intellectual

The paper analyzes the place and the social roles allotted to intellectuals in post-totalitarian societies, with a special focus on the Czech situation. From the sources relevant to the topic, the choice here falls on Václav Havel’s public speeches since they offer particularly rich study material. Attention is paid to the political, social, and cultural contexts that have served as a stimulus for each of the analyzed texts, as well as the intention, implicit in them, to model the environment in which they are to function. The paper also touches upon the themes of historical and cultural memory, personal choice, the intellectuals’ resignation, and the sense of cultural isolationism, among others.

The paper focuses on a series of interviews conducted with Bulgarian intellectuals on the occasion of the 10th and the 25th anniversary of November 10th, 1989, for Deutsche Welle and the Kultura newspaper respectively. An analysis is carried out on the opinions shared by the interviewees on the significance of that date for Bulgarian political, social and cultural life, on freedom, the new political trends and the emblematic figures in them. Special attention is paid on the role which the new democratic situation assigned to the intellectuals. They are altogether set in opposition to the political elites of the Transition.