Reburials, Nationalism and Regimes: Identity, Dead Bodies and Regimes of Memory in Albania, 1930s–1970s

This paper examines the literary, cultural, and political positions of left-wing writers as depicted in the Hyundae Ilbo. After liberation, left-wing writers strengthened their organizational power by forming various groups. These writers participated as major contributors to the newly founded the Hyundae Ilbo, and used it to hold literary lectures and promote the popularization of literary education. Later, with the breakdown of the US-Soviet Joint Commission and the decline of leftist activities, the writers actively made political statements. During this period, leftist writers were called upon to serve as cultural figures who enlightened the masses through literature, and as political figures who presented the direction of the times. the Hyundae Ilbo served as a foundation for the theoretical practices of these writers and provided them with a platform to speak out as political literary figures. The newspaper’s indefinite suspension in September 1946 led to most of the contributing left-wing writers defecting to North Korea, bringing an end to their political statements.

Despite lacking competitive elections and strong protections for political freedoms, politics in authoritarian regimes is still influenced by the opinions of everyday people. What do these opinions look like? Why do they matter? Research from various authoritarian regimes suggests that many citizens hold sophisticated and nuanced views about politics. People can distinguish between different political actors, and often see through propaganda. Nonetheless, many still express support for autocratic leaders. Preference falsification may explain some of these patterns, but in many cases high popular approval for autocrats remains meaningful. Despite preference falsification, public opinion still matters not only because regime support is self-reinforcing—the façade of support encourages conformity and deters dissent—but also because it influences broader political dynamics. Authoritarian governments devote vast resources to shaping public opinion through censorship and propaganda, build institutions to absorb and deflect grievances, and adjust policies in response to public sentiment. In short, even without competitive elections, public opinion still significantly affects the actions of political actors, making it crucial for our understanding of politics in authoritarian regimes.

The past decade has witnessed a significant increase in women’s presence in local politics. According to the newly published United Nations (UN) Women in Local Government data set, women constitute 36% of local deliberative bodies worldwide compared to merely 25% in national parliaments.1 Much of this increase is the result of gender quotas: the Gender Quotas Database (International IDEA 2022) shows that as of 2021, 75 countries had some form of gender quota on the local level, 24 of which were authoritarian regimes. Yet, extant work on gender politics in authoritarian regimes tends to focus on the national level, given the highly centralized decision-making processes in such contexts. We contend that the study of women’s engagement and representation in local politics can help scholars better understand not only gender and politics, but also authoritarian politics more generally.

В современной политической обстановке возникают многочисленные дискуссии по поводу значимости для Грузии заключения Георгиевского трактата о добровольном вхождении в Российскую империю. Статья обращается к творческому наследию видных грузинских политических и культурных деятелей XVIII–XIX вв. – Д. Гурамишвили, Г. Орбелиани, Н. Бараташвили, И. Чавчавадзе – современников происходящего, отразивших в литературных текстах свою позицию по этому вопросу. Рассмотрены особенности исторического развития Грузии в конце XVIII–XIXвв., проанализированы знаковые произведения и факты из жизни поэтов, свидетельствующие об их образовании и социальном положении, о возможности наблюдать историю своей родины и участвовать в ней. Исследование взаимоотношений двух государств через призму грузинского литературного наследия выявило положительную оценку современниками покровительства России, принесшего мир на разоряемые соседними государствами земли, экономические и культурные блага для Грузии. The study is intended to determine the views of the iconic Georgian political and cultural figures of the 18th–19th centuries on the assessment of the reasons for the conclusion of the Treaty of Georgievsk and its results through their literary heritage. The work is based on the literary works of Georgian authors (David Guramishvili, Grigol Orbeliani, Nikoloz Baratashvili, Ilya Chavchavadze and Akaki Tsereteli) translated into Russian and the results of research by Russian and Georgian historians and literary critics. The methodological basis of the study was mainly the cultural-historical method, which contributes to the perception, analysis and evaluation of literary works in terms of their correspondence to the facts and events that took place in the 18th–19th centuries in Georgia. The biographical method was used to determine the links between literary texts and the realities of Georgian poets’ life. Literary texts were analyzed using the corpus of literary methods. In the course of the study, the main historical events concerning the relations between Russia and Georgia in the period under study were identified, certain aspects of the biographies of Georgian poets that influenced their creative heritage were considered; significant literary works expressing the opinions of contemporaries, their reflection on the political, economic, social and cultural changes that took place in Georgia after the conclusion of the Treaty of Georgievsk were analyzed. The studied works characterize the level of education and social status of their authors, as well as their ability to observe the history of their homeland and participate in it. The authors of the article draw attention to the directness and clarity of expression of the convictions of Georgian writers, who were at the same time public figures. In their works, they pointed out that the choice made by King Heraclius II at the conclusion of the Treaty of Georgievsk was one of the forms of struggle for national unity and the preservation of the people in the face of a threat to the existence of the country. The authors conclude that the Treaty of Georgievsk and the consequences of its signing for Georgia were positively assessed by the classics of Georgian literature, exponents of the Georgian national spirit. Their assessment of the historical events connected with the interethnic relations of the two states seems to be quite objective. The authorsemphasize that the literary heritage of the great Georgian political and cultural figures helps to understand the complex realities of our time.

