The Places of Memory in a Square of Monuments: Conceptions of Past, Freedom and History at Szabadság Tér
Journal article, Peer reviewed
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https://hdl.handle.net/10642/1820Utgivelsesdato
2012Metadata
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Originalversjon
Thorstensen, E. (2012). The Places of Memory in a Square of Monuments: Conceptions of Past, Freedom and History at Szabadság Tér. AHEA: E-Journal of the American Hungarian Educators Association, (Volume 5), 1-34. http://ahea.net/e-journal/volume-5-2012/8?Sammendrag
In this paper I try to approach contemporary Hungarian political culture through an analysis of the history of changing monuments at Szabadság Tér in Budapest. The paper has as its point of origin a protest/irredentist monument facing the present Soviet liberation monument. In order to understand this irredentist monument, I look into the meaning of the earlier irredentist monuments under Horthy and try to see what monuments were torn down under Communism and which ones remained. I further argue that changes in the other monuments also affect the meaning of the others. From this background I enter into a brief interpretation of changes in memory culture in relation to changes in political culture. The conclusions point toward the fact that Hungary is actively pursuing a cleansing of its past in public spaces, and that this process is reflected in an increased acceptance of political authoritarianism