BALTIC WORLDSBALTIC A scholarly journal and news magazine. December 2019. Vol. XII:4. From the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies (CBEES), Södertörn University. The fall of the Berlin wall – five different voices December 2019. Vol. XII:4 BALTIC WORLDSbalticworlds.com Places in transition Special section: Remembering & reimagining rural communities Vineyards as livelihood or recreation in Lake Balaton, Clashes Hungary between heritage and Monuments tourism in and colliding Tusheti, spaces in Georgia Shyshaky, Special section: section: Special Ukraine Remembering & reimaging rural communities rural reimaging & Remembering also in this issue Shutterstock Illustration: ROMANTIC NATIONALISM / RETHINKING COLONIALISM / COLD WAR ARTISTS / THE CONCEPT OF NATION Sponsored by the Foundation BALTIC for Baltic and East European Studies contents 3 WORLDSbalticworlds.com colophon editorial in this issue Baltic Worlds is published by the Centre for Baltic and East European Studies (CBEES) at Södertörn University, Sweden. Editor-in-chief Europe remembers Ninna Mörner n the wall, right beside my desk, Nationalism is an issue that has Publisher hangs a framed piece of the Berlin been and is coloring the develop- Joakim Ekman wall: a tiny white-blue piece of the ment of Europe. It is discussed here Scholarly advisory council gigantic monument that separated in an interview with Joep Leerssen, interview witness seminar Thomas Andrén, Södertörn Opeople, countries and systems for decades. the man behind the massive Ency- 4 Joep Leerssen. A conversation on 63 Tear down this wall. A University; Sari Autio-Sarasmo, 30 years ago, as a journalist student, I vis- clopedia of Romantic Nationalism in nationalism, Kristina Jõekalda & Linda conversation with Slavenka Aleksanteri Institute, Helsinki ited several countries in the Eastern Bloc to Europe. He sees a trend in the West, Kaljundi. Drakulić, Samirah Kenawi, Tamara Universiy; Sofie Bedford, IRES, collect stories and report on the changes. I where nostalgia for the recent past Hundorova, Ewa Kulik-Bielińska, and Uppsala University; Michael believe I shared the feeling of euphoria and is very strongly tied to populist na- essay Olga Lipovskaia, Teresa Kulawik and Gentile, Oslo University; Markus 13 The nation – that’s us? Discussion of curiosity about what was to come with many tionalism. Rethinking Yulia Gradskova. Huss (chair), Stockholm University; a concept, Thomas Lundén. others, both in West and East. Of course, my colonialism Thomas Lundén, CBEES, commentary experience cannot be compared to the impor- CHANGE AND MEMORY are com- How are we to judge the Södertörn University; Kazimierz conference reports 80 The wall and the way, Ojars Eriks tance the fall of the wall had for everyone living mon topics in this issue. We also work of scholars such Musiał, University of Gdańsk; 57 Rethinking colonialism(s) in Kalnins. until then on “the other side of the wall”. The encounter it in the theme section as Malinowski, in view of the Eastern Europe, Margaret Tali. Barbara Törnquist Plewa, Centre tiny pieces of the wall that now exist all over “Remembering & Reimagining Ru- fact that they served broader 59 The case of Tadeusz Kulisiewicz, for European Studies, Lund the world, in different rooms and settings and ral Communities”, guest edited by “systems of colonial knowledge, Camilla Larsson. University sometimes in bigger sections in official loca- Jiří Woitsch and Paul Sherfey, that but often justified the ideals of 62 Gdańsk: remembering the Corresponding members tions, may mean different things to everyone. particularly investigates the link be- colonialism’s civilizing mission in peaceful revolution, Joakim Ekman. Aija Lulle, University of Latvia; tween identity and landscape. In a their work? Page 57 Michael North, Ernst Moritz IN THIS ISSUE we publish a talk between five peer-review article, Edita Štulcaitė Arndt University Greifswald; women living in different parts of Europe on discusses clashes between tourism Andrzei Nowak, Jagiellonian their reflections about the fall of the wall and and local identity, when heritage University, Kraków; Andrea Petö, its implications for them. The testimonies from becomes an economic resource. Central European University, Slavenka Drakulić, Croatia; Samirah Kenawi, The dilemma is further explored Budapest; Jens E. Olesen, Germany (GDR); Tamara Hundorova, Ukraine; in an interview with geographer Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University, special section Guest editors: Jiří Woitsch & Paul Sherfey Ewa Kulik-Bielińska, Poland; and Olga Lipovs- Mark McCarthy and anthropologist Greifswald; Olga Schihalejev, kaia, Russia, during the seminar “Tear down and human rights lawyer Adriana Tartu University this Wall,” were recorded and are published