The Interpreters of Europe and the Cold War: Interpretive Patterns in French, German, and Polish Historiography and Literary Studies
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The Interpreters of Europe and the Cold War: Interpretive patterns in French, German, and Polish historiography and literary studies Barbara Picht / Europa-Universität iadrina Fran!furt #$der% &his postdoctoral project e(amines the "irst two postwar decades, as many societies gradually found their European and national *places* and had to legitimi+e these culturally and historically against the backdrop of the ,old -ar rivalry of systems and ideologies. It investigates academic self-designs in postwar Europe, with the focus on literature and historiography as the central discourses in constructing national identities. &he project selects a historian and a literary scholar each from France, the Federal /epublic, the G0/ and Poland, whose wor! figured signi"icantly in the discursive processes of the postwar period1 Fernand Braudel and /obert 2inder in France, -erner ,on+e and Ernst /obert ,urtius in -est Germany, -alter 2ar!ov and -erner 3rauss in East Germany, and $s!ar 4alecki and ,+esła) 2iłos+ in Poland and, respectively, in U6 e(ile. 6tri!ingly, we find that the ,old -ar played a rather marginal part in these historians7 and literary scholars7 agendas. Even into the 89:;s, they argued ta!ing the idea of an undivided Europe for granted. -hat BERLI=ER 3$<<EG KALTER KRIEG > BERLI= ,EN&ER FOR ,$<0 -?R 6&U0IES @;8A Barbara Picht The Interpreters of Europe and the Cold War !ind of historical thin!ing *encountered* the ,old -ar in their wor!B 4ow could they hold fast to understandings of Europe and the nation that, from today7s perspective, seem far more suited to either the pre- and interwar periods or even the decades following 89C9 than to the height of he ,old -arB In star! contrast to what one might e(pect, these thin!ers sought neither to undermine the systems7 frontiers nor to construct a political alternative to the bipolar logic of the time. /ather, they pushed discussions over the modern world7s challenges forward that were li!ewise being conducted in the U6 and U66/, yet were placed there much more strongly in the service of the East--est conflict, or even harnessed e(plicitly to research either campDs respective rivals. In comparison, the self-understanding of Europe following 89EF as e(pressed in the positions of these authors followed a somewhat different logic. 4ere, the ,old -ar was regarded less as a ne) world order than part of the longue durGe o" modernity since the 8Cth century and, together )ith the 6econd -orld -ar, as a symptom of the crisis of Europe H by liberals, conservatives in eIual measure. &he French and German scholars had begun standing up to this crisis as early as during the interwar period, while in Poland it was that countryDs restored sovereignty that became the catalyst for see!ing its place in Europe. Both processes and the academic innovation they spawned remained relevant for their respective disciplines in postwar Europe and were developed further without necessarily associating or subjecting themselves to the competing standpoints of the superpowers. 4ence, Braudel's mar! on the ?nnales school, 2inder7s historiography of mentality, ,on+e7s social history, the e(amination of literary topos as 2 BERLI=ER 3$<<EG KALTER KRIEG > BERLI= ,EN&ER FOR ,$<0 -?R 6&U0IES @;8A Barbara Picht The Interpreters of Europe and the Cold War initiated by ,urtius, the Enlightenment- and revolution research of 3rauss and 2ar!ov and wor!s on East ,entral European history and literature by 4alecki and 2iłos+ in Poland and in e(ile are rightly regarded today neither as arguments by these writers regarding the ,old -ar nor as part of the opposition to the ne) world order. &o be sure, the themes, convictions and enmities of the ,old -ar played a part in all their wor!. In no way, however, can it be said they adopted binary logics or models of thought. Engaging the ,old -ar7s interpretive patterns would have led to intellectual and methodical bottlenecks, and perhaps even to setbacks and blocks. &hose li!e Braudel, ,on+e and 2ar!ov, who had discarded an event-based approach to history and politics and instead sought to highlight the importance of social structures, argued at the pan- European, i" not global level, without see!ing to subject the scope of his arguments to the East--est dichotomy. &he same goes for ,on+e7s social historiography, originally developed from nationalist research into German settlements in Eastern Europe. Pursuing the e(plicit goal of resolving Europe7s crisis through *more Europe*, 2inder and ,urtius wor!ed on models of transfer and interdependence using comparative methods. ? clear rejection of all ,ommunist aspirations as e(pressed by ,urtius did not necessarily imply an alignment of one7s own positions with the *-est*, i" that word meant the United 6tates. In East Germany, 3rauss launched a vein of Enlightenment research that was European and 2ar(ist but not framed by the East--est dichotomy that he considered crude. 4alecki and 2iłos+ put forward interpretations that stressed Poland7s significance in Europe without being nationalist. &he 3 BERLI=ER 3$<<EG KALTER KRIEG > BERLI= ,EN&ER FOR ,$<0 -?R 6&U0IES @;8A Barbara Picht The Interpreters of Europe and the Cold War model of the historical region, still relevant for research on East ,entral Europe, was a result of this wor!, which was clearly positioned against ,ommunism and all other alien regimes and regarded Polish interests served better in an undivided historical region of Europe than in bias toward the ?merican systemic rival. 4aleckiDs dictum that Europe e(panded to ?merica and that the ?tlantic has become an *inland sea of ,hristianity* epitomi+es this European consciousness. =o sign of the ,old -ar thenB $"" course there was. =one of these scholars escaped its institutional sway. 4alecki and 2iłos+, who had to flee Poland, felt it strongest of all. 3rauss and 2ar!ov remained in the G0/ yet were prevented from carrying out many research projects due to their lack of conformity to the system. Braudel wrote grant proposals to the /ockefeller Foundation to be sufficiently anticommunist for that institution yet not too pro-?merican-sounding for French ears. &he list of e(amples continues. ,onditions for scholarly wor! were therefore clearly mar!ed by the ne) order. Intellectually to a lesser e(tent, but institutionally for sure, the ,old -ar palpably influenced the wor! of these scholars. 0r. Barbara Picht is a research associate with the *,apitalism -ithout Borders* project at the ,ultural 6tudies department of the Europa- Universität iadrina Fran!furt #$der%. 6he presented her study at the Berlin ,enter7s Brown Bag Brea!fast on January 8;, @;8A. 4 BERLI=ER 3$<<EG KALTER KRIEG > BERLI= ,EN&ER FOR ,$<0 -?R 6&U0IES @;8A Barbara Picht The Interpreters of Europe and the Cold War Recommended Citation: Barbara Picht, &he Interpreters of Europe and the ,old -ar1 Interpretive patterns in French, German, and Polish historiography and literary studies, ;:/0:/2;8A, http1//www.berliner!olleg.com/en/blog/interpreters-europe-and-cold- war-interpretive-patterns-french-german-and-polish-historiography #please add the date of the last call to this page in brackets%. 5.