“Mopheads” as the target of verbal aggression in Czech media of 1960s and 1970s Cover Image

„Vlasatci“ jako cíl verbální agrese v českých médiích 60. a 70. let 20. století
“Mopheads” as the target of verbal aggression in Czech media of 1960s and 1970s

Author(s): Ondřej Bláha
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Philology
Published by: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci
Keywords: Czech language; media; totalitarian regimes; 1960s; 1970s; Czechoslovakia; men’s long haircuts; social conformity; language manipulation; expressivity; aggression

Summary/Abstract: The article examines reflecting on men’s long haircuts in Czech media of 1960s and 1970s.The analysis of newspaper texts and selected TV programmes gives a clear impression ofnonverbal and verbal strategies of manipulation and involvement of expressivity (whichmight be either self-evident, or disguised), and draws some general conclusions on theprinciples of public communication in totalitarian regime (which always could profit fromsocial conformity and limited public awareness). The media texts, presenting the officialstandpoint of the Party and government, indicate that authorities were not willing to admitthat some sociocultural matters were outside their control. Their criticism was, therefore,formulated in authoritarian, categorical and confident statements anchored in the “scientific”grounds of Communism: men with long hair were said to offend against “taste anddecency”, or even “the hygienic practice”. All negative events in forward-looking and harmoniousCzechoslovakia were presented as the influence of the western capitalist countriesthat threatened socialism directly, or at least supported the local enemies of the progress.

  • Issue Year: 11/2019
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 38-65
  • Page Count: 28
  • Language: Czech