Call for Papers: Political Parties’ Memory of the Communist Past in Post-Communist Europe

The question of memory and the (re)writing of history since the fall of communism is still under discussion in the countries of post-communist Europe: different aspects of memory can be pointed to in the debates these countries are experiencing. A large body of literature has emerged on the relationship to memory in the countries of the Western Balkans, with regard to the conflicts the region experienced during the Second World War, but especially those of the 1990s, which continue to polarize societies in the region and fuel debates on the retransmission of memory. Similarly, in Central and Eastern Europe, numerous discussions about the history of the 20th century and the various conflicts that spanned this period continue to play an important role in the region's societal debates. However, the focus of this panel will be on the way in which the communist period is addressed in these two political spaces and, in particular, in the discourse of the political parties that emerged after the political transition these countries underwent in the early 1990s. Whether with regards to political parties that are heirs to the Communist Party or to new parties of diverse political orientation, the aim of this panel would therefore be to address a different memorial aspect of the treatment of conflict in discourse: the discursive treatment of the Communist period within the political discourse in post-Communist Europe. The relationship to the memory of communism differs from one country to another in this region, sometimes even within the same political space. However, the similar political history of these two political spaces is an asset for tackling the memorial processes linked to the communist past. The cross-over and dialogue of research on these two post-communist spaces will enable us to address comparatively the discursive dynamics mobilized in political discourse dealing with the communist period.
 

Key words: memory politics, collective memory, communism, political discourse, post-Communist Europe

 

Please submit your paper on the SISP website through MySISP by 31 may 2024.