The past may be approached from a variety of directions. A myth provides a sense of direction: it reunites people around certain values and projects and pushes them in one direction or another. 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 individual 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.

Frequently asked questions

Simply head over to the account section in settings and click on “Cancel Subscription” - it’s as simple as that. After you cancel, your membership will stay active for the remainder of the time you’ve paid for. Learn more here.

At the moment all of our mobile-responsive ePub books are available to download via the app. Most of our PDFs are also available to download and we're working on making the final remaining ones downloadable now. Learn more here.

Both plans give you full access to the library and all of Perlego’s features. The only differences are the price and subscription period: With the annual plan you’ll save around 30% compared to 12 months on the monthly plan.

We are an online textbook subscription service, where you can get access to an entire online library for less than the price of a single book per month. With over 1 million books across 1000+ topics, we’ve got you covered! Learn more here.

Look out for the read-aloud symbol on your next book to see if you can listen to it. The read-aloud tool reads text aloud for you, highlighting the text as it is being read. You can pause it, speed it up and slow it down. Learn more here.

Yes, you can access Quest for a Suitable Past by Claudia-Florentina Dobre, Cristian Emilian Ghita, Claudia-Florentina Dobre, Cristian Emilian Ghiţă in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Russian History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Publisher

Central European University Press

Year

2017

ISBN

9789633861387

Topic

History

Subtopic

Russian History

Index

History

Cover
Title page
Copyright page
Table of Contents
Foreword
Introduction
An Obscure Object of Desire: The Myth of Alba Iulia and its Social Functions, 1918–1940
Croatia between the Myths of the Nation-State and of the Common European Past
Deconstructing the Myth of the “Wicked German” in Northern and Western Parts of Poland: Local Approaches to Cultural Heritage
Mythologizing the Biographies of Romanian Underground Communists: The Case Study of Miron Constantinescu
Women in the Communist Party: Debunking a (Post-)Communist Mythology
Avatars of the Social Imaginary: Myths about Romanian Communism after 1989
Post-Communist Politics of Memory and the New Regime of Historiography: Recent Controversies on the Memory of the “Forty-Five Years of the Communist Yoke” and the “Myth of Batak”
The Phenomenon of “Parahistory” in Post-Communist Bulgaria: Old Theories and New Myths on Proto-Bulgarians
Note on contributors
Index of names