This paper explores the influence and reflection of the French writer Henri Barbusse’s literary and sociopolitical activities within the Georgian cultural space. It presents a comparative analysis of his works and how they were perceived in Soviet Georgia. Henri Barbusse emerged in the literary field in the 1890s as a symbolist poet, later becoming the author of neo-naturalist novels and psychological short stories, as well as a publicist and political figure. World War I radically transformed his worldview. He volunteered for the front in 1914 as a true pacifist. The social-economic crises and the subsequent rise of fascism convinced him that there was no visible solution – thus he turned his hopes toward the events unfolding in the first socialist state, Soviet Russia. The paper analyzes Barbusse’s impressions of his travels in Georgia and the Georgian translations of his works. It also evaluates how the Georgian press reacted to his writing and visits. In the late 1920s, the Soviet authorities made particular efforts to attract Western intellectuals and cultural figures in order to portray socialism as a global success. Barbusse was one of the first intellectuals to depict the Soviet Union as the symbol of a “new world.” His literary and publicist activities contributed to the reinforcement of Soviet socialism. His deep ties to communist ideo- logy are clearly reflected in his works; however, at the same time, he also vividly portrays the brutal reality of imperialist militarism. At that time, speaking out against war was considered a betrayal of national interests and provoked nationalist outrage – such as in the case of Jean Jaurès’ assassination. Barbusse was one of the first in European literature to depict the cruelty of war in his novel Le Feu (Under Fire) and psychological stories, revealing the harsh and absurd conditions on the frontlines. Barbusse’s travelogue “This is What They Did to Georgia,” written after his October 1927 visit to Georgia, unfortunately does not objectively reflect the ideological pressure and dire socio-economic conditions in the country at the time. Party workers accompanied him everywhere, providing fabricated and glorified reports of success. The text contains inaccuracies about the First Democratic Republic of Georgia, which can be considered slanderous. The Georgian intelligentsia was divided in response to his visit: supporters of the Soviet regime (Platon Kikodze, Silibistro Todria, Tedo Sakhokia, Aristo Chumbadze) endorsed Barbusse’s evaluations and believed in the restoration of justice and equality under the Soviet system. Opponents, including émigrés (e.g., David Sharashidze), harshly criticized him, while others avoided expressing opinions. These differing attitudes influenced how his works were translated and interpreted, and how his political and literary contributions were addressed in essays and critiques. Barbusse’s novel Le Feu (Under Fire) was first translated into Georgian in 1923 by Tedo Sakhokia (with a second edition in 1930). His short stories were translated by Aristo Chumbadze in 1930, successfully capturing the tone and style of the original. Barbusse’s poetic vocabulary, use of antithesis, grotesque, irony, and sarcasm were preserved. Aristo Chumbadze, a brilliant stylist, produced translations that are both natural and refined, maintaining syntactical harmony with the original. During the 1950s–1970s, Barbusse’s 1914 collection of psychological short stories drew attention from Georgian writers and readers. The stories are grouped around themes: 1. Fate; 2. Mad love; 3. Compassion. Many translations were published in Tbilisi-based and regional journals and newspapers. Roena Kenia’s translations such as La Tendresse, Hallali, Le Vrai Juge (The True Judge), Le Premier Amour (First Love), and Le Frère (The Brother)—are noted for their artistic quality and fidelity to the original. The paper also presents a typological analysis comparing Henri Barbusse’s and Sergo Kldiashvili’s attitudes toward World War I and their respective works: Barbusse’s novel Under Fire and story “One Weeps, Another Laughs,” with Kldiashvili’s Ashes and “The Goblin Boys.” Regrettably, Henri Barbusse failed to see the persecution of the Georgian intelligentsia and the ideological control over culture. He contributed to the integration of Georgian literature into socialist aesthetics and brought Georgian writers closer to European proletarian literature. Barbusse did not envision any better way out of the crisis of his time and blindly believed that democracy could only be expanded through revolution. Nevertheless, it must be emphasized that his novel Under Fire is an anti-war work that no political agenda can justify. His psychological stories are not ideologically driven; rather, they are filled with compassion for humanity and a deep desire to reveal human nature and promote goodness.

