Description
Book Synopsis Scholars have devoted considerable energy to understanding the history of ethnic cleansing in Europe, reconstructing specific events, state policies, and the lived experiences of victims. Yet much less attention has been given to how these incidents persist in collective memory today. This volume brings together interdisciplinary case studies conducted in Central and Eastern European cities, exploring how present-day inhabitants “remember” past instances of ethnic cleansing, and how they understand the cultural heritage of groups that vanished in their wake. Together these contributions offer insights into more universal questions of collective memory and the formation of national identity.
Trade Review “Although comprised of only six case studies reflecting multi- and interdisciplinary approaches, the book presents a coherent and theoretically-informed look at the evolution of memory narratives and representations in what used to be called Eastern Europe…the book should be of interest to anyone concerned about Europe’s multi-ethnic past as perceived, acknowledged or even celebrated at the city level at the former Eastern Europa today. It can be read with profit by scholars and students across various humanistic disciplines.” • The Polish Review
“Exploring a new avenue, the study of cultural trauma, Whose Memory? Which Future? provides an original, timely and singularly stimulating contribution to several subfields of memory studies. Owing to its strong comparative dimension, the book will serve as a sound conceptual, methodological and critical springboard for scholars working on post-conflict memory and cultural trauma but also for students of urban heritage management or post-socialist political cultures… Besides the potential benefits for the cultivation of an integrating European memory discourse, the volume’s contribution to the comparative study of cultural memory in Europe is thus hard to overstate.” • Bohemia
“…the volume makes an important contribution to the literature on memory and is a must-read for anyone interested in the subject.” • Europe-Asia Studies
“The book is the best argument in favor of comparative work in memory studies…[It] can be seen as an invitation, or rather urgent request, to engage more in comparative memory research on the one hand, and to reflect on the possibility of shared European memory politics, on the other. The book is not only highly informative and meticulously researched but also intellectually engaging and provocative.” • Slavic Review
“Featuring an excellent introduction and conclusion, interesting material on cities ranging from Chernivtsi to Zadar, and an innovative theoretical framework, this volume stands out among the current literature on collective memory.” • Zdzislaw Mach, Jagiellonian University
“The approach that this volume takes to the subject of ethnic cleansing is completely new, and the research it presents is significant and extremely valuable. It is one of the first books to address a number of questions that have been overlooked by urban history, memory studies, cultural sociology, and other fields.” • Gelinada Grinchenko, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University
Table of Contents Introduction
Barbara Törnquist-Plewa
Chapter 1. Wrocław - Changes in Memory Narratives
Igor Pietraszewski and Barbara Törnquist-Plewa
Chapter 2. Between Old Animosity and New Mourning - Meanings of Czech Post-Communist Memorials of Mass Killings of the Sudeten Germans
Tomas Sniegon
Chapter 3. Polishness as a Site of Memory and Arena for Construction of a Multicultural Heritage in L’viv
Eleonora Narvselius
Chapter 4. Memories of Ethnic Diversity in Local Newspapers - the 600th Anniversary of Chernivtsi
Niklas Bernsand
Chapter 5.
Zaratini: Memoriesand Absence of the Italian Community of Zadar
Tea Sindbaek
Chapter 6. Echo of Silence. Memory, Politics and Heritage in Post-War Bosnia and Herzegovina, a case study: Višegrad
Dragan Nikolic
Chapter 7. Comparative Remarks and Conclusions
Barbara Törnquist-Plewa
