In Search of the Greengrocer (Jak vykládat zelináře)
In Search of the Greengrocer (Jak vykládat zelináře)
Author(s): Barbara DaySubject(s): Political history, Government/Political systems, Post-War period (1950 - 1989), History of Communism
Published by: SAGE Publications Ltd
Keywords: Communism; unofficial culture; teaching contemporary history; Václav Havel; Power of the Powerless;
Summary/Abstract: The author reflects on her experience teaching present-day students about life under totalitarianism. Forty years of Communism is a long time; attitudes and opinions matured and shifted—even (if we examine Havel’s essay) those of his greengrocer. And what should be the focus of the teaching: the terror, the heroism, or the everyday business of living? How can one convey the different levels and subtleties of a world that history presents in black and white? The past could disappear in a hazy memory, but young people, once provoked, ask direct and practical questions that do connect the past to the present.
Journal: East European Politics and Societies
- Issue Year: 32/2018
- Issue No: 02
- Page Range: 244-249
- Page Count: 6
- Language: English
- Content File-PDF