THE LEFTISM IDEOLOGY OR NOSTALGIA FOR THE SOCIALIST PAST? SEARCHING FOR LIEUX DE MÉMOIRE IN THE POST-SOVIET CULTURAL SPACES

Author(s): Liena Galeja / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2015

The concept lieu de mémoire (site of memory) was developed by the Frenchhistorian Pierre Nora in the 1970–90s, who suggests to use the term to refer to“any significant entity, whether material or non-material in nature, which by dintof human will or the work of time has become a symbolic element of the memorialheritage of any community” [Nora, Kritzman 1996:18]. Lieux de mémoire functionas an array of mnemonic techniques, which are necessary when the real memoryThe concept lieu de mémoire (site of memory) was developed by the French historian Pierre Nora in the 1970–90s, who suggests to use the term to refer to “any significant entity, whether material or non-material in nature, which by dintof human will or the work of time has become a symbolic element of the memorial heritage of any community” [Nora, Kritzman 1996:18]. Lieux de mémoire function as an array of mnemonic techniques, which are necessary when the real memory (milieux de mémoire) fades. Lieux de mémoire are repeatedly employed in referring back to the past, thus sustaining the actual identity of a community and laying a solid foundation for developing the existing identity or re-shaping it. In the Post-Soviet cultural space of Latvia lieux de mémoire, which are associated with the Soviet past, can be encountered everywhere, from the “The Government Inspector”, staged by Alvis Hermanis and performed during the 2010s, to the nostalgic interior objects in cafés, the hullabaloo stirred by the contest New Wave, the popularity of Karosta Prison in Liepāja, and social media users’ commentaries on the Internet about the topical events in contemporary society. The article discusses the potential links of these phenomena to contemporary socio-political events and attempts to establish if they hide any efforts to restore collective and individual memory, which were split alongside the so-called rewriting of history that took place as a result of the collapse of the Soviet Union, or indications of flaws in Western neoliberalism and neoconservativism while seeking opportunities for renewal of society by way of indirect leftist ideological implications.

Un sistem juridic-administrativ de origine veche germanică reflectat într-o familie lexicală românească (ban, bănat, băni, bănui, bântui) (II)

Author(s): Adrian Poruciuc / Language(s): English,Romanian Issue: 1/2017

One can rarely find a series of cognates as significant – for both the post-ancient history of Southeast-Central Europe and for the Old Germanic domain – as the Romanian lexical family that includes ban ‘feudal title of nobility’ and ban ‘coin, money’. It is rather surprising that no one has decisively propounded ultimate Old Germanic origins for those Romanian words as well as for their obvious relatives in neighbouring languages. Such a situation is most probably due to the fact that some earlier (Avar-Turkic-Hungarian) etymological explanations regarding the ban family came to be considered as definitive solutions, so they became a kind of “etymological legends” transmitted from author to author up until the present day. The main point of this study is to demonstrate that the Romanian lexical family represented by terms such as ban, bănat, băni, bănui and bântui (plus many significant derivatives) are far from being just borrowings from the languages of today’s neighbours of the Romanians. In their earliest recorded meanings, the Romanian words under discussion show surprising unity, since they all reflect a proto-feudal juridical-administrative system that can be clarified only by reference to the semantic sphere of Germanic words such as German Bann, Swedish bann or English ban. The general conclusion of this study (divided into two parts, published in two consecutive issues of Arheologia Moldovei) is that Romanian, as continuant of the Vulgar Latin spoken in Southeast Europe, preserved a lexical family based on Old Germanic loans with meanings that look even more archaic than the ones of the ban family (of Frankish origin) which survived in the French language.

“Verily, This Is the Sheepfold of that Good Shepherd”: The Idea of the “True” Church in Sixteenth-Century Polish Catechisms

Author(s): Waldemar Kowalski / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2016

The article discusses how the authors of sixteenth-century Polish Catholic and Evangelical catechisms perceived and analysed the notion of “the Church”. Following the Tridentine programme, the Catholic authors present their Church as unified under the Pope’s authority and the only inheritor of the works of the Apostles. The veracity of its teaching is testified to with God’s unnatural interventions – miracles. Protestant theologians teach about “the visible and outward Church”, which exists whenever the pure Word of God is preached and where sacraments are administered in accordance with the Holy Writ. Alongside the Visible Church, there exists “the invisible and inward Church” that unites all those following Christ, who is the one and only head of the Church.

De nouveau sur la théorie pélasgique

Author(s): Biliana Mihailova / Language(s): French Issue: 15/2005

Взгляды Н. И. Кареева на проблематику разделов Речи Посполитой в оценке польской историографии

Author(s): Tadeusz Kruczkowski / Language(s): Russian Issue: 10/2018

The article discusses the fundamental problems of the history of Poland’s collapse and Polish-Russian relations of that period in the historiosophical concept of Nikolai I. Kareev (one of the main Russian historians of the liberal trend at the turn of the 20th century) in this aspect of the work of a Russian scholar in Polish historical science (primarily in works by Tadeusz Korzon, Aleksander Rembowski, Juliusz Bardach and Marian Henryk Serejski).

