On the basis of the theory of Benedict Anderson on the „imagined political community“, the work analyses the processes of construction of bodily ideal and movement patterns in physical exercises of the Czech sport association Sokol („Eagle“). Through gymnastics based on Greek mythology and Plato, through large-scale floor exercises, through paramilitary marches, body became a tool for constructing national identity. Through ritualized exercise and the use of body symbolics, body became „nationally encoded“. However, Anderson’s concept of „imagined community“ does not suffice for an explication of the fact that at the end of the nineteenth century Sokol achieved great increase of members. Especially for young gymnasts of both sexes membership in the association entailed the fulfillment of concrete social and psychological needs. Contact with coevals and pubertal search for one’s own identity were equally important in mass integration into Sokol as individual pursuit of better performance. The author raises a query if the perception of Sokol as „popular“ (instead of „national“) movement represents a meaningful cathegorial enlargement. Dance figures and Greek myths dealing with the purity of the body indicate a „popular“ ideology of the association, separated from the political ideas of modem nation.
In her contribution, the author deals with a complexview of the role of Sokol during the World War I. She uses both archive sources as well as available literature. She confronts the Sokol activity with philosophy of Miroslav Tyrš, co-founder of Sokol, who promoted the ideal of military service and the work of an individual for the improvement of the whole. Sokol members were active in both the Czechoslovak Legions (in France, Russia and Italy) and domestic resistance movement (financial support of so-called Maffie, intelligence activity). Because of military hospitals established in Sokol gymnasiums, the club activity was demonstrated rather on the social-cultural or charity level (assistance in military hospitals, cooperation with charity organization České srdce [Czech Heart]). On 28 October 1918 and shortly after this date, Sokol members helped keep order in the street and secure non-violent retreat of foreign forces from the territory.
Tyrš originally contemplated a scientific career in the field of philosophy but his theoretical interest gradually turned to aesthetics and plastic arts. T e specific culmination of his activities was his role of a founder of the gymnastic association Sokol in this his theoretical experiencefocused in the form of a distinctive “philosophy of living”. The author of this essay seeks to show a deeper philosophic and aesthetic level which shaped Tyrš’s Sokol idea. – Tyrš activism found a philosophic parallel in Schopenhauer’s voluntarism. Darwin’s conception of “struggle for sur¬vival” helped justify Tyrš’s conception of an armed and culturally active nationalism. Tyrš was fascinated with the mature culture of ancient Greece and in his conception Sokol was to be an embodiment of classic values in modern conditions.