The politics of ‘forgetting’ as poetics of belonging: between Greek self‐narration and reappraisal (Michaniona, 2000/3)

ABSTRACT. The repressive mechanisms of collective memory have received due attention in the social sciences, with scholars examining the ethics of remembering and forgetting and their political implications. This study focuses on episodes that took place in a Northern Greek town in 2000 and 2003, when an Albanian student was twice denied the right to hold the Greek flag during a commemorative national parade. It is argued that this line of action against the student, representative of Greek attitudes towards immigrants in Greece, asserted the locality's participation in the Greek ‘imagined community’. This was made possible through a process of ‘forgetting’ the locality's history and the analogies this presents with the experience of contemporary immigration. Questioning the ethical implications of this collective decision, the article links regional micro‐politics to nationalist discourses that originate in the European project itself.     

The military,the clergy and Christian faith in sixth‐century Gaul

The Christianization of a society is a lengthy process that is not completed as soon as every individual is baptized and considers himself a Christian. It also requires subsequent and continuous instruction of believers, and maybe also the adaptation of religious requirements and morals in order to meet their needs and to allow them all to identify with the new faith. This latter process is especially perceptible where the new religion clashes with the values and priorities of large groups of believers, or where external circumstances prevent them from conforming to the religion's requirements. In the early Middle Ages, this situation can be retraced for the military in sixth‐century Gaul. The aim of this paper is to investigate the ongoing process of post‐Roman Christianization by using this relatively well‐documented example. It analyses the Christian identity associated with the military, the significance that fighting men might have attributed to faith, their relation to the clergy, and the options available to members of the military to live according to Christianity's rules and requirements. The paper sets out to argue that although the military was generally considered Christian, its relationship with the clergy contained significant potential for conflict, which was only resolved in the long term. The investigation therewith reveals a largely neglected but very interesting intermediate phase in the ongoing process of Christianization and integration.     

Agriculture in sixth‐century Petra and its hinterland,the evidence from the Petra papyri

Since their discovery in 1993 the Petra papyri have drawn the attention of both historians and archaeologists because of the amount of information they contain. They deal with the property of Theodoros, son of Obodianus, and his family in Petra and its vicinity in the period between AD 537 and 593. This paper focuses on agriculture and its importance in Petra and the surrounding area in the sixth century AD, according to the information derived from the scrolls. It appears that agriculture played a major role in the economy of Petra and its hinterland at the time these documents were written. The papyri repeatedly mention agricultural lands throughout the region and in many cases specify their locations and toponyms. Some of the latter are significantly still in use. There is also information about springs, some of which are still active and contribute to local agriculture. Some papyri even contain information about the type of plants grown in the area. Finally, the authors present the current state of agriculture at selected places and compare it with the state of agriculture in the sixth century AD in the study area.     

The Hull of Yenikapı Shipwreck YK 11: a 7th‐century merchant vessel from Constantinople's Theodosian Harbour

YK 11, a small, heavily repaired merchantman, was one of 37 Byzantine shipwrecks excavated at Yenikap? in Istanbul, Turkey. This 7th‐century hull, abandoned in the harbour as a derelict, was studied by archaeologists from the Institute of Nautical Archaeology. Originally built with mortise‐and‐tenon edge joinery, the ship had undergone a series of significant repairs over its lifetime. Repairs included the replacement of planking as well as framing. Although the repaired vessel exhibits evidence of both shell‐first and skeleton‐first shipbuilding techniques, detailed study of the hull remains indicates that the ship was initially designed and built as a primarily shell‐based vessel.     

The Yenikapı Byzantine‐Era Shipwrecks,Istanbul, Turkey: a preliminary report and inventory of the 27 wrecks studied by Istanbul University

Salvage excavations conducted in the Yenikap? quarter of the historic peninsula of Istanbul by the Istanbul Archaeological Museums 2004–2013 have brought to light the Theodosian Harbour on the Sea of Marmara. In addition to thousands of archaeological artefacts, a total of 37 shipwrecks dating from the 5th to the 11th centuries AD were uncovered, constituting the biggest collection of medieval ships uncovered at a single excavation site. The present article deals with 27 wrecks in the charge of the team from Istanbul University's Department of Conservation of Marine Archaeological Objects, consisting of 23 merchantmen and four galleys. The wrecks are presented with their general characteristics. The preliminary evidence from the Yenikap? wrecks regarding the development from shell‐based to skeleton‐based philosophy is discussed, and various building phases presented.     

The return of economic nationalism to East Central Europe: Right‐wing intellectual milieus and anti‐liberal resentment

This article emphasises the non‐economic goals of economic nationalism and in particular its often overlooked political goals. Drawing parallels between economic nationalisms in Central Europe and East Asia, it focuses on Poland and Hungary and asks why did these countries turn to economic nationalism. The article traces this turn to ideational foundations developed by right‐wing intellectuals over the last two decades, arguing that right‐wing intellectuals believed that liberalism has failed what they conceived of its most important (political) purpose, the need of a radical break with the communist past. Based on a study of the writings and careers of leading Polish and Hungarian right‐wing intellectuals, the article draws attention to the nature of the perceived threat to the nation. It contributes to the sociology of nationalism an analysis of how such a threat emerges and translates into a guiding idea of illiberal economic policies.     

‘We are the new Jews!’ and ‘The Jewish Lobby’ – antisemitism and the construction of a national identity by the Austrian Freedom Party

In this article I will analyse the role of antisemitism for the construction of a national identity and an exclusive national in‐group in the discourse of the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ). The analysis will show that this discourse of the FPÖ, one of the most successful extreme right‐wing parties in Europe, utilises various forms of Holocaust inversion and victim perpetrator reversal in order to delegitimise political opponents. The analysis of these incidents and of the legitimising strategies used by the FPÖ when criticised involves discussing the increasing abstraction of the codes characteristic of latent antisemitism and forms of post‐Nazi antisemitism. I will focus on how the FPÖ's use of the term Holocaust and other terms referring to Nazi atrocities against the Jews corresponds to a universalisation of the term Holocaust in social constellations that are permeated by the culture industry.