Arista-Zerga. Tensions in a local Remembering & reimagining rural communities Copyediting/proofreading here in an edited version. Ewa Kulik-Bielińska community f is also analyzed by An- Semantix; Bridget Schäfer was one of the activists in Solidarity and the fall dreii Nekoliak. In his peer-reviewed introduction essay Layout of the wall was a final victory, long strived for, article he studies the politics of 19 Remembering & reimagining 41 Hungarian vineyard landscapes in Sara Bergfors, Lena Fredriksson, for her and the movement. Tamara Hundrova memory through the lens of monu- rural communities, Jiří Woitsch & transition, László Mód. Serpentin Media in Ukraine, on the other hand, embraced the ments in the village of Shyshaky. Artists during Paul Sherfey. Illustrations the Cold War interview event as an unexpected change, and mostly The empty pedestal left after the peer-reviewed 35 When cultural heritage becomes Ragni Svensson appreciated the opportunity to get hold of all removal of the Lenin monument Kulisiewicz’s specific articles tourism attractions. A conversation Subscription the literature that had been banned or was not still reserves a free spot in the town destiny, to be an artist Sofia Barlind 23 Reconstruction of a village in with Mark McCarthy and Adriana Arista- available hitherto. Slavenka Drakulić in Croatia centre. used to celebrate the success Printed by ≈ Tusheti, Edita Štulcaitė. Zerga, Paul Sherfey. tells that the fall of the wall wasn’t such a big Ninna Mörner of Polish art abroad during the Elanders Sverige AB 46 Social and political memories event for her, but of course the implications of NMÄ Communist regime and a benefi- Printed: ISSN 2000-2955 NE RK A E V T S “ colliding in public space, the dissolution of Yugoslavia were huge, and ciary of the system, served as an Online: ISSN 2001-7308 Andrii Nekoliak. soon they had a war to attend to and all vio- entry point for the conference. Contact Baltic Worlds Trycksak lence that followed. 3041 0242 Page 59 [email protected] The content expresses the views of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of Baltic Worlds. Joep Leerssen, Professor of European 4 interview Studies at the University of Amster- dam, is one of the leading scholars of by Kristina Jõekalda nationalism, having initiated several & Linda Kaljundi innovative projects and produced influential texts in the field. PHOTO: HELEN MELESK “Almost every nationally-defined state turned autocratic and anti-pluralistic” Kristina Jõekalda and Linda Kaljundi in a conversation with Joep Leerssen on past and present nationalism in Europe and beyond. oep Leerssen is most renowned for his research on comparative nationalism and the role of culture in con- structing national identities. His monograph National Thought in Europe: A Cultural History1 has become a standard reference work in nationalism studies. Leerssen has been behind several transnational projects. In 2018 the massive “Encyclopedia of Romantic Nationalism in Europe”1 was published under his editorship. In addition to the 1,490-page book it is also available in the form of a rich online platform, enabling the drawing of comparative analyses, map mobility, visualization of connections, etc. The encyclopedia builds on a state- ment that Leerssen has already defended in his previous studies, namely that cultural nationalism was as in- ternational and intertwined in essence as the Enlightenment or Romanticism. In other words, the Revival styles, increasing heritage conservation, historical scholarships, history painting, national art/music/literature were all part of this vast process,2 the true extent of which is seldom realized. In February 2019, Joep Leerssen visited Estonia and held a keynote speech at the conference “Symbolist Art and the Baltic Sea Region, 1880–1930”.3 The conference brought together international scholars who specialized in the Baltic region. It was connected with the exhibition “Wild Souls: Symbolism in the Art of the Baltic States”, first dis- played in 2018 at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris and last winter at the Kumu Art Museum in Tallinn. The conference brought into focus the periods of national romanticism and symbolism, which has not attracted much attention in the Baltic countries in recent decades. At the conference, the role of culture and visual culture in national and regional identity-building in particular became the key topic, and this also has a lot to say about the new wave of nationalism in the present world. It was in this context that an interview with Leerssen seemed appro- priate — both in relation to symbolism and to more general cultural and political developments. It ought to be added here that the interview was conducted before the parliamentary elections in Estonia in March 2019 that brought