It is said that culture knows no borders. This is certainly true for classical music, art and other areas where language isn’t important. But we share one more advantage with Slovaks - we understand each other fairly well, and often don’t need a translator. This allows us to share those parts of culture where language plays an important role. Hand on heart, I must admit this mostly applies to Slovaks, as Czechs, especially the younger generation, are slowly failing to understand the Slovak language.
Folklore is where this closeness is at its best. When it comes to that – costumes, songs, traditions – then the closer we are to our shared border, the more obvious the kinship. It’s clear that we have centuries of shared life behind us, where the borders of countries and monarchies kept changing, but as they undulated across the land, at least a part of Czechs and Slovaks always lived together in a shared country. This has impacted music, literature, art, sculptures.
One market instead of two
The fact that we understand one another is very important for contemporary artists. Two small markets suddenly merge into one slightly bigger one. I mean singers, filmmakers, actors, thespians. TV producers take advantage of this too, for example the Česko Slovensko má talent (Czecho- Slovakia’s Got Talent) show. The worlds of both nations merge in filmmaking as well, where Slovak actors find work in Czech productions, and vice versa. Many TV shows are enjoyed on both sides of the border. Czech singers do shows in Slovak arenas, and theater ensembles cross the Eastern border without needing a translator or facing the language barrier that they might do in Germany or Hungary. Exhibitions can freely move across both our countries without needing their labels to be rewritten. All of this is a mutual truth.
A problem with literature
Unfortunately, the situation regarding literature is slightly different. I recently read the lament of a certain famous Slovak writer, who works in Prague, saying that the Slovak language is often an insurmountable barrier for Czech readers. Unless a book gets translated into our language, there’s no chance of it succeeding. Even though I personally don’t have a problem with it, I’ve realized there’s a lot of people around me who are “too lazy” to read in Slovak. It’s not as much of an issue the other way around. Czech literature in its original language sells very well in Slovakia. This is a shame for us, because we lose out on a lot of good stuff created beyond the Eastern border. Slovak literature is now almost at the same level as any other foreign one, be it Austrian, German, Polish, Hungarian or British. The only titles that get translated are the ones that have a shot at commercial success. The spectrum of available books shrinks down to a minimum. Slovak literature in its original language gets to us readers only through several sellers specializing in “connoisseurs”.
Mutual enrichment
The fact that we have similar languages should be a huge advantage to us and Slovaks. They say that the more languages you speak, the more human you are. This idea includes the chance to learn about foreign cultures, gain experiences and a different outlook on many things. It’s a chance to enrich oneself, culturally and as a human being. Understanding Slovak is significantly easier than other languages. We might not be in a conjoined country anymore, but that shouldn’t be a reason for us to stop understanding each other.
Jaroslava Pokorná Jermanová
THE AUTHOR
Jaroslava Pokorná Jermanová (born August 17th, 1970, in Karlovy Vary) is a deputy for ANO 2011.
She joined the ODS party in 2004, and unsuccessfully attempted to attain a seat in the Chamber on the party's ticket in 2011.
She joined ANO in 2011 and became a deputy two years later. She had held this position until 2017 and has managed to once again fight her way into the Chamber in 2021. She was the governor of the Central Bohemian Region between the years 2016 and 2020.
She has a son, Michael, and a daughter, Emma.
reklama
