|
|
Memory as a political phenomenon. Reflections on the public debate about The Act on the Lawlessness of the Communist Regime
Rybář, Pavel ; Znoj, Milan (advisor) ; Slačálek, Ondřej (referee)
This thesis aims to set a basic framework for "memories of communism" which come along with attempts on political construction of the past during post-1989 regime. Based on the example of public debate about "The Act on the Lawlessness of the Communist Regime and on Resistance Against It", we will attempt to reveal main resources of anti-communist rhetoric and symbols, and to clarify the role they played in forging political identities in the first half of the 1990s. While the introductory chapter explores concepts which allow us to conceptualize memory in the analysis of the political, other chapters are devoted to various interpretations of the past in the context of discussions of de- communization measures that belong to the category of "coming to terms with the past" (Lustration Act, The Act on the Lawlessness of the Communist Regime). Does Czech anti-communism result from those measures adopted between 1991 and 1993, or does their adoption seek to reduce the plurality of politics of memory? Are attempts to label the previous regime as criminal the exclusive form of anti-communism, or does anti-communism amount to a combination of moral, legal and political arguments that seek to criminalize the previous social and legal order? By analysing different types of utterances we will attempt to...
|
|
|
Historical Narrative and Identity Building: Museums in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Knappová, Barbora ; Králová, Kateřina (advisor) ; Šístek, František (referee)
The thesis analyses historical narratives presented in exhibitions of the History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo and the Museum of Republika Srpska in Banja Luka. It also clarifies who promotes that particular representation of history and which factors influence the decisions museums make. The thesis builds on theoretical literature related to a role of museums in a process of memory institutionalization and identity building as well as to their potential to bring reconciliation in post-conflict society. The subjects of the research are the main museums dealing with the recent history in the two Bosnian autonomous entities, with the History Museum being in predominantly Bosniak while the Museum of Republika Srpska in predominantly Serb environment. The thesis explores the development of the museums, their organization, financing, self-presentation and most importantly the narratives of their permanent and temporary exhibitions. These are analysed especially from the perspective of definition of own group versus the others. The analysis covers museums' activities in the period from 1995 to present days. The thesis argues in detail that historical narrative promoted by the History Museum in Sarajevo reproduces the Bosniak narrative despite its efforts to play a role of state-level...
|
|
|
Valley of the Fallen: Contested site in the Spanish politics of memory
Kolínová, Kristýna ; Tomalová, Eliška (advisor) ; Menclová, Barbora (referee)
A monument known as the Valley of the Fallen is located about fifty kilometers from Madrid. The complex was built by General Franco as a memorial to the victims of the Civil War. After his death, Franco himself was buried here in the basilica caved into the rock. The remains of the dictator situated at such a monumental site together with thousands of victims of the Civil War are, according to many, an unresolved issue for democratic Spain. As many meanings are assigned to the site, the debate about the Valley of the Fallen includes other topics as well. The thesis presents and analyzes the politics of memory and debate on the contested site of memory Valley of the Fallen from the beginning of the Zapatero government in 2004 until the end of the Rajoy government in May 2018. Based on the typology of mnemonic actors of M. Bernhard and J. Kubik, the thesis identifies and classifies national institutional actors participating in this debate. Transnational actors, as well as attitudes of the Spanish civil society, are also mentioned. Therefore, the thesis connects three areas of the collective memory studies: sites of memory, politics of memory and mnemonic actors.
|
|
|
GDR-Nostalgia in the Former East Germany and Politics of Memory of the PDS
Novosadová, Alena ; Konrád, Ota (advisor) ; Šmidrkal, Václav (referee)
In 1990 when the GDR and FRG were united, there was a lot of optimism about the future of the new state. However, after few years after this historical event, both West and East Germans felt disillusioned by the transformation process. The sensation of the East Germans was named GDR-nostalgia or the so called Ostalgie, nostalgic longing for the former GDR. This feeling was rooted both in the objective socio-economic situation and in the feeling of loss in the biographies of the East Germans. This paper deals with the political dimension of the GDR-nostalgia, focusing on the political party PDS, a successor party of the communist state party SED. Despite the pessimistic prophecies about the PDS the party was growing steadily in the East. The East Germans felt that the party represents their particular interests in the united Germany. Yet the PDS didn't use a chance to deal critically with its controversial history. The hypothesis is, that the party, by presenting an idealistic version of the GDR past to the public and their potential voters, tried to strengthen the nostalgia feeling in order to gain votes. To prove the thesis the structure of the party, its program and history institutions will be examined. The concept of politics of memory will be described.
