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Contents

Preface

The Idea of the Central European Identiy
  Balázs Mezei: Is there a Common Central European Tradition in Philosophy?
  János Boros: Identity as a Concept of Action
  Valerio Severino: The Process of Affiliation - Memberships in Central and Eastern Europe of CIPSH/UNESCO and European Organizations for the Academic Study of Religions

The Central European Cultural Identity
  Leon Stefanija: Between Me, You, Us and Them: Glocalization in Music in the OEuvre of Uroš Rojko
  Ivana Medić: Ex-centric Identities in Central Europe: The Curious Case of Snežana Nešić
  Ákos Windhager: An Imaginary Diplomat's Central Europe–Based on the Novels Protokoll (Protocol) and A legkisebb jégkorszak (The Smallest Ice Age) by János Térey

The Central European Political Discourses
  Matthias Funkhauser: Between Fascist Minority Restriction and the Statute of Autonomy – The Development of the Educational System in South Tyrol after the End of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy
  Barnabás Vajda: Historical Pull and Push Factors in Central Europe After 1989
  Petr Orság: A Political or a Cultural Project? - The New European Empire as "Entropa", and Central European Traditions and Connections

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Preface

The present book: A Political or a Cultural Project? Contemporary Discourses on Central European Identity is the anthology of disciplinary essays of the 2nd International Scientific Workshop in Szigliget of the Hungarian Academy of Arts Research Institute of Art Theory and Methodology, which dealt with the contemporary cultural aspect of the absolute present. The workshop titled Contemporary Discourses of Central European Identity involved a great many issues, emotions and memories. The main discourse focused on the relationship between modern national identities and other regional ones. Both the national and liberal point of views attack the idea of Central Europeanism as being a Trojan horse, although it could serve as a bridge between nations, societies and other groups. Consequently, being Central European means having a special relationship with cultures and traditions, as well as the coexistence of several ethnic groups. Many other discourses dispute the above-mentioned aspects and even their very existence.

We can see that the majority of Central Europe's countries joined the European Community in the last two decades. While Austria became part of the EU in 1995, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia and Hungary joined the political community in 2004, Romania and Bulgaria in 2007, and Croatia in 2013, while Serbia's accession is under construction. The above-mentioned states had numerous links and still have many common cultural, memorial, institutional and folkloric roots. If the grievances of living side by side unwanted during the Ottoman, Hapsburg and Soviet empires could be replaced with a free, modern common identity, it would be a major achievement. The pros and cons comprise several discourses, as the centripetal and centrifugal forces are both very vivid in the region. While political identities can be born and rapidly replaced several times over, cultural identity has existed for hundreds of years and remains very strong even under persecution.

Our indicative questions dealt with the former and contemporary identities, the memorial aspects of the past and the present trials to bridge the region. The applied sciences of the workshop were similar to those in the previous year, thus, besides special aesthetic aspects, there was ideology-research, art theory and cultural anthropology. Finally, the list below can represent the common discourse to find - either to construct or to deconstruct - our identity:

- What does it mean to be Central European in respect to culture, cultural memory and the smaller groups' cohesive community?
- How have societies, nations and minority groups adopted the European and Central European identity?
- Which Central European phenomenon became relevant or dominant in the discussed period?
- What kinds of cultural movements have arisen since 2004?
- Do societies have any collective memorial experience of the accession?
- How can the Central European idea identify regional, minority and diaspora cultures?
- What is the most acceptable common language of the region's citizens?

The present book's nine essays answer these questions from many perspectives. The papers are divided into three parts: The Idea of the Central European Identity, The Central European Cultural Identity and The Central European Political Discourses.

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