220093 Victimhood Nationalism: Transnational Perspectives on Postwar Societies in Europe and Asia (S) (SoSe 2017)

It is well-known that the Second World War had a lasting effect on post-war societies. The ‘coming to terms with the past’ decisively shaped how in particular those nations of the former axis powers re-membered the recent past and reorganised their national identity as well as their political cultures. The mainstream historiography on Europe as well as on Asia usually emphasizes that the military defeat resulted in a profound national crisis from which in particular West Germany and Japan escaped finally ‘rejuvenated,’ as they transformed both into economic powerhouses and exemplary liberal democracies. In this perspective, nationalism is presented as a dated phenomenon that has been successfully overcome.
In recent years, however, historians have started to pay more attention to the in many ways contradic-tory developments of the post-war decades. For one of these ambiguous phenomenon Jie-Hyun Lim has coined the term ‘victimhood nationalism.’ Contrary to what is often believed, nationalism did not vanish, but – in a different guise – remained a strong and popular ideology that shaped public and individual memory, both in the defeated and in the devastated nations. Methodologically, he advances the view that nationalism was not a nationally restricted, but a transnational ideology that continued to be a popular mode of explaining the present and its (imagined) past.
In a strictly transnational and comparative perspective, the seminar will probe this concept of ‘victimhood nationalism,’ taking a closer empirical look on Korea, Japan, Germany, Poland and Israel. The seminar thus not only provides an in-depth and unusually wide overview of the post-war period, but also critically discusses some of the main historiographical narratives and their intellectual origins.

Requirements for participation, required level

This two-week seminar, taught be Prof. Jie-Hyun Lim from Sogang University, Republic of Corea, and PD Dr. Daniel Siemens (Bielefeld University) will take place between 20 June and 4 July 2017. It is open to history students at Master level and to Ph.D. candidates from the BGHS. Members of the teaching staff of Bielefeld University are welcome to join in! In order to allow for intense discussions and a good working atmosphere, the number of participants will be limited. If you are interested in taking part, please send an email with a short motivational statement to: daniel.siemens@uni-bielefeld.de

Bibliography

A list of readings will be made available in April 2017.