Memory Laws and Memory Wars in Poland, Russia and Ukraine

Belavusau, Uladzislau; Gliszczyńska-Grabias, Aleksandra; Mälksoo, Maria

doi:10.2139/ssrn.3806091

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…41 International protest again led to revoking parts of this law but has not altered the "politics of history" that turns on "the creation of a historical narrative based on the 'correct' version of Polish heroism, as well as attempts to punish those who do not 'sufficiently' acknowledge the experienced wrongs suffered by the Poles." 42 Hungary stands out, for the purposes of this article, for its suppression of academic freedom. Beginning in 2017, the government, controlled by the Fidesz party, issued a bill setting new conditions for foreign universities operating in Hungary.…”

Section: Memory Laws and Politicized Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

What, at Long Last, Is Historical Theory For? Reflections on Historical Theory in a Post‐truth World

Partner

2023

History and Theory

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The term “post‐truth” is a capacious trope that collects threats to the stability of shared knowledge on many fronts—digitally spread disinformation, ignorance and resistance to science, unabashed lies in the public sphere, mythologizing by resurgent nationalist forces, and so on. History is particularly vulnerable to this array. Post‐truth threats to serious history produced to professional standards for research and reasoning by historians free of coercion, intimidation, or pressures for co‐optation are too blatant to need explanation. Avenues of response to the politicizing of history have been protests by public intellectuals and academics and a growing scholarly literature recording the imposition of memory laws by the police powers of numerous states. Attacks on empirical history, and the academic freedom required to sustain it, provoke clear responses, but the situation of historical theory is more problematic. Historical theory is a superstructure of analysis that presupposes the free production of history that invites and justifies the cultural work of theorizing. Reading Karen S. Feldman's Arts of Connection: Poetry, History, Epochality, an erudite, philosophical contribution to historical theory advancing a severe critique of history's fundamental powers of representation against a widening background of nationalist state‐sponsored policing of history, produced an acute cognitive dissonance in this reviewer. In this essay, I frankly acknowledge this dissonant experience and lay out some of the most egregious causes of it in history distorted and undermined to nationalist ends in Russia, Poland, Hungary, and beyond. I pose the question of whether the intellectual work of theorizing history can continue with any confidence when the ground on which theory stands is being eroded and distorted.

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Section: Memory Laws and Politicized Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

What, at Long Last, Is Historical Theory For? Reflections on Historical Theory in a Post‐truth World

Partner

2023

History and Theory

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“…(art. 6) 37 according to these provisions, a particular group of individuals was turned by the Ukrainian legislators into a category of "protected good," which complicates the legal implications of symbols of memory even further.…”

Section: Protected and Forbidden Symbols Of Memory In Ceementioning

confidence: 99%

Intersection of Conflicting Values: Symbols of Memory and Acts of Artistic Expression

Gliszczyńska-Grabias¹

2022

East European Politics and Societies: and Cultures

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Symbols of the past influence the present, very often in the way dependent on the will of those who currently “weave the story,” to use the expression coined by Olga Tokarczuk.1 This applies in particular to national symbols, burdened by historical trauma, whose rank and protection may become handy tools for controlling social and public narratives. In this context, it is the law itself, with its special category of memory laws, that very often turns out to be instrumentally used by the state apparatus to strengthen such narratives. In times of social peace, this kind of state-governed manner of how we remember and perceive symbols remains imperceptible. However, in times of turmoil, symbols can serve as legal weapons against rights and freedoms. Then, the protection of the national anthem or emblem, monuments or graphics may be turned into the de facto protection of the state against its critics. Labelling themselves as the guardians of “historical truth,” the authorities tend to secure the orthodox vision of the past. Importantly, this vision very often remains distant from the official findings of historians. It was exactly in such an ideologically and nationalistically burdened social atmosphere in Poland when Jaś Kapela, Polish poet and activist, decided to perform publicly his protest song. He did so by changing the official wording of the Polish national anthem into a pro-refugee appeal and broadcast it on YouTube, which eventually brought him before Polish courts, including the Supreme Court.

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A change of paradigm? How the Russian invasion of Ukraine influenced Italian memory laws

Zavershinskaia,

Spera

2024

Contemporary Italian Politics

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Memory Laws and Memory Wars in Poland, Russia and Ukraine

Abstract: The version in the Kent Academic Repository may differ from the final published version. Users are advised to check http://kar.kent.ac.uk for the status of the paper. Users should always cite the published version of record.

Cited by 5 publications

References 9 publications

What, at Long Last, Is Historical Theory For? Reflections on Historical Theory in a Post‐truth World

What, at Long Last, Is Historical Theory For? Reflections on Historical Theory in a Post‐truth World

Intersection of Conflicting Values: Symbols of Memory and Acts of Artistic Expression

A change of paradigm? How the Russian invasion of Ukraine influenced Italian memory laws

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