Political criticism in Jiří Trnka's animation films

The communist government that took power in Czechoslovakia after the World War II established autarchy over art life. Artwork containing criticism of the regime was censored or banned. The puppet art in Czech lands, whose history dates back to the Middle Ages, was relatively less affected by these pressures and was used not only for entertainment but also as a tool for political criticism. Jiří Trnka (1912-1969), who lived in Czechoslovakia, a member of the Warsaw Pact, built his animated films on the deep-rooted puppetry tradition in his country. Combining the art of puppetry with the technique of stop-motion in his films, Trnka has developed a unique cinematic language whose effects continue even today. Using folkloric material extensively, Trnka made films criticizing the regime under the leadership of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) with an allegorical language. Puppet, space, and decor designs in Trnka's movies are the elements that visualize the story of the movie and the political criticism in the background. Trnka, who dealt with the political and social problems of Czechoslovakia in his movies, increased the dose of criticism especially after 1960. The aim of this study carried out with a qualitative perspective, is to reveal how Jiří Trnka constructs critical discourse in his movies by using the possibilities of animated cinema. In this study, Jiří Trnka's animation movies Císařův slavík (The Emperor's Nightingale, 1949), Osudy dobrého vojáka Švejka (The Good Soldier Švejk, 1955), and Ruka (The Hand, 1965) selected within the scope of purposeful sampling are analyzed with Norman Fairclough's critical discourse analysis (CDA).