‘Against the Dignity of Man’: Sexology Constructing Deviance During ‘Normalisation’ in Czechoslovakia

Abstract

Normalisation is the official name for the period following the failure of Czechoslovakia’s Prague Spring of 1968, which had a tangible impact on the ways in which citizens were able to identify and express their sexuality. The 1960s were a time of changing political climate not only in Western Europe and the United States, but also in some Soviet ‘satellites’. In Czechoslovakia, calls for reform and political emancipation went hand in hand with cultural awakening and artistic experimentation. The prevailing political effort was to ‘humanise’ socialism and steer it away from rigid post-Stalinism. This social upheaval and hopeful anticipation culminated in the Prague Spring; however, the Soviet tanks came on 21 August 1968 and quashed the hopes of millions of people wishing to live under ‘socialism with human face’ (Křen, 2005). A reconstructed political cadre came to power with a new slogan — ‘the normalization of conditions’ (Křen, 2005). Its aim was to eradicate any opposition and extinguish any spark of revolt. The regime oscillated on ‘the border between authoritarianism and (exhausted) totalitarianism’ (Křen, 2005: 874), requiring conformity from its citizens and their political obedience.