Veronika Gayer: Politics of Memory in Košice (European Capital of Culture 2013)
Az előadást 2014. február 21-én a Panel Session 11.2: Local identity hallgatható meg.
Abstract:
Since its foundation members of different ethnic groups and religion have populated the city of Košice (Cassovia, Kaschau, Kassa). However, as in the case of other Central European cities, it lost its multiethnic character because of war, forced migrations or assimilation in the 20th century. For
many years after World War II in the totalitarian system memory depended on what aims were defined by the party exercising power. Today an
overwhelming majority of the inhabitants are Slovaks. The post-socialist modernisation process, including different urban design projects, the renovation of the historical old town and the European Capital of Culture 2013 project have been giving the possibility to shape the historical
memory of the city in a new European context. On the one hand, local symbols such as the oldest coat-of-arms or the oldest marathon run in Europe represent the city in a European scene and can be seen as unifying points of the competing national (mainly Slovak and Hungarian) remembrances about the city. The main promoter of the revived local traditions was the former president of Slovakia and former mayor of Košice, Rudolf Schuster. On the other hand, the Hungarian and Jewish cultural heritage keeps playing an important role in the reconsidering and rediscovering of the local history since 1989. Guided city tours popularise the Jewish culture of Košice. Hungarian and Jewish local figures, such as Sándor Márai, Lajos Oelschläger or Lajos Feld are among the emblematic local personalities representing the city in projects related to the European Capital of Culture 2013 programme. The paper aims to provide analysis of the different national and local politics of cultural memory and the new traditions of Košice with special attention to the dichotomy that characterises old debates about the city‘s multicultural past.