Apart from documenting and analyzing cultures of history in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe from various angles, the Cultures of History Forum also regularly initiates more collaborative, special features that zoom in on specific events or discussions that concern the entire region (and sometimes beyond). By asking experts from the region to write about one and the same issue and how it is being debated in their respective local or national contexts, we intend to open up additional comparative insights into discourses and developments in this part of Europe.
Even though the represenation and contestation of historical narratives is not necessarily the primary subject of these special features, the past and
what is made of it still often inform the ways in which current affairs are being understood and attitudes formed; they therefore constitute an important backdrop to understanding local media discourses and political developments.
The first collection of texts takes a closer look at the 2014 crisis in Ukraine and how it reverberated in the media and public debates in different European countries. The second project provides insights into local reactions to the 'Lex CEU' in the spring of 2017 and discusses illiberal tendencies in the broader region. Other special features will follow soon.
With its 'Kleio in Pandemia'-blog, the Imre Kertész Kolleg wants to draw attention to the complex historical and mnemonic dimensions of the current Covid-19 crisis. Drawing on our broad network of historians and other scholars originating from and/or working in Central and Eastern Europe, we hope to add another, and often underrepresented voice, to the ongoing intellectual debate about the wider meaning of this crisis for our present and future in Europe.
The history of the Shoah is one of the most contested, but also dynamically developing fields in Central and Eastern European historical cultures. This special FOCUS gathers all previously published Forum-articles on Shoah remembrance and public debate. At the same time, it remains open-ended and will serve as a continuously complemented repository for future contributions on Shoah-related representations and debates in Central and Eastern Europe.
The attempts by the Hungarian government in spring 2017 to shut down the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest and to clamp down on government-critical NGOs triggered a wave of protest and solidarity from academics and politicians worldwide. In this FOCUS we seek to place the ‘Lex CEU’ in a broader regional and historical context and ask what is the state of academic freedom, civil society and liberal values in the countries that came out of communist dictatorships more than 25 years ago.
Russia's annexation of Crimea and the war in Eastern Ukraine have been the object of intense discussion in Europe. But what do we actually know about how the crisis is perceived in different national contexts? Between April and September 2014, the Cultures of History Forum asked scholars from across the region as well as from Western Europe, the US, Israel and Turkey to review their local media coverage of the crisis. They reveal the frequent recourse to historical issues and narratives and the prevailing images and stereotypes about Ukraine, Russia and the European Union.
