Overview
The present volume brings together a range of case studies of myth making and myth breaking in east Europe from the nineteenth century to the present day. In particular, it focuses on the complex process through which memories are transformed into myths. This problematic interplay between memory and myth-making is analyzed in conjunction with the role of myths in the political and social life of the region. The essays include cases of forging myths about national pre-history, about the endorsement of nation building by means of historiography, and above all, about communist and post-communist mythologies. The studies shed new light on the creation of local and national identities, as well as the legitimization of ideologies through myth-making. Together, the contributions show that myths were often instrumental in the vast projects of social and political mobilization during a period which has witnessed, among others, two world wars and the harsh oppression of the communist regimes.
Full Product Details
Author: Claudia-Florentina Dobre
Publisher: Central European University Press
Imprint: Central European University Press
ISBN: 9789633861363
ISBN 10: 9633861365
Pages: 164
Publication Date: 01 November 2017
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Out of stock
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Reviews
""A many-sided and multinational exploration of modern myths that contributes immensely to the general definition of myth and elucidates its many values and functions. The geographical range is from Poland to Bulgaria, but these remarkable studies are not, in a sense, regional because they illuminate the nature of a human cultural creation that is universal. The authors show myth-making to be a continuous process, constructive and de-constructive, all the time being practiced by a diversity of individuals and groups--historians, clergy, politicians, writers, elites, peasants, and even whole generations. These myth-makers thus fully reveal the persistence of memory, the ingenuity of the human spirit, and the art of social mobilization.""--Keith Hitchins ""Central and Eastern Europe is the part of the continent which has suffered, one might say, from 'too much history.' It is enough to look at the inexhaustible mosaic of ethnic or cultural identities or, inevitably, to the communist experiment which has swept through the entire region. Such a tumultuous past has produced historical myths of all kinds, deeply encrusted in the cultural memory of various communities. A group of researchers (from Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, Romania, and Hungary) has set out to identify them. The yield is rich, and the resulting studies are original and interesting. Undeniably, a remarkable achievement!""--Lucian Boia
"""A many-sided and multinational exploration of modern myths that contributes immensely to the general definition of myth and elucidates its many values and functions. The geographical range is from Poland to Bulgaria, but these remarkable studies are not, in a sense, regional because they illuminate the nature of a human cultural creation that is universal. The authors show myth-making to be a continuous process, constructive and de-constructive, all the time being practiced by a diversity of individuals and groups--historians, clergy, politicians, writers, elites, peasants, and even whole generations. These myth-makers thus fully reveal the persistence of memory, the ingenuity of the human spirit, and the art of social mobilization.""--Keith Hitchins ""Central and Eastern Europe is the part of the continent which has suffered, one might say, from 'too much history.' It is enough to look at the inexhaustible mosaic of ethnic or cultural identities or, inevitably, to the communist experiment which has swept through the entire region. Such a tumultuous past has produced historical myths of all kinds, deeply encrusted in the cultural memory of various communities. A group of researchers (from Bulgaria, Croatia, Poland, Romania, and Hungary) has set out to identify them. The yield is rich, and the resulting studies are original and interesting. Undeniably, a remarkable achievement!""--Lucian Boia"
Author Information
Claudia-Florentina Dobre is currently the editor-in-chief of the cultural journal Memoria and an associate researcher at Regional Center of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences (CeReFREA), University of Bucharest. She has published extensively on the memory of Romanian communism and political persecution; museums, monuments, and memorials; and on everyday life under communism. Cristian Emilian Ghita has a PhD in classics and ancient history from the University of Exeter. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bucharest. His interests include Hellenistic studies, Asia Minor, and ancient warfare. All of these are fortuitously combined in his current research project, ""Military Traditions and Innovations in Hellenistic Asia Minor.""
