Ancient Kings – Contemporary Politics. Medievalism in Central and Eastern Europe
A workshop organized and supported by CEFRES, in collaboration with the Czech Academy of Sciences and the Leipzig Centre for the History and Culture of East Central Europe (GWZO).
Convenors : Olga Kalashnikova (CEU / CEFRES), Jan Kremer (PedF UK, CEFRES associate)
Date : March 20, 2024
Location : CEFRES, Na Florenci 3, 110 00 Prague 1, and online. To register
Language : English
Contacts : Olga Kalashnikova, kalashnikova_olga@phd.ceu.edu; Jan Kremer, kremer@flu.cas.cz
Program
9:00 – 9:10 Greeting word by Mateusz Chmurski (CEFRES) and Václav Žůrek (GWZO Prague)
9:10 – 9:20 Introduction by the organizers (Jan Kremer, Olga Kalashnikova)
9:30 – 10:20 Keynote lecture: Dina Khapaeva, Political Neomedievalism in Putin’s Russia and Beyond
10:20 – 10:30 Coffee break
10:30 – 11:50 First Session
Cordelia Heß, Are Vikings Still a Thing? Popular and Far Right Use of the Nordic Middle Ages
Christoph Dartmann, Uses of the Middle Ages by the German ‘Alt Right’ in the 21st c.
Karin Reichenbach, Popular Paganism and Malicious Medievalism. Early Medieval Reenactment as Part of Radical Right-Wing Subculture in Central Europe
11:50 – 12:00 Coffee break
12:00 – 13:20 Second Session
Ferenc Kanyó, Pseudohistorical Theories about Medieval Hungary in the Services of the goverment
Tatyjana Szafonova, The Hungarian Big Kurultaj: Diplomatic Negotiations amid Medieval Reenactments
Gábor Klaniczay, Orbán Descendant of Attila? The Theory of Hun-Hungarian Kinship Reloaded
13:20 – 14:00 Lunch break
14:00 – 15:00 Third Session
Martin Šorm, “New Neutral”? Political Medievalism in Contemporary Czechia
Matej Harvát, Great-Moravian Tradition as an Anti-Progressive Banal Medievalism in Slovak Contemporary Public Discourse
15:00 – 15:20 Coffee break
15:20 – 16:40 Fourth Session
Cristian-Nicolae Gaspar, In the Long Shadow of National Communism: Traditions of Officially-sponsored Political Medievalism in Romania
Gustavs Strenga, Is There no Contemporary Political Medievalism in the Baltics? Baltic Medieval Legacy between Oblivion, Consumerism and Geopolitics
Nikita Bogachev, Neo-medievalism, Fantasy Literature, and Chronopolitics in Modern Russia
16:40 – 17:00 Coffee break
17:00 Conclusion
Abstract
Medievalism presents multifaceted post-medieval reflections of the Middle Ages employed with various incentives in a plenitude of contexts. Our interdisciplinary workshop will be centered around the use, recontextualization, and remediation of medievalism concepts and tropes in political discourse in Central and Eastern Europe after the fall of Communism. We understand the term “political” not only as configuration(s) of power but also as a specific promotion and justification of concrete ideological doctrines, social, cultural or economic agendas.
Given that some Central- and Eastern-European countries look for their origins in the Middle Ages, these political interpretations of the period are often closely connected to national identity and sometimes to advancement of anti-immigrant, anti-democratic, or militarist agendas. Thus, present-day medievalisms turn into powerful ideological instruments. Investigation of how the medieval past is perceived and how it reshapes the present is crucial for understanding and exposing such appropriations.
The workshop will gather colleagues from multiple disciplines, e.g., medieval studies, public history, anthropology, sociology, political science, memory studies and others, to critically approach the role of the Middle Ages in 21st century politics. In particular, the workshop will focus on such questions as: What tropes about the Middle Ages have become dominant in a given political milieu and why? How are they remediated to a range of audiences? What can it tell about our societies? Speakers will address contemporary interactions with the medieval past across a wide range of media (newspapers, books, movies, television, internet etc.) and representational forms (reenactments, festivals, exhibitions, commemoration events) featuring political discussion and mobilization.