Cynthia Jean Paces College of New Jersey (Ewing, NJ 08628-0718)
FT-52104-04
Summer Stipends
Research Programs
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Totals:
$5,000 (approved) $5,000 (awarded)
Grant period:
5/1/2004 – 7/31/2004
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Prague Panoramas: Religious and National Symbols in a 20th-Century City
My book analyzes monuments and celebrations, tracing how conflicts over national identity were written on the landscape of 20th-century Prague. Prague’s modern history illustrates the difficulties of imposing a national consciousness on a multiethnic and class-stratified region. I argue that studies of collective memory ought not follow traditional political periodization. This particularly applies to the relationship between religion and nationalism, which occupied a primary place in Czech self-perception even among secular liberals and atheist Communists. The city’s multiple and extreme political transformations show how leaders and citizens use public space to create national identities.
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