The Project
This SSHRC-funded collaborative project investigates the public articulation and contestation of collective memory in an empirical study of the commemoration of Jan Hus in context of the 600th Jubilee of the Council of Constance, and related events. The project explores the representation of history in public rituals as well as memory practices in Czech and German museums. The research aims to make an empirically grounded contribution to current debates, methods, and theories in the field of cultural memory.
Who was Jan Hus?
Jan Hus was a priest, scholar and reformer of the early 15th century. Inspired in part by the thought of the English reformer John Wycliff, Hus became a provocative figure in and around Prague, as a result of his public sermons, writings and liturgical innovations. The Emperor Charles IV had made Prague his capital city, […]
Read More>>Hus 600
Mobilizing its historic and cultural resources, the city of Konstanz, in parternship with various organizations, launched, on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the Council of Constant (Konziljubilaum), a multi-year long jubilee (2014-2018), comprised of museum and art exhibits, music and theatre performances, worship services, and guided tours. The jubilee is branded as “Europa zum […]
Read More>>Cultural Memory
This research draws on two inter-related theoretical perspectives: cultural memory and ritual/festival studies. Although the majority of research in the field of memory studies deal primarily with discourses and textual data, there is a growing awareness of collective memory as a locally enacted, performed phenomenon. Our research then is framed and informed by the concept […]
Read More>>The Questions
General Questions How and by whom is the cultural memory of Jan Hus and the Council of Constance locally performed in ritual and discursively represented in media How is the story of Constance and Hus ritualized, performed and represented in museums in Constance and Tabor? What are the fundamental questions and tensions informing the commemoration […]
Read More>>