Based on the data of a sociological survey carried out in 2020, the paper analyzes the ideas of the inhabitants of Russia with a double Russian-Ukrainian ethno-identity about the history of both (“mother” for this ethno-community) countries, as well as the connection of these ideas with identity. It was revealed that people with biethnical Russian-Ukrainian identity are much better aware of historical figures from the history of Russia than Ukraine. The history of Russia is personified primarily by military and political figures, while representatives of the cultural elite occupy a peripheral place. On the contrary, the history of Ukraine is equally associated with both politicians and military leaders, as well as with cultural figures. This perception of the history of the two countries is reflected in the identity of biethnic people. The Russian part of ethnicity is linked by them primarily with the state and those emotions that the state personifies (pride in the country, patriotism, etc.). On the other hand, the Ukrainian part is more often described by more intimate (family, private) emotions, i.e. those emotions that the cultural elite displays.

Most scholarship on contentious politics in authoritarian regimes focuses on severe repression and transgressive protest (e.g. revolt), suggesting a zero-sum game played by the state and challengers. However, a burgeoning literature suggests that less brutal forms of authoritarian states have emerged in recent decades and that protesters in these countries tend to limit their challenges, avoiding direct confrontation with the authorities. If so, can the notion of the zero-sum game truly capture the nuances and complexities of contentious politics in authoritarian regimes? Taking the case of China, this article offers a systematic analysis of the pattern of repression and protest in a strong authoritarian state. Drawing on an original data set of 1,418 protest events in China, this article shows that the Chinese state permits some (albeit limited) space for protest and that most protesters confine themselves to this space. These findings thus provide quantitative evidence that popular contention in China is featured by a non-zero-sum game. Overall, this study contributes to a more comprehensive and complex understanding of popular contention in authoritarian settings.

In modern Russian historiography appear works describing the biographies of so-called “little people” who cannot be attributed to major figures in politics, science or culture. In the case of women's and gender studies, the biographical method, among other things, makes it possible to study the lives and activities of women who prioritized independence, social and/or professional self-determination, and participation in the public life of the country on an equal footing with men for the benefit of all its citizens. The aim of the article is to reconstruct the biography of N. P. Kupriyanova (1868-1950), to identify the ways in which she internalized social, gender and other perceptions and their transfers, to determine her role in women's social activities and the formation of women's social networks in the public space of Kazan province in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. As a result, we can conclude that N. P. Kupriyanova self-realization took place in two directions - professional and public (in the field of charity) activities, which overlapped and replaced each other. At the same time, she played a huge role in the process of involving women of Kazan Province in charity. The article is a part of the dissertation research.

