Of Red Dragons and Evil Spirits: Post-Communist Historiography between Democratization and the New Politics of History

The collection of well researched chapters assesses the uses and misuses of history 25 years after the collapse of Soviet hegemony in Eastern Europe. As opposed to the emphasis on the recovery of memory or revival of national histories that seemed to be the prevelant historiographical approaches of the 1990s, the last decade has seen a particular set of narratives equating Nazism and communism and so providing opportunities to exonerate wartime collaboration, cast the nation as victim even when its government was allied with Germany, and acknowledge the Jewish Holocaust while obfuscating its meaning and significance. In their comparative analysis the authors are also interested in new practices of performing ‘Europeanness'. Therefore their presentations of Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian and Slovenian post-communist memory politics move beyond the common national myths in order to provide a new insight into transnational interactions and exchanges in Europe in general. The juxtaposition of these politics, the processes in other parts of Europe, the modes of remembering shaped by displacement and the transnational memory practices enable a close encounter with the divergences and assess the potential of the formation of common, European memory practices. "The collection of well-researched essays assesses the uses and misuses of history 25 years after the collapse of Soviet hegemony in Eastern Europe. As opposed to the revival of national histories that seemed to be the prevailing historiographical approach of the 1990s, the last decade has seen a particular set of narratives equating Nazism and Communism. This provides opportunities to exonerate wartime collaboration, casting the nation as victim even when its government was allied with Germany. While the Jewish Holocaust is acknowledged, its meaning and significance are obfuscated. In their comparative analysis the authors are also interested in new practices of 'Europeanness'. Therefore their presentations of Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian and Slovenian post-communist memory politics move beyond the common national myths in order to provide a new insight into transnational interactions and exchanges in Europe in general. The juxtaposition of these politics, the processes in other parts of Europe, the modes of remembering shaped by displacement and the transnational enable a close encounter with the divergences and assess the potential of the formation of common, European memory practices"--The publisher

The collection of well-researched essays assesses the uses and misuses of history 25 years after the collapse of Soviet hegemony in Eastern Europe. As opposed to the revival of national histories that seemed to be the prevailing historiographical approach of the 1990s, the last decade has seen a particular set of narratives equating Nazism and Communism. This provides opportunities to exonerate wartime collaboration, casting the nation as victim even when its government was allied with Germany. While the Jewish Holocaust is acknowledged, its meaning and significance are obfuscated.In their comparative analysis the authors are also interested in new practices of 'Europeanness'. Therefore their presentations of Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Bosnian, Croatian and Slovenian post-communist memory politics move beyond the common national myths in order to provide a new insight into transnational interactions and exchanges in Europe in general. The juxtaposition of these politics, the processes in other parts of Europe, the modes of remembering shaped by displacement and the transnational enable a close encounter with the divergences and assess the potential of the formation of common, European memory practices.

Cover ......Page 1 Title page ......Page 4 Copyright page ......Page 5 CONTENTS......Page 6 PREFACE......Page 8 INTRODUCTION: Oto Luthar: “Red Dragon and the Evil Spirits”......Page 10 CHAPTER 1: Daniela Koleva: On the (In)convertibility of National Memory into European Legitimacy: The Bulgarian Case......Page 20 CHAPTER 2: Ljiljana Radonić: Equalizing Jesus’s, Jewish, and Croat Suffering—Post-Socialist Politics of History in Croatia......Page 42 CHAPTER 3: Michael Shafir: Wars of Memory in Post-Communist Romania......Page 68 CHAPTER 4: Todor Kuljić: Reflections on the Principles of the Critical Culture of Memory......Page 96 CHAPTER 5: Miroslav Michela: The Struggle for Legitimacy: Constructing the National History of Slovakia After 1989......Page 124 CHAPTER 6: Ferenc Laczó: Victims and Traditions: Narratives of Hungarian National History After the Age of Extremes......Page 148 CHAPTER 7: ŠaĊir Filandra: Instrumentalization of History in Bosnia and Herzegovina......Page 168 CHAPTER 8: Oto Luthar: Post-Socialist Historiography Between Democratization and New Exclusivist Politics of History......Page 196 AUTHORS......Page 218 BIBLIOGRAPHY......Page 220 INDEX......Page 254 Back cover ......Page 258 Cover -- Title page -- Copyright page -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- INTRODUCTION: Oto Luthar: "Red Dragon and the Evil Spirits"--CHAPTER 1: Daniela Koleva: On the (In)convertibility of National Memory into European Legitimacy: The Bulgarian Case -- CHAPTER 2: Ljiljana Radonić: Equalizing Jesus's, Jewish, and Croat Suffering-Post-Socialist Politics of History in Croatia -- CHAPTER 3: Michael Shafir: Wars of Memory in Post-Communist Romania -- CHAPTER 4: Todor Kuljić: Reflections on the Principles of the Critical Culture of Memory -- CHAPTER 5: Miroslav Michela: The Struggle for Legitimacy: Constructing the National History of Slovakia After 1989 -- CHAPTER 6: Ferenc Laczó: Victims and Traditions: Narratives of Hungarian National History After the Age of Extremes -- CHAPTER 7: Šačir Filandra: Instrumentalization of History in Bosnia and Herzegovina -- CHAPTER 8: Oto Luthar: Post-Socialist Historiography Between Democratization and New Exclusivist Politics of History -- AUTHORS -- BIBLIOGRAPHY -- INDEX -- Back cover Introduction: red dragon and the evil spirits / Oto Luthar -- On the (in)convertibility of national memory into European legitimacy: the Bulgarian case / Daniela Koleva -- Equalizing Jesus's, Jewish and Croat suffering: post-Socialist politics of history in Croatia / Ljiljana Radonic -- Wars of memory in post-Communist Romania / Michael Shafir -- Reflections on the principles of the critical culture of memory / Todor Kuljic -- The struggle for legitimacy: constructing the national history of Slovakia after 1989 / Miroslav Michela -- Victims and traditions: narratives of Hungarian national history after the age of extremes / Ferenc Laczó -- Instrumentalization of history in Bosnia and Herzegovina / Sacir Filandra -- Post-Socialist historiography between democratization and new exclusivist politics of history / Oto Luthar