Call for Papers - Twenty Five Years Later. History and Memory of Communism

25 years after the fall of communism in Central and Eastern Europe, its history and memory are still controversial. On the one hand, the scholars of the region are still denouncing communist crimes. Their research is mainly concerned with repressive aspects of the communist period. On the other hand, in some left wing circles, researchers aim at studying the „modernity” of communism.

The memory of communism is even more divided than its history. Nostalgia is haunting society as well as irony and dennouciation. For instance, recent polls on the memory of communism show that the former regime kept a rather positive image among Romanians. Furthermore, young people born after 1989 consider communism a period of security and steadiness. Reflecting a postmemorial turn in remembering communism in Romania, this approach might be encountered in other countries of the region.

If those who experienced communism are nostalgic or struggle to denounce the communist crimes and abuses, those born in the late 1980s remember communism with irony. Their approach to communism tends to become mainstream as this generation came to power in many sectors of the social, cultural, and political life of Romania. The ironic generation shift found its expression in literature, cinema and arts.

After 25 years, the time to make a point of trends and evolution concerning the memory and history of communism has arrived. Therefore, we invite scholars and young researchers to attend our international conference, „25 Years After. History and Memory of Communism” organized by the Memoria Cultural Foundation, CEREFREA on 20 and 21 November 2014, at Bucharest University.

We welcome papers in Romanian, English, and French as well as audio and video presentations, documentaries, posters and artistic installations on the following topics (any other objects of research are welcomed):

Languages: Romanian, French, English

Abstract proposal and deadline: Please send your abstract of no more than 300 words together with a short biographical statement by 1st September 2014. Abstracts will be selected by the academic committee. We will notify you about the acceptance of your proposal by 15 September 2014. We plan to publish selected papers in a peer-reviewed journal or in a volume.

Please send your abstract and a biographical statement as well as all other inquiries to: cfdobre@gmail.com 

Memoria Cultural Foundation
e-mail: cfdobre@gmail.com