Dreaming about the American West: Tramping and Country Music in Communist Czechoslovakia

In the paper, I discuss the unexpected popularity of American-style country music against the backdrop of the Czechoslovak political climate, marked by the open atmosphere of the 1960s and the so-called normalization period of the 1970s. I identify the reasons for its popularity in the Czech tradition of tramping and its music, the literary works of Karl May, and similar adventure narratives set in the American West, the American and Czech Westerns (such as Limonádový Joe [Lemonade Joe]). I also consider the impact of the 1964 tour of Pete Seeger in Czechoslovakia. In the changed political and cultural climate following the invasion of the Soviet Bloc countries in 1968, I describe this musical style as a political vent, offering fans imaginary escapes into the American West. The performers of country and western music and their audiences shared a mutual complicity concerning the oppressive regime, imagining American landscapes, characters, and events. It is also evident that the regime tolerated American-style country music on the radio and TV, as well as in the recording industry, in order to provide listeners with a harmless fantasy of the otherwise inaccessible United States.