Are the inhabitants of Slovakia descendants of the mythical people of the king Svatopluk that were defeated by the Magyars? When did Pressburg become Bratislava and why did Prague make it its business? What was the story behind the Slovak-Czech “hyphen war”? Finally, how to survive in Central Europe as a member of a small nation haunted by the ghost of historical myths and still preserve a personal approach to one’s own history?
Slovaks. A Century Longer Than a Hundred Years is a selection of historical essays by Ľubomír Lipták (1930–2003), a “philosopher of Slovak history” and a “national nihilist”, who is virtually unknown in Poland. The author narrates the story of Slovakia as an “island” located on the route of major historical currents. He seeks to create a synthetic picture of the Slovak experience and trace issues crucial for the country’s past and present. Above all, however, he presents a rational and balanced narrative of the dilemmas faced by a small nation in Central Europe that refuses to be a second-rate citizen.
The book comprises six parts dedicated to European and peripheral status of Slovakia, authoritarian regimes and the struggle against them, modernisation of the country and the lack of continuity among Slovakian elites, as well as the problem of individual and collective memory, Czech-Slovak relations, and the specificity of the Slovak philosophy of history. Together, the essays form a poignant manifestation of how the territory of Slovakia is a space of overlapping memories, different systems of values, and diverse political traditions.
Translated into Polish by Magdalena Bystrzak