If Castles and Statues Could Speak to Us.The Changing Freedom of Historical Interpretation in the Case of Slovakia

Beside official “policy of remembrance”, run primarily by state representatives or public institutions, and embodied in national holidays, monuments or in history textbooks, democratic societies offer the possibility to create a “culture of remembrance” by local actors within the public sphere. The...

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Autor principal: István Kollai
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PL
Publicado: Ksiegarnia Akademicka Publishing 2019
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/33a54116f62e4bd5ae31e83fcdac5483
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:33a54116f62e4bd5ae31e83fcdac54832021-11-27T12:55:30ZIf Castles and Statues Could Speak to Us.The Changing Freedom of Historical Interpretation in the Case of Slovakia10.12797/RM.02.2018.04.042544-21392544-2546https://doaj.org/article/33a54116f62e4bd5ae31e83fcdac54832019-03-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.akademicka.pl/relacje/article/view/616https://doaj.org/toc/2544-2139https://doaj.org/toc/2544-2546 Beside official “policy of remembrance”, run primarily by state representatives or public institutions, and embodied in national holidays, monuments or in history textbooks, democratic societies offer the possibility to create a “culture of remembrance” by local actors within the public sphere. These local actors consist of NGOs, civic initiatives, local governments or even of the business sphere, the latter including so-called heritage industry actors (like historical hotels or private museums). As a result, the interpretation of historical narratives tends to become multi-faceted, interactive and inclusive, but the risk has also emerged that historical narratives can be fluid and banal as well. The present essay attempts to highlight how these bottom-up historical interpretations launched by local actors coloured the culture of remembrance in Slovakia, in a country where national history had been a servant of nation-building struggles practically throughout the whole 20th century. As many initiatives for renovating fortresses, erecting statues, organising historical events or launching historical hotels elucidate it, non-state actors have become active and immanent change-makers of the policy of remembrance in Slovakia, having a sometimes intentional, sometimes unintentional effect on broadening the freedom of historical interpretation in the country. István KollaiKsiegarnia Akademicka Publishingarticleheritage industryheritage interpretationculture of remembrancetransnationalisation of memorySlovakiaEthnology. Social and cultural anthropologyGN301-674ENPLRelacje Międzykulturowe, Vol 2, Iss 2(4) (2019)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
PL
topic heritage industry
heritage interpretation
culture of remembrance
transnationalisation of memory
Slovakia
Ethnology. Social and cultural anthropology
GN301-674
spellingShingle heritage industry
heritage interpretation
culture of remembrance
transnationalisation of memory
Slovakia
Ethnology. Social and cultural anthropology
GN301-674
István Kollai
If Castles and Statues Could Speak to Us.The Changing Freedom of Historical Interpretation in the Case of Slovakia
description Beside official “policy of remembrance”, run primarily by state representatives or public institutions, and embodied in national holidays, monuments or in history textbooks, democratic societies offer the possibility to create a “culture of remembrance” by local actors within the public sphere. These local actors consist of NGOs, civic initiatives, local governments or even of the business sphere, the latter including so-called heritage industry actors (like historical hotels or private museums). As a result, the interpretation of historical narratives tends to become multi-faceted, interactive and inclusive, but the risk has also emerged that historical narratives can be fluid and banal as well. The present essay attempts to highlight how these bottom-up historical interpretations launched by local actors coloured the culture of remembrance in Slovakia, in a country where national history had been a servant of nation-building struggles practically throughout the whole 20th century. As many initiatives for renovating fortresses, erecting statues, organising historical events or launching historical hotels elucidate it, non-state actors have become active and immanent change-makers of the policy of remembrance in Slovakia, having a sometimes intentional, sometimes unintentional effect on broadening the freedom of historical interpretation in the country.
format article
author István Kollai
author_facet István Kollai
author_sort István Kollai
title If Castles and Statues Could Speak to Us.The Changing Freedom of Historical Interpretation in the Case of Slovakia
title_short If Castles and Statues Could Speak to Us.The Changing Freedom of Historical Interpretation in the Case of Slovakia
title_full If Castles and Statues Could Speak to Us.The Changing Freedom of Historical Interpretation in the Case of Slovakia
title_fullStr If Castles and Statues Could Speak to Us.The Changing Freedom of Historical Interpretation in the Case of Slovakia
title_full_unstemmed If Castles and Statues Could Speak to Us.The Changing Freedom of Historical Interpretation in the Case of Slovakia
title_sort if castles and statues could speak to us.the changing freedom of historical interpretation in the case of slovakia
publisher Ksiegarnia Akademicka Publishing
publishDate 2019
url https://doaj.org/article/33a54116f62e4bd5ae31e83fcdac5483
work_keys_str_mv AT istvankollai ifcastlesandstatuescouldspeaktousthechangingfreedomofhistoricalinterpretationinthecaseofslovakia
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