The aim of this article is to determine the features of the genre and the moral-philosophical perspective of Vsevolod Ivanov’s portrait essays of the 1920s – early 1930s published in Vladivostok non-Bolshevik newspapers (Russkiy krai, Russkaya armiya, Vechernyaya gazeta), in Harbin émigré periodicals (newspapers Svet, Gun-Bao, the magazine Rubezh). To achieve this aim, using a semantic-cognitive approach, the author of the article studied archival materials of periodicals of the Russian Far East and Far Eastern emigration and introduced into academic discourse new unexplored factual material contributing to filling gaps in the history of Russian literature and journalism of the 20th century. Ivanov’s portrait essays are analyzed in the context of the sociopolitical and cultural life of the Far Eastern Republic (FER) that existed in the Russian Far East and the large-scale emigration of Russians to China. The author considers the dynamics of Ivanov’s portrait essay genre development. It acquires elements of the memorial and obituary essay, the genre of the literary portrait as a reflection of the progress of the national historical-literary process in the mother country and in the diaspora caused by the spiritual-moral confrontation of the political forces of Russia, the ideological split in the national culture of Russia due to the events of October 1917. The author of the article relies on historically significant material: the memorial essay with the conceptual title “Justified Avvakum” actualizes the problem of a reasonable and balanced attitude to changes, the correlation of evolutionary and revolutionary principles in the development of society. Ivanov raises the question of personal, moral, and civil responsibility for the fate of his country in the essay “The Blood of the Tsar”, which recreates the tragic events of the execution of the family of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II by Bolsheviks. In the analysis of obituary portrait essays about the tragic losses of Russian literature of the Silver Age (“Conversant with Secret (In Memory of A. Blok)”, “In Petrograd the Bolsheviks shot the poet Nikolay Gumilev”), the author of the article concludes about the originality of the creative potential of Ivanov, who, using elements of the genre of the literary portrait, demonstrates the synthesis of scientific, literary, and journalistic writing. The portrait essays of Ivanov’s prominent contemporaries, figures of politics and culture (“Admiral Kolchak”, “Semenovshchina “, “Prof. D.V. Boldyrev”, “Vasiliy Fedorovich Ivanov”) complement the complex picture of the sociocultural context of the era with relevant axiological aspects identified in the essays. The author of the article considers Ivanov’s reference to the iconic figures of the turning epochs in the fate of Russia as a peculiarity of his journalistic position in relation to history as a criterion of truth and moral value of a person.

This investigation analyses the relations uniting the long endurance of the Salazarist dictatorship in Portugal and the political processes of its cryptic violence. Departing from the differentiation between different types of violence, this thesis shows that structural violence was used intentionally by the regime within the limits of a spectrum of visibility, in an effort to create its own normalisation. This research examines the mechanism and manifestation of both direct and structural violence through a study of different filmic data. Film served as key propaganda medium for the regime, holding together the concealment of direct violence and generating structural violence. Undermining this authoritarian gesture, this enquiry further explores the device of visibility, intrinsic to filmic material, which challenges the Portuguese regime's politics of self-censorship. By articulating recent political theories and image philosophy with two films O Alar da Rede by Michel Giacometti, (1962) and 48 by Susana de Sousa Dias, (2012), this thesis reflects on the moment when a process of rendering visible exposes a form of resistance to violent hidden policies. With elaborated methods, both films manage to reinsert in the present, a violence from the past. The filmic paradigm described in this paper exposes original tools to fight a violence that was previously concealed within normative conundrums.

Power-Sharing and Leadership Dynamics in Authoritarian Regimes

I examine a fundamental problem of politics in authoritarian regimes: the dictator and the ruling coalition must share power and govern in an environment where political influence must be backed by a credible threat of violence. I develop a model of authoritarian politics in which power sharing is complicated by this conflict of interest: by exploiting his position, the dictator may acquire more power at the expense of the ruling coalition, which may attempt to deter such opportunism by threatening to stage a coup. Two power‐sharing regimes, contested and established dictatorships, may emerge as a result of strategic behavior by the dictator and the ruling coalition. This theory accounts for the large variation in the duration of dictators' tenures and the concentration of power in dictatorships over time, and it contributes to our understanding of the dynamics of power sharing and accountability in authoritarian regimes.

