE Day in 1945. At this time 44 years ago, American troops liberated the famous brewery town, Plzen, in east Bohemia. Within days, this event led to the end of WWII in Europe. I’ve heard professors say that a small minority of Czechs still harbor some animosity towards America for not heading further East to liberate their capitol, Prague. Some think that had the U.S. liberated Prague, perhaps Czechoslovakia wouldn’t have fallen under the Soviet sphere of influence when Stalin, Truman and Churchill signed the Potsdam Agreement.
When I was on the square today, however, I didn’t encounter any such animosity towards the American display. In fact, the “soldiers” in American uniforms were actually Czech actors. Spectators were cheering as the jeeps rolled through town (an uncanny sight since most other times military vehicles rolled through that square, Prague was being hostilely invaded).
I had to smile. It’s one thing to be proud of America alongside your fellow countrymen at a July 4th picnic, a football game national anthem or a State of the Union address…. It’s completely out-of-this-world to share that feeling with foreigners, off your home turf.
And if that’s kitsch, so be it.
