Opráski sčeskí historje: Contesting National Narratives through Comics

This article presents and analyses Opráski sčeskí historje, a Czech webcomic satirizing primarily Czech history, culture, and politics. Opráski sčeskí historje is juxtaposed to the national narrative within the theoretical framework of Benedict Anderson’s and Homi K. Bhabha’s conceptualisation of the nation. It argues that, by virtue of the comic’s aesthetic and linguistic poverty, Opráski sčeskí historje is often semiotically ambiguous and thereby prompts the audience to find more information and form their own interpretations of history beyond the national narrative. Ultimately, this article argues that the comic uses the tactic of what Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari call the “rhizome” in order to expose, critique, and contest national narratives without creating a substituting power-structure.