Endeavour and Responsibility of the Historian – Creating an Archive of Ego Documents in Regions of Highly Contested Memories

The Irish folklore collection is a national social archive and has been an important focal point and a stabilizing influence on the development of the Irish collective identity after the foundation of the Irish Free State in 1922. This historic blueprint has been adapted and modified to fulfill a similar role in the emerging collective identity of South Tyrol in Northern Italy, where a challenging minority issue was pacified through far-reaching concessions and a regional political and cultural autonomy. This contribution outlines that establishing a social archive in this area of contested memories and conflicting interpretations of the history of the 20th century poses many challenges to the historian, ranging from the respect for individual recollections to the adoption of internationally accepted interpretations of the Fascist past in Germany and Italy. It concludes that despite these challenges, a social archive might be the appropriate instrument to foster reconciliation and mutual understanding.

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CHARLES TRIPP, A History of Iraq (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000). Pp. 328. $59.95 cloth, $19.95 paper.

International Journal of Middle East Studies ◽

10.1017/s0020743802361063 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 34 (1) ◽

pp. 161-162

Author(s):

Betty S. Anderson

Keyword(s):

20Th Century ◽

Political Power ◽

Focal Point ◽

The State ◽

Pivotal Role ◽

Historical Narratives ◽

Cambridge University ◽

History Of ◽

Governmental Institutions

Charles Tripp, in his excellent book A History of Iraq, examines the means by which the Iraqi state consolidated its position throughout the country in the 20th century and, just as important, how individual Iraqis used “strategies of co-operation, subversion and resistance” (p. 1) to benefit from its services or to combat its ever-increasing power. While acknowledging that a number of alternative historical narratives can be studied, Tripp specifically places his analysis within a state-centric framework because of the pivotal role Iraq's governmental institutions and leaders have played in reconfiguring the centers of power in the country. As a result of successive governmental activities, the state became the focal point for political power and competition, just as an increasingly narrow group of Iraqis came to hold the reins of that power.

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Conflict spaces

10.32920/ryerson.14662233 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Eranga De Zoysa

Keyword(s):

Collective Identity ◽

Focal Point ◽

Evolutionary Process ◽

The Other ◽

Starting Point ◽

History Of

Conflict and architecture’s relationship originated from the first rock throw that established space and distance between primordial humans and their aggressors, producing a spatial buffer, which enabled liberation from the evolutionary process (Ritter, 2012). This separation in space was the starting point of discerning the outside (sacred) and the inside (community). The outsider (“the other”), is an increasingly important aspect of societies involved in conflicts; prior, during and in the reconstruction phase. The symbols of memory within a conflict become the focal point, where architecture manifests the history of a place or space. This identity is first deconstructed during the siege, and reconstructed once the territory is pacified. This thesis is an observation of the changes that places and artifacts of memory undergo during a conflict, arguing that architecture is dynamically linked to people; building a foundation for memory, creating a collective identity; an object that is the focus for every conflict.

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Conflict spaces

10.32920/ryerson.14662233.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Eranga De Zoysa

Keyword(s):

Collective Identity ◽

Focal Point ◽

Evolutionary Process ◽

The Other ◽

Starting Point ◽

History Of

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“Une telle apathie est presque coupable”. How in Belgium’s Journal des tribunaux the interest for the Congo Free State sparked off (1885-1908)

Vérité Judiciaire - Clio@Themis ◽

10.35562/cliothemis.1019 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sebastiaan Vandenbogaerde

Keyword(s):

20Th Century ◽

Free State ◽

Crimes Against Humanity ◽

The Political ◽

History Of ◽

Congo Free State

When the Congo Free State (CFS) was established in 1885, King Leopold II ruled it as its personal territory. At first Belgian politicians and lawyers seemed not to care about the colonial ambitions of its sovereign. That changed during the 1890s, when the Leopoldian CFS was internationally accused of committing crimes against humanity. Belgium’s Parliament urged to find a solution in the annexation project during the first decade of the 20th century. How did Belgian lawyers perceive this issue ? Through means of legal periodicals, which reflect and shape opinions on certain topics, it is possible to reconstruct the annexation history of the CFS by Belgium in 1908. The Journal des tribunaux is the most relevant titles on this subject, as it is the primus inter pares of legal periodicals at that time and connected to all the relevant associations in the political, legal and colonial world.

