In the aftermath of the dissolution of the Eastern bloc, the discourses of liberation, collective trauma, nostalgia, imagined geographies and national mythologies have proliferated and shaped the current literary and cultural production in the region. The current understanding of Central and Eastern European identities is however related not only to the history of Soviet occupation, but also to philosophical changes in understanding identity as such. Postmodernism understands identity not as stable, but instead as dynamically developing in relation to others.
Based on these premises, the project will analyze Central and Eastern European identities (1) from the point of view of the postcolonial discourse, through which it is possible to see Central and Eastern European identities as formerly colonized by the Soviet Union (the object of analysis will be literary, media and political texts); (2) from the point of view of postmodern understanding of the historical narrative, which problematizes historical objectivity and understands history as a language construct, as a product of memory, etc. The object of analysis will be the contemporary historical novel as a traditional genre in national identity construction.
The focus of the project is on literary research, presented at two conferences:
(c) 2013 Institute of World Literature SAS