|
|
|
The Image of Partisan in Czechoslovak Society 1945-1948
Doležalová, Ivana ; Vojtěchovský, Ondřej (advisor) ; Šustrová, Radka (referee)
The bachelor thesis (work) The Image of Partisan in Czechoslovak Society 1945 - 1948 based on study of contemporary press shows the way the partisan movement was presented in Czechoslovak public space. The work introduces the development of the media image of partisan in the press during the early post-war years. It describes, when the type of guerrilla fighter as a representative of the antifascist resistance occured, who this presentation Czechslovak resistance advocated most, and if it was at the expense of other forms of resistance activities. The focus of the work is the analysis of main source of the problems of formating post-war media image of the partisan movement - weekly Partisan, in the years 1946, 1947 and early 1948. The qualitative analysis enabeled putting down the media image of partisan in weekly Partisan, its transformation through the time, and simultaneously the confrontation with some other post-war Czechoslovak periodicals. The contribution of this work is in the fact that it complements previous studies on the topic of the partisan movement of view of post-war contemporary press.
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
'The Holocaust Law' and the defence of Polish history under the PiS government
Marková, Lucie ; Šmidrkal, Václav (advisor) ; Kochnowski, Roman (referee)
The aim of this thesis is to describe two central narratives of the Holocaust in the collective memory of Poland on the example of the clash of these narratives in one of the biggest debates in Polish history, triggered by the publication of Jan Tomasz Gross's book Neighbours in 2000. The first attempt to focus legislatively on those who do not follow the official narrative of the past of the Holocaust, was the creation of "Lex Gross" in 2006 during the first period of the reign of the right-wing conservative political party PiS. In 2018, the proposed legislation was elaborated into an Amendment to the Act on the IPN, known as "Holocaust Law" which had provoked a great controversy. The aim of this one-case study of the amendment is to present the motives for the amendment and explain the controversy it provoked within the framework of politics of memory of PiS. The amendment is interpreted in the context of different narratives of Holocaust, so-called memory wars - that means in the collective memories of the national states on the one hand, and of transnational acteurs on the other. Thus, memory may become the subject of populism, which heralds the disintegration of the neoliberal consensus.
|
|
|
The Comparison of Polish and Ukrainian Institutes of National Remembrance and their Interpretations of the Massacre of Poles in Volhynia
Lavrentev, Aleksei ; Vykoukal, Jiří (advisor) ; Zilynskyj, Bohdan (referee)
The thesis compares Polish and Ukrainian Institutes of National Remembrance, analyses Polish and Ukrainian dominant models of the collective memory and historical narratives of the massacre of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia 1943. The analysis also clarifies and compares interpretations of this phenomenon by Polish and Ukrainian Institutes. The subjects of the research are Polish and Ukrainian Institutions of National Remembrance themselves, as the main promoting tools of politics of memory in their states. The thesis covers a period from the revolutionary changes in Ukraine in 2014 (have changed Ukrainian historical narratives and politics of memory) to present days. Political situations in Ukraine (2014) and Poland (2015) are reflected in this thesis, as they are in the direct relation with changings in politics of memory, which have restored the conflict of memory. The first signs of the memory conflict (Yushchenko presidency and the first Law and Justice cabinet) are explained briefly, as thesis is focused on a current situation. The massacre of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia, which is the most tragic point of modern Polish-Ukrainian relations, is described as a sticking point between Poland and Ukraine. The analysis argues in detail that Polish and Ukrainian Institutes are...
|
|
|
Valley of the Fallen: Contested site in the Spanish politics of memory
Kolínová, Kristýna ; Tomalová, Eliška (advisor) ; Menclová, Barbora (referee)
A monument known as the Valley of the Fallen is located about fifty kilometers from Madrid. The complex was built by General Franco as a memorial to the victims of the Civil War. After his death, Franco himself was buried here in the basilica caved into the rock. The remains of the dictator situated at such a monumental site together with thousands of victims of the Civil War are, according to many, an unresolved issue for democratic Spain. As many meanings are assigned to the site, the debate about the Valley of the Fallen includes other topics as well. The thesis presents and analyzes the politics of memory and debate on the contested site of memory Valley of the Fallen from the beginning of the Zapatero government in 2004 until the end of the Rajoy government in May 2018. Based on the typology of mnemonic actors of M. Bernhard and J. Kubik, the thesis identifies and classifies national institutional actors participating in this debate. Transnational actors, as well as attitudes of the Spanish civil society, are also mentioned. Therefore, the thesis connects three areas of the collective memory studies: sites of memory, politics of memory and mnemonic actors.
|
guest ::
