The Transfiguration of the Hero: a Memory Politics of the Everyday in Berlin and Budapest
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THE TRANSFIGURATION OF THE HERO: A MEMORY POLITICS OF THE EVERYDAY IN BERLIN AND BUDAPEST by Júlia Székely Submitted to Central European University Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology In partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Supervisors: Judit Bodnár CEU eTD Collection Jean-Louis Fabiani Budapest, Hungary 2016 STATEMENT I hereby state that this dissertation contains no materials accepted for any other degrees in any other institutions. The thesis contains no materials previously written and/or published by another person, except where appropriate acknowledgement is made in the form of bibliographical reference. Budapest, February 29, 2016. CEU eTD Collection i | P a g e ABSTRACT Although after the period of the Second World War the death of the hero was loudly announced (Münkler 2006), in recent years, the academic interest in heroes has been reemerging. Authors not only established a critical understanding of the hero who came to be defined as an end-product of a careful construction (e.g., Todorova 1999, Giesen 2004a), but ―new heroes‖ also made their mass appearance (Jones 2010). Yet, in contrast to the majority of these analyses that either concentrate on one particular hero (e.g, Verdery 1999) or on one specific period (e.g., Lundt 2010), I discuss the conceptual and aesthetic transformation of the hero. Focusing on the genre of public works of art in Berlin and Budapest from 1945 up to the present time, I study various processes of the transfiguration of the hero. Besides the linguistic and cultural connections between Berlin and Budapest beginning from the 19th century, I assumed that the two cities can represent many of the dual arguments of memory studies. On the one hand, the memory politics of the so-called capitalist and socialist system is generally differentiated on the basis of the former‘s disconnection and the latter‘s connection to heroic traditions. On the other hand, the post-1989 memory politics of Berlin and Budapest seemingly also represent the opposite end of the scale: while in Germany, parallel to the strengthening of a perpetrator discourse, heroes became ―cultural taboos‖, in Hungary, along with the intensification of self-victimization narratives, the need for historical role models grew. The point of departure of my dissertation is a comprehensive database that I have compiled during my field work and that lists public works of art installed between 1945 and 2012 in Berlin and Budapest. Utilizing these records as a basis of my theses, I apply the multidisciplinary approach of a sociological aesthetics (Simmel 1968a) in order to discuss the abstract and visual transfiguration of the hero. Throughout the dissertation, I not only diminish the sharp opposition between the socialist and capitalist system, but I also show that in Berlin heroes are reemerging, whereas in Budapest heroic narratives are undergoing a CEU eTD Collection crisis. I argue that in both cases there is an unambiguous trend towards reinventing the concept and form of the hero through the notion of everyday man and everydayness. However, currently everyday heroes seem to occupy different registers in the two cities. In Berlin, the memory of the so-called ―silent heroes‖ – who as everyday men helped people persecuted during the Second World War – appeared as an unofficial memory that meanwhile has also been institutionalized. In Budapest, the official memory of 56 revolutionaries – who ii | P a g e are primarily represented as everyday men – disintegrated that brought about the emergence of various unofficial projects. Therefore, I argue that while in Berlin everyday heroes overtake the official function of traditional heroes as historical, social and cultural models for future societies, in Budapest they resurface in the field of alternative art projects. CEU eTD Collection iii | P a g e ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation has many heroes. First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisors Judit Bodnár and Jean-Louis Fabiani for shaping my areas of interest in the field of urban and memory studies. Their comments and observations improved the arguments and presentation of this dissertation significantly. I feel indebted for their constant support of my research career, which was an essential help during my studies. I would also like to thank my fellow students and professors, in particular Vlad Naumescu, at the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology for the help and many interesting remarks on my writings and draft chapters. I am also grateful to Andrea Kirchknopf at the Center for Academic Writing who read various parts of my dissertation, often more than once. She offered her friendly critical guidance on presenting my arguments more effectively. With the kind support of the Central European University and the German Academic Exchange Service I was fortunate to spend one year at the Department of European Ethnology, Humboldt University, in Berlin. Throughout my stay there, I not only was working together with my ―Doktormutter‖ Eszter Gantner, but we have also become good friends. I also want to thank Kata Varsányi who, always busy in exploring the magic of urban space, was generous enough to read every chapter encouraging me to write a better dissertation. Last but not least, I am grateful to Balázs Keszegh who was not only my companion in some unforgettable urban experiences, but also helped to shape my dissertation. CEU eTD Collection iv | P a g e TABLE OF CONTENTS Statement ................................................................................................................................... i Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................. iv Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... v Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1. Berlin as a(n Anti-)Model for Budapest ........................................................... 13 1.1. Metropolitan Development of Berlin and Budapest ............................................................. 14 1.2. Hungarian Intellectuals‘ Berlin Experience .......................................................................... 23 1.3. German Memory Politics in Hungary ................................................................................... 29 Chapter 2. Heroes Across Disciplines ................................................................................. 37 2.1. Conceptual Framework of the Everyday .............................................................................. 38 2.2. The Great Man, the Protagonist and the Superman .............................................................. 44 2.3. Everyday Heroes after the End of the Heroic ....................................................................... 53 Chapter 3. The (Un-)Heroic Memoryscape of Berlin and Budapest between 1945 and 1989.......................................................................................................................................... 61 3.1. (Super)Hero Cult in East Berlin and Budapest ..................................................................... 62 3.2. Victim Paradigm in West Berlin ........................................................................................... 73 3.3. Socialist and Capitalist Public Space .................................................................................... 81 Chapter 4. Whatever Happened to the Man of Yesterday: Re-Framing the Socialist Heritage in Berlin and Budapest after 1989 ....................................................................... 85 4.1. Historical vs. Aesthetic Perspectives .................................................................................... 86 4.2. Expert vs. Political Opinions ................................................................................................ 93 4.3. Unsettled Memories of Socialism ....................................................................................... 104 Chapter 5. Heroes in a New Guise after 1993 in Berlin and Budapest .......................... 109 5.1. Absences and Excesses ....................................................................................................... 110 5.2. The Surfacing of Heroes / Berlin ........................................................................................ 119 5.3. Heroes Go Under (the) Ground / Budapest ......................................................................... 123 CEU eTD Collection 5.4. Everyday Heroes as Contemporary Models of German and Hungarian Pupils .................. 126 Chapter 6. Shaping the Everyday Hero in Berlin: Official Memory of Silent Heroes in Spandauer Vorstadt ............................................................................................................. 130 6.1. Between the Periphery and Center of Berlin....................................................................... 131 6.2. Urban Transformation Reflected in Art Projects ................................................................ 137 6.3. Institutionalization of Silent Heroes ..................................................................................