Kniha Naše dítě v historickém, utopickém a antiutopickém kontextu

Abstract

In the article ”The book Our child in ideological, utopian and anti-utopian context” the authoress analyzes a representative Czechoslovak handbook about child care from the point of view of its ideological burden and relationship with the motives of utopian and anti-utopian literature. It is obvious that Our child helps to design the man from his earliest childhood in conformity with the theory of totalitarian socialist ideology. On the advice and according to instructions, a disciplined and obedient individual is being educated, ready for collectivistic and working way of living. Motherhood itself is considerably ideologized from which anything individual is excluded. On the one hand, woman participates by means of it in a common ”great work”, i.e. attainment of communism, on the other hand her position is, however, in principle passive as for education of her own child, because the State and its institutions determine binding rules of education. Incontestable utopian characteristics of the book consists in its non-alternative instruction, didactic character, system approach, well-considered in detail, in setting of uniform time rhythm for all, and in final common and collective creation of an ideal world made-up of permanently self-improving individuals. From the elements contained in Our child, anti-utopia sees as dark visions chiefly motives of weakened father´s role and strongly regulated mother´s role. The theme of separation of the child from his/her family, and his/her placement in collectivistic pre-school establishments consequently leads to atomization of society and to a total family dissolution, the role of which undertakes the State.