| FT-52104-04 | Research Programs: Summer Stipends | Cynthia Jean Paces | Prague Panoramas: Religious and National Symbols in a 20th-Century City | 5/1/2004 - 7/31/2004 | $5,000.00 | Cynthia | Jean | Paces | | | | College of New Jersey | Ewing | NJ | 08628-0718 | USA | 2004 | History, General | Summer Stipends | Research Programs | 5000 | 0 | 5000 | 0 |
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. |