Graves as Landmarks of National Identity
Graves as Landmarks of National Identity

Summary/Abstract: The central characters of this essay are heroes and martyrs, people thought to lack humor; though the distance which usually separates political rhetoric from reality may well raise a few smiles. But reality is a tricky word—a historian should be cautious with it, for different people’s perceptions of any piece of evidence can differ widely depending on their different experiences. In recent years almost every country in Central and Eastern Europe has staged solemn funerals— reburials, to be precise—of various great figures of national history. The very diversity of the people selected for such displays of reverence makes us ask questions about the motivations for bringing these exiles back to their final resting-place in their own country.

• Details
• Contents