Prague: Belonging in the Modern City

by Chad Bryant

A poignant reflection on alienation and belonging, told through the lives of five remarkable people who struggled against nationalism and intolerance in one of Europe’s most stunning cities.

What does it mean to belong somewhere? For many of Prague’s inhabitants, belonging has been linked to the nation, embodied in the capital city. Grandiose medieval buildings and monuments to national heroes boast of a glorious, shared history. Past governments, democratic and Communist, layered the city with architecture that melded politics and nationhood. Not all inhabitants, however, felt included in these efforts to nurture national belonging. Socialists, dissidents, Jews, Germans, and Vietnamese―all have been subject to hatred and political persecution in the city they called home.

Chad Bryant tells the stories of five marginalized individuals who, over the last two centuries, forged their own notions of belonging in one of Europe’s great cities. An aspiring guidebook writer, a German-speaking newspaperman, a Bolshevik carpenter, an actress of mixed heritage who came of age during the Communist terror, and a Czech-speaking Vietnamese none of them is famous, but their lives are revealing. They speak to tensions between exclusionary nationalism and on-the-ground diversity. In their struggles against alienation and dislocation, they forged alternative communities in cafes, workplaces, and online. While strolling park paths, joining political marches, or writing about their lives, these outsiders came to embody a city that, on its surface, was built for others.

A powerful and creative meditation on place and nation, the individual and community, Prague envisions how cohesion and difference might coexist as it acknowledges a need common to all.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Sociology

352 pages, Hardcover

First published May 25, 2021

Reviews

[Tripfiction · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthwhile tome for anyone who wants to get under the skin of this fabulous and historic city. There are several maps as the book opens and in very simple terms it is visually evident how, really, Prague has had a pivotal position in the heart of Europe. German influence was considerable during the Habsburg rule in the eighteenth century and German became the common language of the arts, commerce and industry and the civil service. By the 1840s travellers from the German lands were drawn in increasingly larger numbers to the city.

The city moves through revolutions, revolts, wars and regimes of varying political colours, all the while blending the history and the people who have become part of the fabric of the city. The trajectory of the city is expressed in the chapter headings, to wit German City / Czech City / Revolution City / Communist City / Global City and the author guides the readers through each of these periods.

For each of these general periods in the city’s history, Bryant chooses interesting and marginalised characters who have observed and chronicled their city, offering insight for today’s visitor and offering resonance of the footsteps of the past. His final and most recent contributor is Duong Nguyen. In 2008 nearly 1/100 Prague citizens belonged to the Vietnamese diaspora having found their way through communist channels which had spread from Russia in so many directions.

This is an in depth treatise providing a comprehensive and detailed take on the city over the last couple of centuries, constructed with a unique and original premise.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of interesting thoughts about urban experiences as well as "belonging," which I find a more fundamentally human and thus more useful term than "identity."

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is like taking a stroll through the centuries of modern day Prague.

Each chapter, you stop to talk with strangers about their time and a snippet of their life story. Bryant makes roughly 150 years of history digestible, enjoyable, and compelling while also making you think about what it truly means to “belong”.

Keep an eye out for my full review at my blog, The Book Nook Chronicles, linked in my portfolio.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't really know about this one. Bryant's work is ultimately a liberal teleology—the fall of socialism in Czechoslovakia was essentially an unqualified good, and despite the ascendancy of neoliberalism and racism in Ceech society, the invisible hand of liberal democratic society might just straighten it all out in the end.

[Eva Hnizdo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too busy to write a proper review now, with the launch of my novek, but will come back later. It was interesting and for me, very topical. Not sure if I would enjoy it as much if I wan't that hyrid of Czech, Jewish, British ex asylum seeker. Identity is important for me, and this told me also a lot about the identity of my Birth town.