Spring Man

Petr Janecek is associate professor at the Institute of Ethnology, Faculty of Arts, Charles University.

Spring man is a hero, a villain, a superhero, a savior, a threat, a warning to children, a warning to occupying forces, a specter, a monster, a protector, a global phenomenon, an embodiment of a distinctly Czech spirit of resistance, a figure of folklore, a figure from science fiction, an Icarus, a Robin Hood, a Golem, a Batman; pastoral, industrial, urban, and post-modern. Through a deep reading of a vast array of primary sources and with a thorough yet highly accessible presentation of legend scholarship and theory, Petr Janecek has provided this nimble study of the elusive Spring Man, in what will be a model for future work.

• Introduction – Urban Phantom between Comparative Folkloristics and Ethnology Chapter 1. The Birth of a Legend – Spring Man in Czech Folklore and Oral HistoryChapter 2. Phantoms of the Industrial Age – The Cultural Evolution of Spring ManChapter 3. The Social and Cultural Functions of Urban DemonologyChapter 4. A Superhero for Every Regime – Spring Man in Visual Culture and Literature