Media and various forms of memory wars

Timetable

Timetable for online classes: start: mid March end: mid April,

On place seminar in Poznań April 2025 (3-4 days)

Module aim (aims)

The course shall provide students with a basic introduction into scientific methods which allow us to analyze incidents of memory wars in literary texts, audiovisual media (film, TV) and social media. These methods then shall be applied by students in the context of different key-studies.

Problems and topics which will be presented and analyzed in the course:

The term ‘memory war’ is used to describe conflicts that relate to historical events and their role in actual contemporary discussions. As collective identity is based not only on objective conditions like a common language, but also on symbolic conditions like historical memory, memory wars often have to do with the formation of the collective identity of a group, be it a nation, an ethnic, religious, or linguistic minority, or a group that has suffered from discrimination in the past like women, poor people. They may also be the effect of strategies of empowerment of a (minoritarian or under-privileged) group through putting into doubt the mainstream of historical narratives that has focused on the majoritarian or privileged part of the population. Political factors play a major role in the process of identity creation by using cultural memory (historical policy), as well inside societies as between rivaling states (disputed memory).

 

The course shall provide students with a basic introduction into scientific methods which allow us to analyze incidents of memory wars in literary texts, audiovisual media (film, TV) and social media. These methods then shall be applied by students in the context of different key-studies.

 

Assesment:

- mandatory paricipation at on-line classes

- final project presentation during Poznań seminar

Pre-requisites in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences (where relevant)

working knowledge of English (B or better)

Syllabus

Topic
Introduction (Prof. Böhn & Prof. Werner)
Case studies from Russia 1
Case studies from Ukraine 1
Case studies from Germany 1
Case studies from Germany 2
Case studies from Poland 1
Case studies from Poland 2
On place seminar in Poznań April 2025 (3-4 days)

Reading list

Useful for an introductory overview: Rutten, Ellen/Fedor, Julie/Zvereva, Vera (Eds.): Memory, Conflict and New Media. Web Wars in Post-Socialist States, London 2014