Myths and Traditions of Central European University Culture – Hanuš Jiří (2020)

Myths and traditions of Central European university culture. The publication aims to provide a cultural analysis of the university environment, with the main analytical tool being the concept of 'myth.' The authors understand myth as a cultural phenomenon connecting the present of the academic sphere with the past and as an archetype in the sense of Carl Gustav Jung's psychology. According to the authors, myth is firmly tied to symbols, rituals, hierarchical signs, and various kinds of traditions. The book presents to the American and Western European reader the university culture of the so-called Humboldtian circle of academic tradition, with a focus on the environment of Czech higher education compared to the situation in Germany, Poland, Austria, and other countries. A significant aspect is therefore the characterization of Central European universities that underwent discontinuous development in the 20th century. A specific feature of the book is the preference for viewing academic culture mainly from the perspective of non-metropolitan universities established in the 19th and 20th centuries. The authors approached their book historically but do not shy away from significant updates. They are particularly interested in the contradiction between the Humboldtian ideal and 'academic capitalism,' the search for university unity amid diversification pressures, tendencies towards...