CONTENTS - VOL. 16, NUMBER 1, June 2006

SYMPOSIUM

CONSTRUCTING HISTORIES

ELENA MANNOVÁ: Introduction

NADINE JÄNICKE: The End of History and the Last Man by Francis Fukuyama: Historiographical Constructions of Meaning in a Western Grand Narrative
MILAN ŘEPA: Tropes as a Device for Exploring the Past
MARTIN L. DAVIES: Legitimate Illusions: A Critique of the Concept of Historical Identity
ADAM HUDEK: Slovak Historiography and Constructing the Slovak National Story up to 1948
MARGARITA ALEKSAHHINA: Historical Discourse in the Legitimation of Estonian Politics: Principle of Restitution

ARTICLES

JANA HORÁKOVÁ, JOZEF KELEMEN: From Golem to Cyborg: A Note on the Cultural Evolution of the Concept of Robots

BOOK REVIEW

Mária Machalová. Psychológia vo vzdelávaní dospelých (Adult Education Psychology) by BLANKA ŠULAVÍKOVÁ

ABSTRACTS

THE END OF HISTORY AND THE LAST MAN BY FRANCIS FUKUYAMA: HISTORIOGRAPHICAL CONSTRUCTIONS OF MEANING IN A WESTERN GRAND NARRATIVE
NADINE JÄNICKE

E-Mail: nadine_jaenicke@gmx.de

This paper explores the ways in which historiographical language contributes to the construction of meaning in Francis Fukuyama's The End of History and the Last Man. Scrutinizing the narrative text structures, Fukuyama's book is shown to exemplify a revival of 'endist' thought as a means to create a western grand narrative. These structures seem to help the creation of a historical construct whose analysis shows two things. Firstly, the grand narrative constitutes a privileged link between a theoretical commitment to universality and the idea of globalism. Secondly, given the interplay of real and ideal events in the historical construct, the grand narrative induces a product of fiction out of which the myth of globalization grows. The paper explains and evaluates the textualization of these ideological and mythological meanings in Fukuyama's grand narrative as a way to make sense of the development of a new world order. Accordingly, the overall aim is to provide specific insights into the construction of Fukuyama's end-of-history scenario by reassessing his grand narrative as a 'thought experiment' for understanding globalization. It will also pay particular attention to how the political constructs of East and West are legitimated in Fukuyama's western grand narrative.

pp. 5-25

TROPES AS A DEVICE FOR EXPLORING THE PAST
MILAN ŘEPA

E-mail: repa@brno.avcr.cz

This paper examines the application of the three basic tropes (metaphor, metonymy and personification) in the work of historians. It reflects on the various functions tropes can fulfill in historiographic texts. The paper is based on some theoretical studies of the subject; however, it draws primarily from an analysis of Czech historiographic works of the 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries (Palacký, Goll, Novotný, Pekař, Šusta and Urbánek). Tropes do not fulfill a purely aesthetic function in historiographic texts. They facilitate the process of acquiring knowledge of the past and help to convey it. Metaphor is a synthesizing and metonymy an analytical element. Tropes can also operate as strategies for interpreting a particular period or phenomenon.

pp. 26-36

LEGITIMATE ILLUSIONS: A CRITIQUE OF THE CONCEPT OF HISTORICAL IDENTITY
MARTIN L. DAVIES

E-mail: mld@le.ac.uk

This essay questions the natural use of historical identity for political legitimation. Though it recognizes that history is supposed to have a legitimating function, it analyzes what historical knowledge actually does in contemporary society. This analysis brings out fatal ambivalences inherent in the concepts of both identity and history. It argues that historical knowledge is illusory because, as the product of technical expertise, it occludes basic, existential realities. It reveals history as the symbolic reflection, if not the ideological mask, of alienating social conditions and morbid cultural values. In conclusion, the essay proposes that human sociability should be fostered not by deceptive historical identities but by existential priorities.

pp. 37-50

SLOVAK HISTORIOGRAPHY AND CONSTRUCTING THE SLOVAK NATIONAL STORY UP TO 1948
ADAM HUDEK

E-mail: histhude@savba.sk

The aim of the paper is to analyse the development of Slovak historiography and the Slovak national story from its beginnings until 1948. The most important periods of the national story were identified on the basis of an analysis of the most important Slovak historical works of the period studied. The Slovak case is a typical example whereby a national story has been constructed despite the lack of a relevant state tradition. One of the major concerns of Slovak historiography has been to prove that the Slovaks have a national story which is distinct from those of the Czechs or the Hungarians. The seminal periods in the national story are those where the nation has been shown to be independent or autonomous. The development of views on particular nodal points open to dispute also depends on other factors such as the period, the historian's aim, and ideological pressure. The aim by 1948 was the creation of an independent Slovak national story although its radical nationalist version was rejected after 1945.

pp. 51-65

HISTORICAL DISCOURSE IN THE LEGITIMATION OF ESTONIAN POLITICS: PRINCIPLE OF RESTITUTION
MARGARITA ALEKSAHHINA

E-mail: tarkston@surfeu.de

The Baltic Republics-Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania-underwent in 1987-1991 a nationalist reawakening. Initially in support of Gorbachev's reform agenda, the nationalist movements in Estonia managed to gain support for the nationalization of society, politics and culture. Why were these movements able to mobilize support for self-determination so quickly and why was the counter nationalist movement suppressed so effectively? What differentiates a nation from any other form of community and from other nations is the way it defines itself in order to achieve its goals. This paper discusses the construction of historical narrative focusing on the principle of restitution, which is used in order to consolidate the elites and mould the majority group ideology. A core element of discourse is the term 'occupation' that plays a crucial role in the legitimization of nationalizing politics. In order to explain these processes regarding the 'invention of nationhood', the concept of 'nation and narrative' is used. In the following study, I examine how national narrative is constructed and reconstructed according to the principle of restitution. Secondly, I explore how this principle legitimized the inclusion of 'Russians' who are a 'historic' minority. And finally, I examine how terms such as 'occupation' legitimize the policy of exclusion. The paper is based on results from a PhD research project in Political History at the University of Leipzig. The author has conducted historical-sociological analysis using qualitative and quantitative data from official documents, legislation, and statistics. Discourse analysis was performed on official documents and information from the daily press.

pp. 66-82

FROM GOLEM TO CYBORG: A NOTE ON THE CULTURAL EVOLUTION OF THE CONCEPT OF ROBOTS
JANA HORÁKOVÁ, JOZEF KELEMEN

jana-horakova@volny.cz
kelemen@fpf.slu.cz

During the 20th century, the concept of the machine in science, culture, and human society changed almost completely. Starting from the time of myths, this contribution sketches two important trajectories of this change-traditional culture (mainly literature and the theatre), and science and technology-initiated by highly influential personalities of the 20th century-by the writer Karel Čapek, by mathematicians Alan M. Turing and John von Neumann, and others.

pp. 83-98

Back > >

EUROPE | SLOVAKIA | BRATISLAVA

© Department of Social & Biological Communication Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava
Electronic version is available via Internet and GSM: www.humanaffairs.sk, wap.humanaffairs.sk
Reg. No. 648/92

MADE IN SLOVAKIA