Reviewed by: The Literary Life of Cairo: One Hundred Years in the Heart of the City Caroline Seymour-Jorn (bio) The Literary Life of Cairo: One Hundred Years in the Heart of the City, edited by Samia Mehrez Cairo, Egypt: AUC Press, 2011; pp. 433. $39.95 cloth. The Literary Life of Cairo: One Hundred Years in the Heart of the City serves as a companion volume to Mehrez's The Literary Atlas of Cairo (2010). It represents the work of several literary generations as it includes short stories, excerpts from novels, and essays by authors who have lived in and written about Cairo and Egypt. All of the selections are presented in English, with most having been translated from Arabic or French. A few selections were originally written in English. One strength of the book is that it presents not only a range of Cairo's authors but also the work of both well-established and newer translators. The Literary Life of Cairo is divided into seven chapters—each with a separate brief introduction—designed to familiarize the reader with the complex social, economic, ethnic, and political landscape of metropolitan Cairo. The chapter divisions are highly relevant and useful, with titles such as "Going to School in Cairo," "Women in the City," and "Cairo's Drug Culture." By means of these thematic divisions, the editor reveals to the reader the unexpected and many-faceted world of one of the Middle East's most important and influential cities. This volume and that of Mehrez represent an important contribution to the study of Egyptian literature and the Cairene literary world in the English language. This text will be useful for readers who are new to the field of Egyptian or Middle Eastern literature, as it provides a wide-ranging set of representations of Cairene life and society. The section "Women in the City," for example, presents a literary view both of poor and otherwise marginalized women and of much more privileged women, of those living within the borders of the city and even of those Egyptian women living and pursuing higher education abroad. The collection of translations provided here will also benefit more seasoned consumers of Middle Eastern literature, especially because the volume includes several pieces by younger authors, including Miral al-Tahawy, Mona Prince, and Mohamed Salah al-Azab. The section "Icons of the City" includes fiction and essays about some of the city's larger-than-life political and cultural figures, including pieces that illuminate the periods of King Farouk and Gamal Abdel Nasser. Also included is a fascinating selection by Edward Said about his youthful [End Page 148] memories of the dancer Tahia Carioca and her live and film productions. "Cairo Cosmopolitan" features selections that highlight aspects of life in Cairo's ethno-religious communities, including a very short piece from Ihsan Abdel Qaddus's I Am Free about Jews in the once relatively integrated neighborhood of al-Dhaher. Fathy Ghanem's A Girl from Shubra explores the personal geography of an Italian Catholic woman living in the populous area of Shubra, along with her hopes and fears for her own and her daughter's future. "Going to School in Cairo" contains selections that span the historical timeline, from Naguib Mahfouz's early-twentieth-century setting in Palace Walk to Ihab Hassan's memories of his school days in 1930s Cairo, to Miral al-Tahawy's representations of the specific struggles of schoolgirls during the final decades of the twentieth century, which saw the rise of both Muslim fundamentalism and strong capitalist and consumerist orientations. The section "The Street is Ours?" is a particularly fascinating read for anyone following the events of 2011 in Egypt, or the Arab Spring more generally. The section includes literary representations of public protest, arrest, imprisonment, and torture over the span of the twentieth century, from Huda Shaarawi's account of the women's demonstration against the British in 1919 to Alaa al-Aswany's famous representation of a Muslim activist in The Yacoubian Building. These readings echo more recent incidents of protest and demonstration and also serve as a solemn reminder of the long history of government oppression of political activists in...

What happens when nation-builders in an independent state imagine themselves to have fallen behind kinfolk living under imperial oppression, and how does this affect their vision of a future of national unity? This paper explores the shapes that critical self-comparison could take among Romanians in the Kingdom of Romania around the turn of the twentieth century by considering three interconnected vignettes. First, it outlines the context in which politicized notions of mutual interdependence between the Kingdom and Transylvania allowed for comparison as self-criticism to take root and gain salience in the public sphere. It explores the implications that comparison as self-criticism had on ascribing agency and apportioning blame for causes of the disparity between state and kinfolk. Second, it examines two Transylvanian travelogues produced by major political and cultural figures on the fringes of the Romanian establishment, and, in a reflexive move, contrasts their politics of comparison. Third, it offers a grassroots perspective on how the travelogues of teachers and priests, as rank-and-file nation-builders, expressed these topoi. The article contributes to the nascent trend of considering historical comparisons in actors’ own terms, and as historical processes unto themselves.

The article examines the specifics of the artist’s film portrait dedicated to the 85th anniversary of the master and created at the Armenfilm studio in 1965 (director — Laert Vagharshyan, scriptwriters — Laert Vagharshyan and Ilya Ehrenburg, cameraman — Marat Varzhapetyan, composer — Lazar Saryan). The film is analyzed in connection with sociocultural, artistic, ideological aspects of the comprehension and implementation of the artist’s creative work and image in the late Thaw period in a non-fiction film. The film openly draws attention to the tragic pages of M.S. Saryan’s (1880– 1972) creative biography: the 1937 destruction of his portraits of a number of repressed Armenian political and cultural figures, his reaction to accusations of formalism. The film, which was not widely distributed, is an extraordinary example of creating an image of a man of art in Soviet documentary cinema. In addition to the film material, the study is based on the director’s memoirs, the contemporaries’ reviews and film criticism relevant for that time.