The Great Change: History Before Challenges… Message of 20th General Assembly of Polish Historians To Central-East Europe’s Historians
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15407/uhj2020.01.019Keywords:
20th General Assembly of Polish Historians, transnational history in Central-East Europe, traumatic history of 20 century Europe, social responsibility of historians, 23rd International Congress of Historical SciencesAbstract
The research goal. To reveal the significance of the 20th General Assembly of Polish Historians in the context of discussions on the status of history held in Central-East Europe in connection with the forthcoming 23rd International Congress of Historical Sciences, to be held on August 23–29, 2020 in Poznań.
The research methodology. Historiographic and scientific analyzes have been applied to determine the state and social status of contemporary historical research in Poland and the countries of Central-East Europe in the face of global and regional challenges.
Scientific novelty. The experience of contemporary Polish historiography, which offers new organizational and methodological approaches to the development of historical research and the functioning of historical knowledge in a digitized society, is generalized.
Conclusions. It is shown that at the end of the twentieth century, university historians lost their monopoly – ceasing to be the sole guardians of collective memory, who decide about what from the past will be saved from nothingness. The way the narrative of the past has changed and has become democratized and privatized: it is possible in different ways and from different points of view. Academic historiography must address this challenge by drawing attention to the role of “great changes” in history, which require historians of greater courage within transnational approaches to overcome memory conflicts. A joint efforts are needed by historians, in particular from the Central-East Europe countries, to answer the question of what history we need today and what should be their responsibility for created histories. The proposals will be the basis for discussion at the 23rd International Congress of Historical Sciences in Poznań.
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