Revolucionáři k sežrání: Proces s Rudolfem Slánským a spol. jako romance

This article analyzes the show trial of Rudolf Slánský (General Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party) and his thirteen co‑defendants in late 1952. The author begins with an observation by Karl Marx that historical irony is a product of generic catachresis: a tragic event turns comic when it reoccurs. This obviously raises the question of which genre does a show trial full of confessions belong to? The confessions of Slánský and his alleged co‑conspirators, argues the author, embody the romance genre. They are records of a heroic struggle with false consciousness that the accused had previously yielded to, and culminate in the rediscovery of true class consciousness, bringing to an end their awkward alienation from the history of mankind, as stated in Marx’s master narrative.