Editing Alexander Dubček (section)

==Legacy and cultural representations==
[[File:Madrid - Ciudad Universitaria, Monumento a Alexander Dubeck.jpg|Monument to Dubček at Ciudad Universitaria of Madrid|thumb|170px]]
Without Dubček, Czechoslovakian reforms may have taken a more technocratic form that didn't include revival of Slovak culture and the opening of arts to more fluid and interdisciplinary forms that were exported by joint ventures and the diaspora of artists after the Soviet crackdown. Politically, the Prague Spring may have been more contained to Czechoslovakia.<ref name=":9" /> Many Soviet reformers, such as Sakharov, would have lacked the concrete inspiration that came from the reforms Dubček guided, particularly the revolt against stagnation. "The invasion of Prague started the true dissident movement in Russia. An abyss opened up between them and the system, which was a catastrophic harbinger of change. Without Prague, there would have been no perestroika."<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Russia: The Philosophy of the Long-Haired Rebellion |url=https://www.ghi-dc.org/fileadmin/publications/Bulletin_Supplement/Supplement_6/supp6.pdf |journal=Bulletin of the German Historical Institute |issue=6 |pages=174}}</ref>

Dubček's style of leadership, and the ultimate frustration of his program by Soviet intervention, also had a deep impact on the development and orientation of communist and socialist parties and thinkers in the west.<ref name=":9">{{Cite web |date=2018-09-04 |title=Slovakia and Dubcek in 1968. Slovak Culture in Early Spring |url=http://sciencespo.fr/ceri/fr/content/dossiersduceri/slovakia-and-dubcek-1968-slovak-culture-early-spring |access-date=2023-03-21 |website=Les dossiers du CERI |language=fr}}</ref>

Dubček also left a legacy of might-have-beens and what-ifs. Historians and the public will continue to speculate what may have happened had he not died from a car crash or had his time in leadership of the Prague Spring not been interrupted by Soviet intervention. One obituary speculates that had he become the Slovak president, his influence over the new country would have charted a more immediately inclusive course toward Europe.<ref name="pecina.cz"/>

Dubček himself has been remembered in artistic representations in many cultures and times.

In 1984, [[France|French]] singer and songwriter [[Alice Dona]] had released a song named ''Le Jardinier de Bratislava'' with the lyrics written by [[:fr:Claude Lemesle|Claude Lemesle]], as an apolitical song about love and longing for freedom. The song was inspired by a trip of a French television crew to visit Dubček in his villa near [[Slavín]], [[Bratislava]]. They were denied the access by the [[ŠtB]] secret police. The sole footage collected of Dubček was of him attending to his garden.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-12-01 |title=Ako Dubček inšpiroval francúzsku speváčku |url=https://zurnal.pravda.sk/spolocnost/clanok/608641-ako-dubcek-inspiroval-francuzsku-spevacku/ |access-date=2022-06-27 |website=Pravda.sk |language=sk}}</ref>

In 1990, the film ''Invasion'', a dramatization of the Soviet invasion, was edited by producers to include translated commentary by Alexander Dubček responding to their interview about the events it portrays.<ref name=":6" />

The movie [[Dubček (film)|''Dubček'']], released in 2018, is the first film based on the life of Alexander Dubček. It is a Slovak [[historical movie]] whose main plot revolves around events related to the Warsaw Pact invasion.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dokudrama Dubček se uctivě vyhýbá kontroverzi - Novinky |url=https://www.novinky.cz/clanek/kultura-dokudrama-dubcek-se-uctive-vyhyba-kontroverzi-40066081 |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=Novinky.cz |date=22 August 2018 |language=cs}}</ref>