Full Description
This book considers competing memory politics in European border towns after the First and Second World Wars.
In the twentieth century Europe's borders shifted dramatically in the wake of war, and towns were often moved from one state to another despite their physical locations remaining unchanged. Urban spaces adapted to incorporate new place names, monuments, and requirements, overlaid onto the cultural heritage of previous settlers. This book investigates how the memories of different ethnic groups compete and sometimes contest with each other in the town's space, using the case studies of Vyborg/Viipuri in present-day Russia, Klaipėda/Memel in Lithuania, Szczecin/Stettin in Poland, Flensburg in Germany, Trieste in Italy, and Rijeka/Fiume in Croatia. The book considers how public memories are built and how old traditions are moulded to new forms in urban settings.
Drawing on perspectives from across borderland, urban, and memory studies, this book will be an important resource for researchers with an interest in Europe, and in how urban memories are constructed and contested.
Contents
1. Competing Memories: Understanding the Multiple Histories of European Border Towns - Introduction 2. Competing Memories in the Vyborg Townscape 3. Failed 'Return to Normalcy': the Legacy of Lenin Square, Klaipėda 4. From Stettin / Szczecin to Stecin / Szczettin? National and Transnational Mnemonic Discourses in a (new) Border City 5. Flensburg. A Border City with Many Histories 6. Trieste: An Eclectic Culture of Memory 7. Frontier Urbanism and Memory Politics in Twentieth Century Rijeka/Fiume 8. Conclusion: Changing Politics of Memory in European Border Towns
