CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2007
| Author | Harms, Victoria Elisabeth |
|---|---|
| Title | Monument discourse and the Hungarian case: Competing political interpretations in Budapest's monuments for the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 |
| Summary | This thesis analyzes the construction of '56 as collective memory and political legitimation by the different political actors that emerged since the transition period. The aesthetic and stylistic differences of the monuments for the Hungarian Revolution reflect their patrons' preferences and affiliation with the 'new' ideological camps. I will argue that the developments since 1989 reproduced the political landscape of the Interwar period culminating in a return of the polarization between populists and urbanites. These camps find parallels in art schools in Hungary where (neo)avant-garde artists have worked in oppposition to 'folklorist' artists and the officiall dogma. A number of events and developments can be explaned by applying Jan Assmann's threefold concept of communicative, collective and cultural memory. Moreover, a brief outlook on the discourse about the Holocaust Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin provided by James Young reveals possibllities to open the 'traditional medium of monuments to new trends in art and representation of memory. I will show that the divide has become so deep that it led not only to an outbreak of riots and vandalism during the 50th anniversary in 2006, but also agreement on the proper dommemoration of '56 is yet to come: The fierce controversy about a new Central Monument could only be cussed by the inauguration of a second, alternative monument. |
| Supervisor | Rev, Istvan; Trencsenyi, Balazs |
| Department | History MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2007/harms_victoria.pdf |
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