El. knyga: Heritage, Ideology, and Identity in Central and Eastern Europe: Contested Pasts, Contested Presents

The volume is one of the outcomes of the research project Discourses of the Visible, funded by the European Science Foundation to investigate intersections of national and nationalist politics with discourses of art, architecture, and heritage. Among the topics are Rianon memorials in Hungary, collective memory and architectural heritage in Germany 1933-1989, national style and national heritage in Polish architecture and monument protection before and after World War II, the image of modern Hellenism in Athens, and cosmopolitan versus nationalist visions in Rem Koolhaas' exhibition The Image of Europe. The Boydell Press is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Essays looking at heritage practices and the construction of the past, along with how they can be used to build a national identity.

The heritage industry is popularly considered to be driven largely by the demands of leisure and the commodification of culture. This book seeks to present a different picture, considering how heritage practices continue to play a vital role in bolstering on-going political projects, and constructing national, regional and supranational identities. The notion of "heritage" is examined especially closely in the light of the numerous dilemmas presented by the complex histories of varying European states, with particular reference to Central and Eastern Europe; chapters analyse the ways in which urban sites have been created, destroyed, transformed and appropriated in order to make visible a national heritage.They also consider the successes and failures of more recent attempts to construct an international "European" heritage. More generally, the book looks at how heritage practices have responded to the challenges thrown up by the enormous social, political and cultural upheavals which have marked the twentieth century; there is a particular emphasis on the problem of sites that become "contested", due to the displacement of populations and the subsequent redrawing of political boundaries. Matthew Rampley is Director of the Institute of Design, Culture and the Arts at the University of Teesside. Contributors: Matthew Rampley, Juliet Kinchin, Paul Stirton, Susanne Jaeger, Arnold Bartetzky, Jacek Friedrich, Tania Vladova, George Karatzas, Riitta Oittinen