Politics of memory in postcommunist Europe / [edited by Corina Dobos].

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Dobos, Corina.

Series:

History of Communism in Europe ; v. 1, 2010.

History of Communism in Europe, 2069-3206 ; v. 1, 2010

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Memory--Political aspects--Europe.

Memory.

Post-communism--Europe.

Post-communism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (305 p.)

Place of Publication:

Bucharest : Zeta Books, c2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

For sixty years, different groups in Europe have put forth interpretations of World War II and their respective countries' roles in it consistent with their own political and psychological needs. The conflict over the past has played out in diverse arenas, including film, memoirs, court cases, and textbooks. It has had profound implications for democratization and relations between neighboring countries. This collection provides a comparative case study of how memories of World War II have been constructed and revised in seven European nations: France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Italy, and the USSR (Russia). The contributors include scholars of history, literature, political science, psychology, and sociology. Country by country, they bring to the fore the specifics of each nation's postwar memories in essays commissioned especially for this volume. The use of similar analytical categories facilitates comparisons. An extensive introduction contains reflections on the significance of Europeans' memories of World War II and a conclusion provides an analysis of the implications of the contributors' findings for memory studies. These two pieces tease out some of the findings common to all seven countries: for instance, in each nation, the decade and a half between the late 1960s and the mid-1980s was the period of most profound change in the politics of memory. At the same time, the contributors demonstrate that Europeans understand World War II primarily through national frames of reference, which are surprisingly varied. Memories of the war have important ramifications for the democratization of Central and Eastern Europe and the consolidation of the European Union. This volume clarifies how those memories are formed and institutionalized. Contributors. Claudio Fogu, Richard J. Golsan, Wulf Kansteiner, Richard Ned Lebow, Regula Ludi, Annamaria Orla-Bukowska, Heidemarie Uhl, Thomas C. Wolfe

Contents:

How We Raised a Monster: Constructing the Image of Socialism during the Post-Socialist Period in Bulgaria - Ina DimitrovaAttitudes towards the Communist Past in Five Central and Eastern European Countries - Sergiu Gherghina; Fac ing the Yugoslav Communist Past in Contemporary Macedonia:Tales of Continuity, Nostalgia and Victimization - Anastas Vangeli; Re-Membering in Transition:The Trans-national Stakes of Violence and Denial in Post-Communist Albania - Lori E. Amy

Revolution without revolutionaries? On the debate about the nature of the upheaval in 1989-90 in the GDR and its protagonists as seen in the context of its 20th anniversary - Peter Ulrich WeissPOLITICS OF HISTORY IN ESTONIA: CHANGING MEMORY REGIMES 1987-2009 - Meike Wulf; REVIEWS; NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

973-1997-86-5

OCLC:

940510919