大象传媒

Abstracts

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Promise of the Past: Politics of History and Memory Cultures in post-Soviet Russia

Ekatarina Makhotina, University of Bonn

The acceleration of time and scepticism towards the future are universal phenomenons of our society. The past is longing for more attention than the future in several spheres of public life: in politics, culture, public activities. Therefore, political actors, who give the past its meaning and construct the narrative, are of enormous significance. This is the case in Russia, where the politics of history have become extremely important over the last decade. There are considerable investments in the evolvement of 鈥渟ites of memory,鈥� areas of cultural heritage and public re-enactments. Most of all, the memory of the Second World War, which has been standing still in unique continuity since Soviet times, is still the crucial point for the politics of collective identity in Russia. The politics of history aims at preserving the traditional, heroic meaning of war. A counter-example is the politics of ambivalence regarding the Stalinist repressions. Here, a definite conviction of the Stalinist regime is still lacking, although there are state-sponsored memorials for Stalin鈥檚 victims and Gulag museums.听

In Russian society there is also a need for the promises of the (lost) past. Except for the practical nostalgia for 鈥渟table鈥� Soviet times, there is a considerable amount of social practices actualizing the past, like 鈥淭he Immortal Regiment鈥� for the heroes and 鈥淭he Return of the Names鈥� for Stalin鈥檚 victims. The practices of re-enactment, memorial pilgrimage, restoration of the declined Soviet architecture create new meaning of historical events. In the case of commemoration of victims of Stalin鈥檚 terror it can even gain a critical potential against the contemporary political power in the Kremlin. Nevertheless: up until now the discourse on the victims of state terror in Soviet times is still more common in the aesthetics and language of the Russian orthodox religious tradition.

Litteratur och minne: 'Die Wende', Tysklands 氓terf枚rening och f枚rfattarna tretti 氓r efter murens fall

Frank Thomas Grub, Uppsala Universitet

1989 verkade de flesta tyskar i 枚st och v盲st ha accepterat den tyska delningen i tv氓 stater som en normalitet. 鈥滵ie Wende鈥�, murens fall och (氓ter-)f枚reningen kom allts氓 of枚rutsedda och 枚verraskande f枚r m盲nniskorna p氓 b氓da sidor av muren.听

H盲ndelserna kring 鈥渄ie Wende鈥� och (氓ter-)f枚reningen, men framf枚r allt deras konsekvenser har l盲mnat djupa sp氓r i politik, ekonomi och samh盲lle, men 盲ven i litteraturen. F枚redraget handlar om dessa sp氓r och om litteraturens och f枚rfattarnas roll i samband med det historiska minnet.

Det kommer att presenteras texter av alla genrer samt autobiografiska texter fr氓n 1989 till idag.