4th Young Scholars Forum, 2014
„Remembrance Culture and Common Histories in the Danube Region“
Aims of the project:
– Promoting and encouraging young scholars to engage with Central and South East Europe;
– Presentation of research by young scholars to a wider public;
– Exchange among young and more advanced researchers on topics, methods, sources and results;
– Networking;
– Furthering mobility within the region;
– Publication of contributions and results;
Target group:
Max. 30 Young scholars working on Central and South East Europe in the fields of cultural studies, history, media studies, political sciences, geography, sociology, and economy.
Date and venue:
The symposium took place November 27–29 2014, Vienna, Austria
„Remembrance Culture and Common Histories in the Danube Region“
The papers will reflect different approaches to remembrance culture, as well as both divided and common histories in the Danube Region. Both empirically detailed case studies and comparative research are welcome. The goal of the forum is to shine light on the conflicting trends of the consolidation of nation states in the past two decades and rise of national discourses about the past and contrasting efforts both from the bottom up and by outside actors to promote new, cooperative forms of remembrance. The forum seeks to reflect not just on centrality of nationalism in writing of history and official narratives, but also the tensions between different ideological orientations and between public and private narratives. The papers might want to address some of these related questions:
1. What are official narratives of the recent past and how are they materialised through monuments, official holidays, and school curricula
2. What counter narratives exist in society and how are they manifested and in which ways are official memories contested or challenged
3. How and which historical narratives remain contested within countries and between countries of the region along national and ideological (i.e. anti-Communist vs. nostalgia for the Socialist period) lines?
4. Which efforts to promote a shared understanding of the past have been undertaken and what have been the results?
5. What alternative forms of commemoration and remembrance cultures have emerged and how do they interlink with other global trends?