| This duo-project concentrates on the impact that recent processes of globalization have had on new forms of identity-formation in Eastern and Central Europe. In particular, it focuses on the way transformations in the cultural realm of the region the transition from a predominantly verbal and nationalized cultural heritage to diverse visual, global multimedia practices have gone hand in hand with new transnationally oriented concepts, self-images and artistic expressions of identity. The post-doc project will explicitly engage in the formulation of new paradigms that allow us to study multi-ethnic communities imagining themselves beyond the nation, at once locally and globally, and in the complex interface between words, sounds and images. It develops this theoretical frame in close relation to specific post-1989 artistic projects and cultural networks that have been developed to transform the cultural identities of the region such that it bridges age-old ethnic divides and becomes a global interface of various groups and cultures. The AIO-project further develops these research questions in the context of the Roma's (gypsies) struggle for political and cultural self-representation within the region. It focuses on the role of globalization in both the cultural emancipation and the rise of new forms of repression of this transnational minority. |
