Zeitschrift für Ostmitteleuropa-Forschung / Journal of East Central European Studies (ZfO)
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Protecting Folk Culture in a Workers’ Society: Hungarian Vernacular Heritage Protection under State Socialism
No full textEven though vernacular culture of Hungary through its authentic rural settlements, their inhabitants and lifestyle, were dramatically transformed during the Cold War period, their representation and memories were highly valued. During the socialist period (between World War II and 1989) vernacular heritage, including applied art and intangible heritage elements, was a significant part of state propaganda and a useful tool for universalizing minority policy. This paper explores the diverse effects and actors influencing the formation and role of the heritagization process of Hungarian vernacular culture between 1960 and 1989. The research period is discussed from different perspectives including historically, sociologically, from a cultural heritage point of view, as well as in international relations and with regard to the ideological context of the subject and its location, Hungary. Such plurality also alludes to the numerous circumstances that influenced the researched process. The paper investigates how the Hungarian understanding of vernacular culture was transformed by various actors under state socialism in order for it to be ideologically acceptable for the ruling power and to protect it at a time when attempts were being made to eliminate it
Hanna Kozińska-Witt: Politycy czy klakierzy? Żydzi w krakowskiej radzie miejskiej w XIX wieku [Politiker oder Claqueure? Juden im Krakauer Stadtrat im 19. Jahrhundert.]
Get PDFArkadiusz Stempin: Das vergessene Generalgouvernement. Die deutsche Besatzungs-politik in Kongresspolen 1914‒1918.
Get PDFMordechai Strigler: In den Fabriken des Todes. Ein früher Zeitzeugenbericht vom Arbeitslager Skarżysko-Kamienna. Hrsg. von Frank Beer, übers. von Sigrid Beisel.
Get PDFEin Fenster zur Welt. Osteuropa in der "New York Review of Books", 1963-2003
Get PDFThis article discusses the role Central Europe has played in the self-identification and po-sitioning of New York intellectuals during and since the end of the Cold War. Through the lens of the New York Review of Books, it analyzes the rise of the human rights movement and of East European dissidents, the emerging consensus of the Holocaust as the ultimate evil, and the identification of Central Europe as a coherent but historically endangered cultural region. This contribution to the intellectual history of the Cold War focuses on the motivations and changing preferences of intellectuals and activists in New York. It relies on the published articles in the Review and interviews with participants in the East-West network discussed here. Although originally founded as a left-leaning journal that fiercely criticized the US po-litical and intellectual establishment, the Review came to embrace classical liberalism in the 1970s. New groups of dissidents in Eastern Europe, such as the Moscow Helsinki Group, KOR, and the Charta 77, encouraged this ideological shift. They inspired the New Yorkers to rally behind the cause of human rights and opened their eyes to the tragic fate of twentieth-century Central Europe. Many in this informal network on either side of the Iron Curtain shared a family history that rooted in Jewish Eastern Europe. This alliance did not only offer the dissidents’ elusive protection through the Review’s influence on public opinion but also lent credibility to the American intellectuals involved and bolstered the perception of their political and intellectual integrity. After 1989, however, the network fell apart when much of Central Europe succumbed to ethno-nationalism. The New Yorkers focused instead on the wars in the former Yugoslavia. Eventually, friendships deteriorated over the opposing attitudes toward the US invasion of Iraq and the war on terror, in which both sides deployed the same arguments as during the Cold War but to different ends.This article discusses the role Central Europe has played in the self-identification and po-sitioning of New York intellectuals during and since the end of the Cold War. Through the lens of the New York Review of Books, it analyzes the rise of the human rights movement and of East European dissidents, the emerging consensus of the Holocaust as the ultimate evil, and the identification of Central Europe as a coherent but historically endangered cultural region. This contribution to the intellectual history of the Cold War focuses on the motivations and changing preferences of intellectuals and activists in New York. It relies on the published articles in the Review and interviews with participants in the East-West network discussed here. Although originally founded as a left-leaning journal that fiercely criticized the US po-litical and intellectual establishment, the Review came to embrace classical liberalism in the 1970s. New groups of dissidents in Eastern Europe, such as the Moscow Helsinki Group, KOR, and the Charta 77, encouraged this ideological shift. They inspired the New Yorkers to rally behind the cause of human rights and opened their eyes to the tragic fate of twentieth-century Central Europe. Many in this informal network on either side of the Iron Curtain shared a family history that rooted in Jewish Eastern Europe. This alliance did not only offer the dissidents’ elusive protection through the Review’s influence on public opinion but also lent credibility to the American intellectuals involved and bolstered the perception of their political and intellectual integrity. After 1989, however, the network fell apart when much of Central Europe succumbed to ethno-nationalism. The New Yorkers focused instead on the wars in the former Yugoslavia. Eventually, friendships deteriorated over the opposing attitudes toward the US invasion of Iraq and the war on terror, in which both sides deployed the same arguments as during the Cold War but to different ends
Dawid Smolorz, Marcin Kordecki: Schauplatz Oberschlesien. Eine europäische Ge-schichtsregion neu entdecken
Get PDFMartin Lohmann: Alpenblick hinter Stacheldraht. Das polnische Offiziersgefangenenlager VII A in Murnau 1939-1945
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Women and Men at War. A Gender Perspective on World War II and its Aftermath in Central and Eastern Europe. Hrsg. von Maren Röger und Ruth Leiserowitz
Get PDFThe Map as a Political Manifesto: The Case of "Karta dawnej Polski and Hôtel Lambert’s Concepts of the Polish State and Nation
No full textThe failure of the November uprising in 1831 and the resultant Great Polish Emigration not only caused the massive exodus of elites from the Polish Kingdom to western Europe and, consequently, the organization of pro-independence activities from their exile, but also highly influenced the discourse about the geographical shape and political nature of the (desired) future Polish state. The majority of this discourse was represented by memoranda and newspapers, yet there were also other relevant sources to promote the ideas of various factions. In my study I suggest that cartographical representations have also played an important role in both of the mentioned levels of discourse. This conclusion was made as a result of the analysis of Karta dawnej Polski, the only map of the former PolishLithuanian Commonwealth in its pre-1772 borders created by émigrés. This project was led by Wojciech Chrzanowski and was under the patronage of the aristocratic faction led by Prince Adam Jerzy Czartoryski (known as Hôtel Lambert). By applying the methodological approach, which has been presented by John Brian Harley, and focusing on the historical and anthropological attributes of the map rather than solely on its empirical description, I conclude with the suggestion that this map communicated various narratives at both levels of discourse. The most evident was its military narrative, which has promoted the idea of an armed uprising as the only possible way to restore an independent Polish state. The second concerned the ideas cultivated by the representatives of Hôtel Lambert regarding the shape and nature of a future state. According to this opinion, Poland could become a political entity only if its pre-1772 borders were reinstated. Within the emigrational discourse, the idea of a restored state with pre-1772 borders was not a unique assumption. On the other hand, the Karta dawnej Polski might have been an important asset comparable to Russian cartographical projects (mainly the “Three-verst map”) which presented the territory of the Polish Kingdom under the rule of the Russian tsar as a cartographical and therefore objective (legal and legimitate) reality