Dynamics of Memory and Identity in Contemporary Europe

Eric Langenbacher is a Associate Teaching Professor and Director of Honors and Special Programs in the Department of Government, Georgetown University. He is editor of Between Left and Right: The 2009 Bundestag Election and the Transformation of the German Party System (Berghahn, 2010).

“Overall this is an interesting collection with a number of thought-provoking essays. Notably, several of the chapters bring new (social science) methodologies to the interdisciplinary field of memory studies. It is also a strength of the volume that, while the focus is clearly on memories of World War II and the Holocaust, it incorporates consideration of a range of pasts that continue to have a significant impact on the way Europeans understand themselves and others. The comparative perspective proves particularly fruitful in raising new questions regarding different kinds of remembrance at both the national and the European level.” · European Legacy“The volume is well-structured and the individual chapters are put together in a coherent fashion. The material they cover is extremely engaging and is new to the English-speaking audience, especially where the French and German literature is concerned. They also add richness to a debate already characterised by its increasing politicisation. This is, therefore, a valuable volume… [that] will appeal to a wide range of scholars and students from humanities and social sciences disciplinary backgrounds, from history to anthropology as well as memory scholars. It also provides food for thought at a time when a better understanding of Europe’s past, present and future is a political imperative and an incentive for future research.” · H-France Review“This is a very interesting and well-researched contribution to the memory studies literature. The individual chapters are based on sophisticated research and provide up-to-date insight into the debates in their fields of specialization. Especially impressive is that, across the board, they draw on literatures and source materials in the languages of interest, so that the volume brings together a new set of materials for an English-speaking audience.” · Jenny Wüstenberg, Berlin Program for Advanced German and European Studies, Free University of Berlin

• IntroductionEric Langenbacher, Bill Niven, & Ruth WittlingerChapter 1. Dynamics of Generational Memory: Understanding the East-West DivideHarald WydraChapter 2. Time-out for National Heroes? Gender as an Analytical Category in the Study of Memory CulturesHelle Bjerg & Claudia LenzChapter 3. The Memory-Market Dictum: Gauging the Inherent Bias in Different Data Sources Common in Collective Memory StudiesMark A. WolfgramChapter 4. Remembering WWII in Europe - Structures of RemembranceChristian GudehusChapter 5. Ach(tung) Europa: German Writers and the Establishment of a Collective Memory of EuropeHans-Joachim HahnChapter 6. Critiquing the Stranger, Inventing Europe: Integration and the Fascist LegacyMark WagstaffChapter 7. The Thread That Binds Together: Lidice, Oradour, Putten, and the Memory of World War IIMadelon de KeizerChapter 8. Memory of World War II in France: National and Transnational DynamicsHenning MeyerChapter 9. The Field of the Blackbirds and the Battle for EuropeAnna Di LellioChapter 10. Transformation of Memory in Croatia: Removing Yugoslav Anti-FascismLjiljana RadonicChapter 11. German Victimhood Discourse in Comparative PerspectiveBill NivenChapter 12. Shaking off the Past? The New Germany in the New EuropeRuth WittlingerConclusion: A Plea for an “Intergovernmental” European MemoryEric LangenbacherNotes on ContributorsBibliographyIndex