scholarly journals Symbolic Geographies and the Politics of Hungarian Identity in the ‘Populist-Urbanist Debate,’ 1925-44

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 177-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard S. Esbenshade
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
National Identity ◽  
Mental Maps ◽  
World War ◽  
Jewish Origin ◽  
Cultural Concepts ◽  
The Way

This article examines intellectuals’ debates about national identity in interwar and World War II Hungary to uncover their connection to underlying “symbolic geographies” and “mental maps.” Focusing on the way in which Hungarian identity and history have been informed by, and indeed inserted into, virtual spatial rubrics that rely on the historically developed cultural concepts of “Europe” and “Asia,” and “West” and “East,” the paper looks in particular at the “populist-urbanist debate” that raged between two groups of writers, both opposed to the ruling neo-feudal order. The populists were composed mostly of provincial-born intellectuals who saw the recognition and uplift of the peasant as the key to Hungary’s salvation. The urbanists were cosmopolitan intellectuals, mostly of assimilated Jewish origin, who saw the wholesale adoption of progressive Western rights and norms as the only way forward.

The Unassailable Self: Freud's Image Among Post-war American Intellectuals

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Jenness
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Cold War ◽  
External Force ◽  
Sigmund Freud ◽  
Human Being ◽  
World War ◽  
The Us ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Way

This paper explores the way American intellectuals depicted Sigmund Freud during the peak of popularity and prestige of psychoanalysis in the US, roughly the decade and a half following World War II. These intellectuals insisted upon the unassailability of Freud's mind and personality. He was depicted as unsusceptible to any external force or influence, a trait which was thought to account for Freud's admirable comportment as a scientist, colleague and human being. This post-war image of Freud was shaped in part by the Cold War anxiety that modern individuality was imperilled by totalitarian forces, which could only be resisted by the most rugged of selves. It was also shaped by the unique situation of the intellectuals themselves, who were eager to position themselves, like the Freud they imagined, as steadfastly independent and critical thinkers who would, through the very clarity of their thought, lead America to a more robust democracy.

“An Ireland over There”?

2021 ◽  
pp. 3-23
Author(s):  
Sara S. Goek
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Traditional Music ◽  
Cultural Analysis ◽  
Symbiotic Relationship ◽  
World War ◽  
Irish Identity ◽  
Diasporic Identities ◽  
American Cities ◽  
The Way

This chapter explores the role of dance halls in British and American cities among the Irish communities after World War II. It incorporates historical and cultural analysis of Irish traditional music in dance halls, stressing the symbiotic relationship between place and diasporic identities. It offers a window on the way Irish negotiated, contested, interpreted, and performed their Irish identity while living abroad.

Understanding the Trajectory of Japanese Capitalism

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-161
Author(s):  
Heidi Gottfried ◽  
David Fasenfest
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
National Identity ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
World War ◽  
Capitalist Development ◽  
Postwar Reconstruction ◽  
Regional Dynamics ◽  
Japanese Capitalism ◽  
Historical Examination

How can we understand the trajectory of Japanese capitalism? This Afterword situates Japan on a broad canvas stretching across both the region and the globe. East Asia’s regional dynamics figure prominently, shaping the trajectory of Japanese capitalism not only in the formative Age of Empire and postwar reconstruction, but also in the emergent Asian Century. An historical examination of geo-politics highlights imperial entanglements and both the routes and the roots of capitalist development in Japan. This discussion begins by setting the stage of post-World War II Japan, elaborating on the reproductive bargain that characterizes Japan’s political economy, investigating the importance of national identity as it informs who can participate in Japan’s economy, revealing the underbelly of contemporary Japan, discussing forces for change, and revisiting the methodological approach used to understand Japanese capitalism.

No Lost Chance in China: The False Realism of American Foreign Service Officers, 1943-1945

2010 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-145
Author(s):  
Jingbin Wang
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
World War ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Foreign Service ◽  
Communist Government ◽  
The U.S ◽  
The Way

AbstractThis article reexamines the question of whether a chance was lost for the U.S. government to develop relations with Mao's China in the 1940s. I focus on John S. Service and John Paton Davies, seeking along the way to illuminate the ideological roots of the Truman administration's nonrecognition policy toward China. I argue that proponents of the “lost chance” thesis have misapplied the concept of realism in diplomacy, since realism is primarily concerned with power and security, not ideology such as democracy. These proponents overlook the assumptions on which American diplomats and leaders operated. The China Hands assumed that the Chinese Communists were social democrats, not revolutionaries controlled by Stalin. Dean Acheson embraced Davies's assumption that Mao would reassert nationalism upon assuming power and might still be drawn away from Moscow toward Washington. Far from being realists, they were deeply ideological. They disagreed with their domestic rivals within a liberal consensus. None of them had the intention of recognizing a Communist government in China. This study reveals how unspoken shared assumptions shaped not only the dynamics of American policymaking toward China during World War II and in its aftermath, but also the work of many historians who have written about the “lost chance.”

Fresco Fiasco: Narratives of National Identity and the Bruno Schulz Murals of Drogobych

2003 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 622-653
Author(s):  
Denise V. Powers
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
National Identity ◽  
National Identities ◽  
Moral Rights ◽  
World War ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Bruno Schulz

In May 2001, Yad Vashem's removal of portions of a recently unearthed mural painted during World War II by creative artist Bruno Schulz was enormously controversial, not only because of the questionable circumstances in which they were taken, but also because several parties had a legitimate claim to them. This article examines the dispute over the Schulz murals, illustrating how competing narratives of national identity—Polish, Jewish, and Ukranian—have infused the debate with particular intensity. Claims to the murals have been advanced largely on the basis of moral rights, which are grounded—explicitly or implicitly—in each nation's experience of collective suffering and victimhood. While not an exhaustive discussion of all the national dimensions of the debate, it is a starting point for understanding how the interplay of national identities shapes political claims in general, and underpins specifically the debate over the Schulz murals.

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