TROUBLED PASTS, RETROTOPIAS, AND WAR MOBILIZATIONS IN CONTEMPORARY EUROPE
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24193/subbeuropaea.2022.2.06Keywords:
memory wars, memory games, (re)mythologization of history, restorative nostalgia, populist neo-nationalism.Abstract
After the horrific experiences of ex-Yugoslavia, the tragedy of Ukraine reveals the terrible consequences of the memory conflicts radicalization. Anticipated by a constant mnemonic war led by the Russia particularly against its Eastern neighbors, it proves what happens when memory wars turn into real wars. Since the end of Cold War, in the context of the re-nationalization of ideologies, the remythologization of national histories, and the reshaping of memory politics, the European memory games, as part of the struggle for recognition, have often became memory wars. This article provides some relevant insights about the political instrumentation of the restorative nostalgia/retrotopia in the (post-)Cold War illiberal memory games/wars, against the background of the growing crises connected to the rise of neo-nationalism.
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