Zamach stanu czy rewolucja społeczna? Październik 1917 w historiografii i przełomu XX i XXI wieku – wybrane publikacje i problemy

Author(s): Alicja Kulecka / Language(s): Polish Issue: 8/2016

At the turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, different historiographies began to move away from the interpretations that treated the October revolution as a separate subject of study. The revolution has come to be inserted in a series of events and presented as just one section of a long process. An important part of creating the narrative on the revolution concerns the search for its general historical meaning. From the liberal perspective, the events of October 1917 are seen as a coup d’etat that resulted in the establishment of the Bolsheviks’ rule, to which they could claim no legal right. However, it was the following civil war which ended in the Bolsheviks’ victory that enabled the Soviet system to take hold. The construction of the new state and the new society was made possible by the defeat inflicted on the Whites in the civil war. The revolution was thus only the first step on the road to establishing communist totalitarianism. From this perspective, one is justified in questioning the revolution’s reputedly crucial role in bringing about a significant historic change. In discussing these issues, scholars have been led to explore the possibility of making the liberal ideology take root in the non-modernised societies. One of the questions posed is whether the liberal ideology gives rise to the civil society or the civil society makes the dissemination of the ideology possible. In Russia in 1917, the public sentiments were largely shaped by those who had only recently stopped being considered slaves of the absolute monarchy, and the experience of representative institutions such as Parliament was still very limited. The fact that the rhetoric of social revolution is no longer used for interpreting the events of October 1917 can be regarded as proof that the founding myth of the Bolshevik Russia and its ideological legacy – the Soviet Union – did not survive the collapse of the state. It has been replaced by the narrative about the political coup d’etat that did not have social support.

Distorsiuni ideologico-istoriografice ale participării României la Primul Război Mondial în România anilor ’50

Author(s): Florin Müller / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 64/2018

The 50s represented par excellence the timeframe of the Stalinist “cultural revolution” in Romania. From a historiographic perspective, it led to a massive elimination of the old structures of the historians’ guild, to the dramatic reconfiguration in terms of both topic and contents of the Romanian historical science. In this program, coordinated by Mihail Roller – a historian of the party and a genuine dictator of historical science in that period (1948-1958– the moment of December 1st, 1918 suffered even more than other identity instances of national history deep distortions under the matrix of “proletarian internationalism”. Between 1948 until the late 60s, December 1st, 1918 suffered metamorphoses that included successive layers (with ebbs and flows) of a nihilist-Stalinist nature, from absolute silence to the full incrimination of generating (and decision-making) political factors of this event. The Stalinist-rollerist historians have used, in turns, a specific linguistic and semantic lexicon: “bourgeoisie”, “imperialist war”, “adventurism”, “exploitation”, “national chauvinism”. However, the historiographic universe within the “obsessive decade” was not linear and it cannot be explained in exclusively Manichean terms as a fight between “good and truth”, on one hand (the “national-liberal”, “patriotic”, “anti-Cominternist” line) and “bad and false” (Stalinist rollerism), on the other hand.

Mihai Botez. Trei schiţe nereuşite de portret

Author(s): Ana-Maria Cătănuş / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 3-4/2018

This is a review of the book edited by Radu Ioanid, Mihai Botez. Three portrait sketches. Documents (Mihai Botez. Trei schiţe de portret. Documente) Polirom, Iaşi, 2018, 442 p.

Jak stawić czoła nowoczesności? Dyskusja wokół wzorca niemieckiej szlachcianki na łamach Deutsches Adelsblatt na przełomie XIX i XX wieku

Author(s): Agnieszka Szudarek / Language(s): Polish Issue: 76/2016

The paper presents the opinions expressed on the pages of the German weekly Deutsches Adelsblatt at the turn of the 20th century in relation to the issue of the influence of social-economic changes and the advancement of civilisation on the life of noblewomen. These reflections served to update the catalogue of a woman’s tasks and obligations with new elements, such as better education and possibility of employment. The model of a modern noblewoman constructed by these means was reinforced with class-nationalist context, which, according to the opinion of journalists – made women responsible for the future of the German nobility and state

Víkingarvísur or Konungavísur? On the Potential Role of the Skaldic Viking Encomia

Author(s): Jakub Morawiec / Language(s): English Issue: 14/2018

Skaldic poetry that praised the deeds of the Viking heroes have been for a long time at the forefront of academic inquiry, particularly in the context of the Scandinavian activity in the region of the British Isles at the turn of the 10th century. Poems such as Hallfred Óttarsson’s “Óláfsdrápa”, Sigvat Þórðarson’s “Víkingarvísur” or Óttar Svarti’s “Hǫfuðlausn” have been perceived as testimonials to the memory of the Viking past, and they were often utilized by the poets themselves in their efforts to present their creative output as fundamental in the creation of the ideology of power. The presented article proposes a different approach to the poems praising the warrior deeds of the Scandinavian rulers. The author posits that the selected poems were not only meant to commemorate the warrior feats of their heroes, but first and foremost to emphasize their kingly attributes. To this end, the poems presented the victims of the Viking attacks as rebels and evildoers, righteously punished for their crimes by the sovereign and forced to recognize his authority.

