Abstract
After the fall of state socialism in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), the socialist legacy became a matter of contested discourses, coming from the new national governments. However, with the recently awakening nostalgia for socialism and growing international interest for the socialist pasts, the approaches to its legacies began gradually to change. In this paper, the focus is on some recent international trends with regards to the socialist heritage for evaluating the share of their influences in the process of de-contestation occurring at the local/national levels. There are two processes standing in juxtaposition to be observed; on the one hand, official nation branding distances the state from socialist pasts to emphasize, often contrasting, post-socialist national identity. On the other hand, the development of communist heritage tourism attempts to reconsider and appropriate socialist legacies in the national frameworks for identity construction. Using the examples from Hungary, Romania, and the former Yugoslavia, the author demonstrates the role of international media and the tourism industry for meeting the objectives of economic development while maintaining post-socialist national identity senses, but also their potentials in reconsiderations of the contested history chapters.
Highlights
A number of studies have already emphasized the importance of built heritage in the creation of national identities [1,2,3]
The purpose of this paper is to examine the links between the recent trends in the tourism industry and the rapid development of information and communication technologies in the context of ascribing heritage values to contested legacies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)
In the particular case of the contested post-transitional reality in the CEE region, the approach to the socialist legacy has demonstrated some dynamic trends evolving over time, despite a number of local differences depending on the country [32]
Summary
A number of studies have already emphasized the importance of built heritage in the creation of national identities [1,2,3]. The purpose of this paper is to examine the links between the recent trends in the tourism industry and the rapid development of information and communication technologies in the context of ascribing heritage values to contested legacies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). During the long and difficult transition to the new socio-political and economic system, the built legacy of state socialism has not been adequately recognized or mobilized in the initial strategic approaches for urban and national identity (re)construction. The following part discusses the cases of global media and tourism industry initiating reconsideration of heritage in the selected cases. Following the discussion, the paper concludes with an emphasis on compromising approaches to redefining the perception of the socialist built legacy and the potential that the media and tourism have for further advances of this process
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