Beyond Foundational Myths: Images from the Margins of the European Memory Map

Abstract

Sieg demonstrates how Ilija Trojanow and Christian Muhrbeck’s collection of stories and photographs, Wo Orpheus begraben liegt [Where Orpheus lies buried] (2013), can be read as a direct response to discourses on European identity and to the question of whether European memory discourses can be integrative, that is, constitutive of a transnational European identity, while still allowing for a plurality of European voices. The ironic title of the book alludes to Bulgaria’s part in Europe’s rich cultural history, and critiques attempts to locate the foundations of European identity in Greek antiquity. But while the texts and images all allude to Bulgaria’s past, they offer no definitive historical narrative that might serve as a new, unifying myth. The complex juxtaposition of texts and images instead raises questions about how we remember and construct the past. Placing emphasis on the politics of remembrance, particularly in Eastern Europe, Trojanow and Muhrbeck’s book casts doubt on the very idea of foundational European myths, arguing instead for a memorial culture that embraces the plurality of European memory.