Book Presentation: New Directions in Research on Cultures of Dissent in Eastern Europe (1945-1989

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Brief Description

This session would present a multi-authored report on the current state of research on oppositional cultures in Eastern Europe (1945-1989), as developed by the NEP4DISSENT COST Action (http://nep4dissent.eu). This is an E.U.-funded collaboration among over 100 scholars, archivists, curators, and technologists working on different aspects of the cultures of dissent in Eastern Europe. The leaders of working groups in four focus areas (Muriel Blaive: "the Culture of Surveillance"; Piotr Wcislik: "Culture in the Grey Zone"; Katalin Cseh-Varga and Rolf Werenskjold: "Alternative Cultures"; and Tamas Scheibner: "the Cultural Memory of Dissent") will present the findings of an 18-month self-study which led to this report. Our curatorial team will also be represented by Ieva Astahovska, who will share their contribution to the report: a survey of critical exhibition practices on oppositional and alternative culture. Finally, the project's leaders (Maciej Maryl and Piotr Wcislik) will summarize the goals of this group in moving scholarship forward both substantively and technologically, through the leveraging of digital humanities methods and resources to convincingly illustrate and narrate these historical trends.

This panel is sponsored by the journal East European Politics and Society and Cultures.

Sub Unit

• History: Central and Southeast Europe, Since 1918

Chair

• Piotr Wcislik, Institute of Literary Research, PAS (Poland)

Roundtable Members

• Ieva Astahovska, Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art (Latvia)

• Muriel Blaive, Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes (Czech Republic)

• Katalin Cseh-Varga, Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (Austria) / George Enescu National U of Arts (Romania)

• Tamás Scheibner, ELTE U of Budapest (Hungary)