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Review of the monograph: Matiev T.Kh. The Mountain National Movement in Revolutions and the Civil War in the North Caucasus (1917–1921) (Nazran, 2020)

Historical Ethnology ◽

10.22378/he.2021-6-2.355-362 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 355-362

Author(s):

Liliya R. Gabdrafikova ◽

Keyword(s):

Civil War ◽

20Th Century ◽

North Caucasus ◽

Cultural Autonomy ◽

The North ◽

National Movement ◽

History Of ◽

The Russian Empire ◽

Difficult Cases ◽

Volga Ural Region

This article focuses on the analysis of the monograph by T.Kh. Matiev ”Mountain national movement in revolutions and the Civil War in the North Caucasus (1917–1921)”, published in 2020 in Nazran. This study presents an original and comprehensive approach and addresses one of the most difficult cases in the history of the North Caucasus of the 20th century – the origins of the Mountain Republic. The driving force behind the idea of a federation and the protection of the rights of mountain peoples was the young intellectuals of the North Caucasus. In this regard, the reviewer sees parallels with Jadidism in the Volga-Ural region, the activity of the Tatar intellectual youth of the early 20th century, the ideas of national and cultural autonomy. The Muslim peoples of the North Caucasus and the Tatars had much in common: one religious culture, a desire for modernization from educated groups and contradictions in society. Monograph by T.Kh. Matiev shows the multiethnic world of the Russian Empire, at the same time it points to the commonality of many issues and the need for their further scientific study.

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Contemporary Hero in the Wartime Chronotope

Journal of Flm Arts and Film Studies ◽

10.17816/vgik9437-50 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 37-50

Author(s):

Aleksey B Muradov ◽

Ksenia A Shergova

Keyword(s):

20Th Century ◽

Focal Point ◽

Historical Context ◽

Nazi Germany ◽

Film Production ◽

James Bond ◽

Design Time ◽

Great Patriotic War ◽

History Of ◽

The Difference

The focal point of the analysis are Tatiana Lioznovas TV-series 17 Moments of Spring. This notable Great Patriotic War movie presents a protagonist that partakes spring 1945 events not as a historical, distanced personality but as a contemporary of the time of the release. This statement is supported with three-layered analysis of the character presentation. The initial layer of analysis implies that Stierlitz character (a Soviet spy, acting deep undercover within the highest ranks of Nazi Germany) develops an idealized presentation of an intelligence officer as in earlier Soviet films. The character does not provide a viewer with the option of self-identification, becoming an archetype - this conversion allocates the story to an epic space, not a historical context. Considering Stierlitz character as a super-spy, a loner implies a second layer of interpretation: a contest-comparison with the most known espionage character of the 20th century, James Bond. Meanwhile the creator shape Stierlitz rather pretentious anti-Bond, they use numerous specific tools to accentuate the difference. Among those we point a time theme that plays an important part in storytelling and general film design (time is present in the series title, it repeatedly returns in soundtrack, and notoriously present in the characters persistent slowness). A few other details involve a third layer of the characters interpretation: Stierlitz embodies contemporary image of a 1960-1970s Soviet technical intelligentsia - in terms of the release a hero of our time. Multilayered interpretation of the Stierlitz character provides 17 Moments of Spring a very specific place in the history of Soviet television and film production. Tatiana Lioznova used a number of creative methods that allowed her to bridge 1945 events with her contemporaries and to significantly contribute into the Soviet archetypal construction.

