A special thematic issue of the journal, The Finnish Review of East European
Studies/Idäntutkimus (nos. 3-4, 1999), has just been published.  The articles are
a result of
the international seminar, "Images of the Past:  The Political Relevance of
History in
Post-Socialist Change," which was organized by the Estonian Institute of
Humanities and took
place in Tallinn on 18-19 September 1998.  Below is a description of the articles
and the table
of contents.

Present-day Western culture, or “modernity,” is oriented towards progress –
towards a future,
which is believed to be better than the present, just like the present is believed
to be better than
the past. This is the customary view on the times we are living in. But the very
idea of progress
also stipulates the idea of the past as something worthy of attention: the past is
recognized as
different from the present in important aspects and, at the same time, it is
believed to contain the
“roots” of both the present and the future. Modernity is obsessed by the future
and the past –
and there is nothing paradoxical about that. Already the Renaissance identified
itself as inheritor
of the Antiquity; the modern tourist industry eagerly seeks historical monuments
as tokens for
the “genuiness” of a given locality. Individuals, groups of people, and
institutions are orientated
towards the future but look from the past for their identity – they define
themselves in terms of a
location in historical progress. Modernity has replaced tradition with reason, but
on the other
hand, modernity’s presumption of self-reflexivity causes modern societies to
examine their own
past. What has diminished is the role of lived, experienced tradition, but the
importance of
historical discourse and cognitive images of the past may, in fact, be greater
than in any
traditional society.

In this issue, five authors discuss the political relevance of history in
post-socialist change.  Each
presents analyses of materials ranging from personal biographies to official state
symbolics.
Much of the discussion is dedicated to problems of national identity, but also to
the question of
future EU enlargement.  Despite differences in thematics, all five contributions
share a common
theoretical starting-point which is the constructionist view of history and social
reality as results
of interpretation by social actors.  History writing is about memory and
forgetting, discourses
and images of the past, and ways to control the past, present, and future.

Articles:

George Schöpflin:  "Uses of the Past in Inter-Ethnic Relations."
Mikko Lagerspetz:  "The Cross of Virgin Mary's Land:  A Study in the Construction
of
Estonia's 'Return to Europe.'"
Kristian Gerner:  "Hungary, Poland and the European Union:  Images of the Past and
Prospects
for the Future."
Elena Hellberg-Hirn:  "The Return of the Eagle."
Erle Rikmann:  "Retroactive History and Personal Memory."

Book  Reviews:


David Allan Rich, The Tsar's Colonels.  Professionalism, Strategy, and Subversion
in Late
Imperial Russia. (Jyrki Iivonen)
Amy Knight, Who Killed Kirov?  The Kremlin's Greatest Mystery.  (Jyrki Iivonen)
Jyrki Paaskoski:  Vanhan Suomen Lajhoitusmaati 1710-1826.  (Kari-Matti Piilahti)
Sheila Fitzpatrick:  Everyday Stalinism -- Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times:
Soviet
Russia in the 1930s.  (Jeremy Smith)

For information on how to order, please contact:

Anneli Virtanen ([log in to unmask])
Finnish Institute for Russian and East European Studies
Annankatu 44
00100 Helsinki, Finland
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----------------------
Bob Lewis, School of Historical, Political and Sociological Studies,
 Centre for European Studies
 University of Exeter

Amory Building
Rennes Drive
Exeter               Tel +44 (0)1392 263294 
EX4 4RJ              Fax             264499
UK




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