Mit Wittgenstein in der Schwulensauna

by Vratislav Maňák

Aspekte schwulen Lebens im heutigen Mitteleuropa

In sieben Essays reflektiert Vratislav Maňák Fragen schwuler Identität im 21.  Jahrhundert und fragt, was es in unserem Kulturraum bedeutet, queer zu sein. In Budapest, Bratislava, Wien, Brünn, Prag und Berlin führt der Autor an Orte, die als gay spaces bezeichnet werden können, darunter ein Berliner Tanzclub, die seit Habsburger Zeiten existierende Herrensauna Kaiserbründl und das Foyer des Janáček-Theaters. Jede dieser Lokalitäten lädt zur Auseinandersetzung mit grundsätzlichen Fragen ein: Wo verlaufen die Grenzen von Männlichkeit? Wie erlebt ein schwuler Mann seinen Körper? Warum übt die Oper eine so große Faszination auf ihn aus?

Genres: Queer

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2026

About the author

Vratislav Maňák (b. 1988) is author of the short stories Polythene Clothes / Šaty z igelitu (2011), for which he won the Jiří Orten Prize. For the short story A Man of Hours / Muž z hodin (2014) he was shortlisted for a Magnesia Litera for best children’s book. In 2016, he published the novel Rubik’s Cube / Rubikova kostka. He works as a journalist and teaches at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University, Prague.

Reviews

[Meike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mean, how can you resist THIS title? And that cover by Michalis Goumas (from his series Summer Renaissance)? The book contains six essays by Czech author Vratislav Maňák (*1988) who teaches journalism and creative writing at Charles University at Prague. All texts, including the introduction and the afterword, discuss the identities of gay men (not queer people in general!) in contemporary Central Europe, which Maňák defines as the geographical space between the Rhine and the Carpathian Mountains, between the Baltic Sea and the Adria (so including Germany). He perceives this area also as a cultural space and discusses the discrimination of homosexual men as part of a heritage that puts the collective and the homogeneous above the individual and the nonconformist.

Putting aside that I strongly believe that the economic roots of the rise of right-wing parties in Central Europe can hardly be underestimated, but isn't even mentioned here, Maňák's wandering thoughts and intellectual travels through various countries, linking their current attitude towards gay men to specific locations, myth, history, philosophy, literature, etc., is intriguing and mostly convincing. But be warned: These texts do not intend to entertain or cater towards the casual reader, no, their construction and arguments are complex and cover a lot of intellectual ground. Although the book is only 180 pages long, it took me quite some time to get through it, but I was never bored.

Locations:
1. Rudas Thermal Bath in Budapest / Hungary
(has bath days only for men, used to have naked Fridays, then clothes became mandatory; author relates this to the more and more oppressive atmosphere in Hungary and The Paul Street Boys (Die Jungen von der Paulstraße), a main work of Hungarian young adult literature by Ferenc Molnár about rivaling youth gangs that display what we today see as toxic male behavior (hierarchy, heroism, patriotism, fighting).)

2.. Pride March in Bratislava / Slovakia
(discusses how the Pride March adheres to the standards promoted by current repressive politics, recurring theme on signs during the parade: "For all families" (carnival usually transgression); talks about how Ganymede, a beautiful man abducted by horny Zeus, is increasingly shown in symbolic representations as a child, hence combining homosexuality with pedophilia; argues that Hera stands for selection, Zeus for the all-encompassing (questionable view of femininity); Frantz Fanon: masks.)

3. Central Bathhouse (Kaiserbründl) in Vienna / Austria
(location inspired the author to write the whole book; discusses the importance of the gay bath, mentioning Ludwig Wittgenstein, Michel Foucault, Binet's The Seventh Function of Language etc,)

4. Janáček Theatre in Brno / Czech Republic
(talks about why gay men tend to love opera: manifested affect / camp, gay men see themselves in powerful women (cliched view?), sense of symbolic superiority.)

5. Cruising locations in Prague / Czech Republic
(more elaborate in Park Cruising: What Happens When We Wander Off the Path and Cruising: An Intimate History of a Radical Pastime.)

6. KitKatClub in Berlin / Germany
(liminal spaces and people; community and refuge; techno; dancing, drugs and sex as ritualistic actions; spirituality and epiphany in non-religious temples.)

A challenging, but very worthwhile read that contains numerous points that are up for debate - which, in this case, is a plus, because the points are well argued and call for well thought out counterarguments to enhance the overall debate about gay masculinity.

[schlosserius · Rating 3 out of 5]

Je super, že v Česku vyšlo něco jako tahle knížka, když se tu bohužel jinak tak často omílá ta stejná amerikanizovaná nuda o Stonewallu, a přitom je v dějinách ČR a zbytku střední Evropy tolik zajímavějších queer osobností a reálií. Ne vždycky se to v případě této knihy teda daří, a občas to stejně skončí u Butler a Foucalta, ale stále jde o docela úspěšný počin. I když mě trochu pobavilo rozepsání jedné profetované noci v KitKatu v něco revolučního.

[barbora · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tahle četba mě vlastně hodně mrzí, měla jsem očekávání a těšila jsem se.

Maňák bohužel staví text na efektu šoku z explicitních homoerotických situací, který ale (minimálně pro čtenářstvo, na který autor cílí) moc šokující nejsou. Gay sex už není tabu, všichni víme, že se na technu berou drogy i co znamená "malá smrt". Text je hodně zatěžkanej sociologickými termíny a častým opakováním již sděleného, potenciální literární styl se tak vytrácí v citacích, definicích a na sílu vystavěných argumentech.
Osobně mi teda taky trochu vadí neustálé oddělování gayů od queer lidí, které, ač je to možná pro zachování formy naznačené v názvu, budí dojem nadřazenosti.

A misgendernout Judith Butler hned v první kapitole taky není úplně šťastný.