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Renaissance Art and Architecture in Spain

Art History ◽

10.1093/obo/9780199920105-0168 ◽

2021 ◽

Keyword(s):

20Th Century ◽

Focal Point ◽

Early Modern Period ◽

Renaissance Art ◽

Religious Influence ◽

Long Time ◽

History Of ◽

New Perspective ◽

Definition Of ◽

Art And Architecture

Considering all the historical periods of art in Spain, the Renaissance may be one of the most difficult periods to be defined. This is partly due to the intrinsic difficulty of the universal concept and, especially, to its application to the Spanish context. This is why, up to recent times, European art historiography had not even considered its existence. Fortunately, this situation has changed since the mid-20th century due to the new perspectives from abroad, a profound renewal of our own historiography (more accentuated since the 1970s), and the restoration of Spanish democracy. While the traditional Spanish historiography, characterized by a positivist approach, had focused on biographical aspects and descriptive analyses of works through studies based on geographical areas, the new historiography is more interested in understanding works in their contexts, that is, to perceive them as images coordinated with the cultural, social, and political environments in which they originate. This objective has been achieved through the accelerated translation of representative books and authors proposing innovative methodologies for the history of art in Europe and the Americas since the mid-20th century and the new approaches promoted by foreign historians on the Renaissance in the Iberian Peninsula. This dual situation stimulated local historiography, resulting in a review of traditional historiography and questioning old assumptions conceived in both Spain and other countries. Although the real existence of the Renaissance in Spain has been amply discussed and denied by some experts for a long time, we cannot negate that reality. This issue should be addressed with due attention, highlighting its particularities, and avoiding any derogatory interpretation given when compared with Italy. This new perspective reflects the personality of the Spanish Renaissance and its contributory value to culture in the early modern period, especially its impact on the Americas. Although considered a “peripheral” nation when compared with the Italian “focal” point, Spain offers significant and original differences in certain aspects that are considered essential for the definition of Renaissance such as its intimate connection with humanism or the canonical observation of the language of antiquity. The Spanish Renaissance is characterized by the survival of Gothic and Moorish forms and taste, and periodization, which was adopted later than in Italy, since the classicist language did not consolidate until the cinquecento and lasted until well into the seicento. Finally, the Catholic values of the Spanish monarchy contributed to the religious influence that permeated Renaissance art.

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A nemzeti identitás alakulása a posztszovjet Azerbajdzsánban

Földrajzi Közlemények ◽

10.32643/fk.145.2.3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 145 (2) ◽

pp. 119-134

Keyword(s):

Soviet Union ◽

20Th Century ◽

Collective Identity ◽

Soviet Period ◽

The Caucasus ◽

The Soviet Union ◽

Democratic State ◽

History Of ◽

Role Of Religion

Widely known for its diversity of peoples, the Caucasus is home to the so called Transcaucasian states, which include Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia. Formed as member republics of the Soviet Union in the early 20th century, these nationstates became independent after 1990. Though they in many ways owed their existence to Soviet policy, and of course also to Soviet power, the peoples of this region nevertheless regarded their countries as legitimate nations, and saw themselves as proud custodians of thousands of years of culture and statehood. Like their neighbours, the Azerbaijanis have laid claim to a long history of civilization and development in the Caucasus. Beyond this, they also profess to live in the first democratic state of the Islamic world. This selfdefinition already carries in itself the peculiarities of their peripheral position, namely the hybridity of their collective identity (Bhabha, H. 2004). As part of Islam, but as a result of tsarist Russian expansionist efforts, they became involved in the process of forming “imagined communities” (Anderson, B. 1991) which resulted in the proclamation in 1918 of their shortlived independent nation state. However, the formation of their national identity over the rest of the 20th century was determined by Soviet type state power, which meant the abolition of the role of religion in defining identity. The effects of the Soviet period, in addition to the nature of political leadership, also illustrates continuity in everyday life, even after the break up of the Soviet Union, and in parallel with the revival of Islam. Given its history in the short 20th century, Azerbaijan understandably retains specific post-Soviet characteristics. This article focuses specifically on the effects of power, hegemony and leadership that determined the formation of the Azerbaijani nation. In terms of the national consciousness of Azerbaijanis more generally, the direct and indirect influence on the periphery by centralized leadership, whether Soviet or now Russian, is paramount.

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