CALL FOR PAPERS
Comparative Workshop
Historical Revisionism in Central Europe after 1989
This events is organized by the Institute of Contemporary History, Prague
www.usd.cas.cz, in conjunction with the EU Project Culture 2000, History after the Fall.
The workshop will be held at the Czech Academy of Sciences, Narodni 3, Prague, on
19 and 20 October, 2006.
Proposal for papers are invited on the theme of Historical Revisionism.
Far from being restrained to small groups of ‘negationists’, the historical revisionism seems to figure at the top of public historical discourses in many countries and regions. With spectacular trials and heated debates around Holocaust-deniers the term historical revisionism has become stigmatized, and used as a description of suspect historical works dealing with the Holocaust and the Third Reich. In broader sense, however, the historical revisionism in the realms of modern and recent history has galvanized political and historical debates both within respective national communities as well at the international stage on virtually all continents. (Holocaust worldwide, US role in the Cold War, “positive value” of French colonialism, Japanese or Russian historical textbooks, etc.). In the eyes of many observers a specter of historical revisionism is haunting Europe and the world.
The region of Central Europe with its Nazi, fascist and communist past not only does not stay aloof, but in many ways is in the center of the debate. In this context it is the aim of the Prague´s workshop to explore the scale, depth, and meaning of the historical revisionism in the national and regional histories as well as to reconsider the value of the term itself.
Where is the border between legitimate re-examination of historical narratives and attempts to rewrite history in a politically motivated way that downgrades or denies essential historical facts? What are the layers and instruments of the contemporary debates concerning historical revisionism that include not only the academia and mass media but also decentralized grass-root initiatives empowered by the internet and cheap digitalized storage and recording facilities? How does the international debate about ethnic cleansing and expulsion of the German population during and after WWII and the thesis of ‘expulsion equals genocide’ resonate in different countries? What tensions arouse from the juxtaposition of politically motivated moral condemnations of ‘totalitarian’ regimes with a value-restrained academic discourse of social and cultural approaches in recent historiography? How do the more or less traditional ‘national historical narratives’ react to the ‘spill-over’ of the international and political controversies into their ‘sphere of influence’ and intellectual orbit?
These and other questions should be addressed during the workshop’s envisaged panels:
Panel I: Keywords, Definitions and Instruments of Historical Revisionism
Panel II: Social-Economic, Political and Cultural Impacts of the Ethnic Expulsions after the WW II and its Historical Reflection
Panel III: Historical Revisionism and the Communist Regimes in Central Europe
Panel IV: Historiography, Historical Revisionism and the Building of Democracy after 1989
This event is intended to stimulate debate and bring together scholars working in the field, both to give papers and to contribute to discussion.
If you wish to be considered, please submit a short abstract (200-300 words, in English or Czech) to hist.revision@usd.cas.cz by July 15th, 2006.
The Institute of Contemporary History is able to provide funds to meet the costs of travel and accomodation for speakers.
Contact details:
Alice Hudlerová and Michal Kopecek
Institute of Contemporary History, Prague
Vlašská 9
118 40 Praha 1
tel: +420 257 531 122-3
fax: +420 257 531 121
E-mail: hudlerova@usd.cas.cz and kopecek@usd.cas.cz