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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 July 2009
To understand and evaluate the cultural orientation of youth in Czechoslovakia today—the structure of their cultural interests, etc.—is impossible in the absence of an understanding of the fundamental social and political changes that have taken place in Czechoslovakia in the post-war period. These have left their impact on the character of each of the generations of this period. Our purpose is not, nor can it be, to present any profound analysis of these changes in the present study, and we can therefore only confine ourselves to giving a rough outline of the more important trends.
(1) P. Machonin, Social Stratification in Czechoslovakia in Machonin, P. et al. , Czechoslovak Society (Bratislava, Epocha, 1969).Google Scholar
(2) The term ‘generation’ as used here connotes a group of people who entered social life at a specific historical period. The nature of this period determined their relatively contingent experiences. Their interests were formed and influenced by the nature of the period, their needs as well as the goals they would set themselves, which would be identical or at least similar. In the present paper, I have centered attention always on the strata of the generation concerned in each case that is most typical.
(3) A more thorough study of this generation and also of the generation of the sixties, primarily in terms of its political and institutional activities will appear as an article by the author, The Post-War Generation of Czechoslovak Youth, Brit. Journ. Sociol., forthcoming.
(4) CSM, The Czechoslovak Union of Youth, a youth organization set up in 1948 by the fusion of all existing youth organizations in Czechoslovakia. It broke up in 1968 both de facto and formally. In the fifties, about 50% of all young people aged 15 to 26 were members of the organization. The percentage of secondary school and university students came up to 80%.
(5) Here we proceed from the data and partial findings published:
a. In books: Holesovsky, F. K., The Present Problems of our Youth (Ostrava 1963)Google Scholar; Jurovsky, A., The Cultural Development of Young People (Bratislava 1965)Google Scholar; Macha, K., The Young Generation Known and Unknown (Praha 1966)Google Scholar.
b. In articles published in journals: Rybáčková, V., Books Read by Young Apprentices, Journ. of Sociol., VI (1966), 769–783Google Scholar; Rohánek, F., Music and the Adolescents, Seminar on the Problems of the Sociology of University Students (Olomouc 1966)Google Scholar; Šilhánová, L., A Survey of the Books the Young Read, Journ. of Sociol., V (1965), 547–560Google Scholar; Toman, V., Use of Leisure Time among the Young and Youth Clubs, Nová Mysl, VI (1963). p. 31Google Scholar; Vyhládal, V., The Young and Disposible Time, in Topical Problems of the Sociology of Youth (Ostrava 1965)Google Scholar; Čitek, C., Art and the Young, Kultura, VII (1961); p. 4Google Scholar; Barvik, M., The Young and Music, Nová Mysl, III (1966), 3–14.Google Scholar
Research Reports: Bakoš, O., Research on the Interests of the Youth of Bratislava (Bratislava, Sociol. Instirut of the Academy of Sciences, 1967)Google Scholar; Brokl, L., Sobotka, M., Šafář, Z., On the Problem of Political Commitment and the Interests of University Students (Prague, The Faculty of Medicine at the Charles University, 1966)Google Scholar; Adolescents, their Disposable Time and Cultural Interests (Prague, Popular Science Institute, 1967)Google Scholar; Hermochova, S., A contribution to the Study of the Interests of University Students (Prague, Philosophical Fac. of the Charles Univ., 1965)Google Scholar; Jurovsky, A., The Young Listeners (Bratislava, The Methodological Research Institute of Czechoslovak Radio, 1965)Google Scholar; The Use of Leisure of the Apprentices in the Training Center at the Vitkovice Steel Mills, (Ostrava 1966)Google Scholar; Research on the Use of Leisure by Young Miners, Regional Popular Science Center (Ostrava 1967)Google Scholar; Freiová, E., Research on University Students (Prague, Institute of Social and Political Science of Charles Univ., 1968).Google Scholar
(6) Šiklová, J., Sociology of the Youth in Czechoslovakia, Acta Univ. Carol., II (1969), 79–107.Google Scholar
(7) Freiová, E., Šiklová, J., Sociology of Youth (Prague 1969).Google Scholar
(8) Adolescence, Its Leisure and Cultural Interests (Prague, Institute of Popular Science, 1967).Google Scholar
(9) Šilhánová, L., Research of the Books Young People Read, Journ. of Sociol., III (1967), 285–303.Google Scholar
(10) Research of the Effect of Mass Communication Media on Youth (Prague, Faculty of Journalism, 1967).Google Scholar
(11) Jurovský, A., The Cultural Development of Youth (Bratislava 1965).Google Scholar