Между земното и сакралното: катедрали, мощи и духовни водачи в градския живот на Южна Италия през XI – XII век

Author(s): Georgi Dimov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 6/2016

In the medieval urban life of southern Italy the Church was at the core of the city‘s make-up: it dictated the community‘s accepted belief system; it sculpted the streets and squares with its buildings and dominated the skyline with its cathedral (Duomo); its wealth percolated through the urban economy; its officials provided guidance, both spiritual and political, and through its ceremonies it offered a framework in which the urban community could socially commune. The city and the Church in medieval southern Italy very much merged into, and were reliant on, each other, no doubt much to the chagrin of some of the more radical Church reformers of the day.

Totalitarizam na vlasti. Tehnologija osvajanja i održanja na vlasti totalitarnih režima u XX veku

Author(s): Srđan Cvetković / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 1-2/2017

The analysis showed that all totalitarian regimes, although they had significant ideological differences, used almost identical methods of rule. At the heart of these systems is totalitarian terror and brutal repression against political opponents with mass-executions, detention (labour) camps, deportations, political trials and party expulsions of millions of people. Another important element of maintaining power is the absolute control and overall control of society and civil life by the secret police, which is entirely in the service of ideology and the great Leader. The secret police as the backbone of the repressive apparatus represented the basic mechanism of totalitarian power. Civil organizations were only the cover-up of the regime and the extended arm of the Party for complex action and control of the people. A comprehensive system of control over public and private life also involved the co-operation of a network of a million of volunteer-snitchers and informants. Well-organized and aggressive ideological propaganda, the censorship and complete media monopoly strengthened the support of the authorities. The propaganda and terror effi ciency has enabled the advancement of modern technology, as well as the need for the security of existential challenges of „people’s masses“. The system of rule emerged partly from the social and historical conditions and the traditional heritage of worshiping the rulers and the iron fist. Nevertheless, with the victory of totalitarian ideologies, the systematic state repression and propaganda, a completely new system was established, which was meant to create a „new man“ and a new society. Unlike ordinary dictatorships, this system requires from its citizens to involve themselves unconditionally in the construction of a new order. Totalitarianism, unlike other non-democratic regimes, does not limit freedom, but abolishes it completely.

The Kouker without Mask. The Masquerade Feasts in Southeastern Europe

Author(s): Valeria Fol / Language(s): English Issue: 7/1997

Македония в пресечната точка на комунистическите документи

Author(s): Miltcho Lalkov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 3/1999

Време економије и неоосманизма (Озалово политичко наслеђе)

Author(s): Ana Mratinković / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 7/2014

Science nowadays recognizes an increasing number of experts who opinionate that neo-ottomanism represents ideological constant of the modern Turkish foreign policy, framework of which was set and formed in the political arena оf Turkey by its former Prime Minister and later the president Turgut Ozal with his distinctive interpretation of Turkish-Islamic synthesis, which gained a more prominent presence in his political legacy. Considering the fact that the emergence and development of the Turkish-Islamic synthesis itself in the Turkish political history may not be of general knowledge, we will seek to bring a little more light to the subject in this paper. Furthermore, we will introduce some of the revolutionary ideas of Turgut Ozal, who, in capacity of the architect of economic reforms, had liberated the business climate which subsequently led to the economic and political boom of Turkey. Orchestrated in the name of kemalism preservation, 1980 coup d’état in fact provided a suitable political base for implementation of Özal’s foreign, economic and domestic politics, later to be named ozalism, which adds new dimensions to the Turkish foreign policy, according to which Turkey would become a model of synthesis of Islam and modern democracy, and it would become a country where economic and political liberalism would be combined with conservative social values and sense of national identity, which would fundamentally be defined by Islam.

Източна Европа в трудовете на Щефан Трьобст

Author(s): Nikolay Poppetrov,Stefan Troebst / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1-2/2018

A presentation of ‘Zwischen Arktis, Adria und Armenien. Das ostliche Europa und seine Rander. Aufsatze, Essays und Vortrage 1983–2016’ by Stefan Troebst

Македонский вопрос в документах Коминтерна, том I, част 1, 1923-1925 г., Cкonje, 1999, 848 стр. Съставители: к.и.н. доц. Л. И. Жила, д.и.н. проф. В. Т. Поповски

Author(s): Aleksandar Grebenarov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 4/1999

The Thracian Dionysos. I. Zagreus

Author(s): Alexander Fol / Language(s): English Issue: 0/1990

Aspects of the Royal Hestia. I. Hestia and the Idea of Autochthonicity

Author(s): Ivan Marazov / Language(s): English Issue: 0/1990

Phrygian Religion and Rituals: Indo-European and Non-Indo-European Components

Author(s): Vladimir Orel / Language(s): English Issue: 0/1990