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Papers by Baris Yorumez

Research paper thumbnail of “Wounded” in revolution: the postwar intelligentsia and their self-distinction in Czechoslovak cinema (1956–1968)

Canadian Slavonic Papers, 2023

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the social representations of the critical socialist intelligentsi... more ABSTRACT
This article analyzes the social representations of the critical socialist intelligentsia in five major Czechoslovak films made by Communist filmmakers between 1956 and 1968. These politically transgressive films provide valuable insights into how the reform-minded Communist intelligentsia viewed real socialism and their place in it. The films often portrayed intellectual protagonists stuck and emotionally struggling between careerist Party elites and an insensitive working class in the new socialist reality. Through content and reception analysis of several of the most influential films of the period, the article demonstrates how the critical intelligentsia distinguished themselves not only from Party elites but also from members of the working class in the post-1956 predicament caused by Nikita Khrushchev’s denunciation of Stalin and, by extension, the ruling logic of Communist parties in Eastern Bloc countries.

Research paper thumbnail of "Authenticity through Transgression: Small Acts of Resentment in Post-1968 Czechoslovakia," in The Politics of Authenticity: Countercultures and Radical Movements across the Iron Curtain, 1968-1989 , ed. by Joachim C. Häberlen, Mark Keck-Szajbel, and Kate Mahoney (London: Berghahn, 2018), 45-65.

ABSTRACT: This chapter examines the permitted modes of transgressions in Czechoslovakia after the... more ABSTRACT: This chapter examines the permitted modes of transgressions in Czechoslovakia after the forceful end of Prague Spring in 1968. Because the so-called normalization government aggressively persecuted any organized dissidence in the country, many Czechs and Slovaks expressed and circulated their criticism in disguised forms such as telling political jokes or spreading and listening forbidden music of the era. Drawing mostly on oral history interviews and memoirs, the chapter analyzes the way in which the citizens constructed their authentic-selves and insinuated their criticism to public sphere through popular transgressive acts of resentment in post-1968 Czechoslovakia.

Keywords: 1968; Czechoslovakia; dissidence; normalization; transgression; Prague Spring.

Research paper thumbnail of Old Question Revisited: Towards a Holistic Understanding of 1989

This paper provides analyses for the reasons behind the different fates of 1989 movements in East... more This paper provides analyses for the reasons behind the different fates of 1989 movements in Eastern Europe and in China. Many Sinologists have suggested that the cultural peculiarities of China necessitate the disentanglement of Tiananmen Democracy Movement from broader 1989 narrative. This paper demonstrates the epistemological constraints resulting from the academic disentanglement between Chinese and Eastern European revolutions of 1989 and argues that many of the socalled Chinese peculiarities within Tiananmen Movement were prevalent in Eastern European revolutions of 1989. Hence, neither students' mobilization nor their failure can be explained through an exotic quest for Confucian values or Asiatic despotism. Instead of making farstretched speculations on the impacts of distant Confucian past, I will suggest one has to consider the structure of People Liberation Army, China's post-1978 integration to world capitalism, and the subsequent shift in the subjectivity among the new urban youth in the so-called postmodern era.

Activities by Baris Yorumez

Research paper thumbnail of Jornada Miradas transnacionales sobre la Nueva Izquierda latinoamericana

Si algo definió la emergencia de la Nueva Izquierda fue su carácter global y la circulación trans... more Si algo definió la emergencia de la Nueva Izquierda fue su carácter global y la circulación transnacional de sus actores. En América Latina, el triunfo de la Revolución cubana dio inicio a un proceso de movilización que adquirió rápidamente una dimensión continental. Lejos de quedar limitado al plano discursivo o teórico, las y los revolucionarios latinoamericanos plasmaron esta visión continental en diferentes vías: consolidaron redes militantes transnacionales, conformaron organizaciones de coordinación regional e implementaron una solidaridad activa como internacionalistas en diversos procesos revolucionarios contemporáneos.

Con la instauración de las dictaduras militares en el Cono Sur y la salida al exilio de miles de militantes, el factor transnacional de esta movilización se acentuó. El marco de las relaciones, hasta ese momento restringido a América Latina, se amplió. Se conformaron organismos de solidaridad en Europa y Estados Unidos, y se profundizaron los lazos con los movimientos de liberación nacional y los países recientemente emancipados del Sur global.

El Grupo de Investigación de Historia de América de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (HistAmérica) y el Centro de Estudios Sociopolíticos de la Escuela Interdisciplinaria de Altos Estudios Sociales (EIDAES-UNSAM), con la colaboración del Centro de Documentación de los Movimientos Armados (CeDeMA), reúnen en esta jornada a investigadores locales, de Argentina, Chile y Turquía.

Desde un enfoque transnacional, la jornada profundizará en la movilización de la Nueva Izquierda latinoamericana, abordando los procesos de difusión de ideas y propuestas de intervención, los vínculos entre organizaciones, sus estrategias de internacionalización y el impacto de los exilios. Del mismo modo, se debatirá en torno al papel de los Estados revolucionarios, la interpretación desde la Nueva Izquierda de procesos revolucionarios contemporáneos de diverso signo, y la internacionalización de la represión en el marco de la Guerra Fría.

Research paper thumbnail of “Wounded” in revolution: the postwar intelligentsia and their self-distinction in Czechoslovak cinema (1956–1968)

Canadian Slavonic Papers, 2023

ABSTRACT This article analyzes the social representations of the critical socialist intelligentsi... more ABSTRACT
This article analyzes the social representations of the critical socialist intelligentsia in five major Czechoslovak films made by Communist filmmakers between 1956 and 1968. These politically transgressive films provide valuable insights into how the reform-minded Communist intelligentsia viewed real socialism and their place in it. The films often portrayed intellectual protagonists stuck and emotionally struggling between careerist Party elites and an insensitive working class in the new socialist reality. Through content and reception analysis of several of the most influential films of the period, the article demonstrates how the critical intelligentsia distinguished themselves not only from Party elites but also from members of the working class in the post-1956 predicament caused by Nikita Khrushchev’s denunciation of Stalin and, by extension, the ruling logic of Communist parties in Eastern Bloc countries.

Research paper thumbnail of "Authenticity through Transgression: Small Acts of Resentment in Post-1968 Czechoslovakia," in The Politics of Authenticity: Countercultures and Radical Movements across the Iron Curtain, 1968-1989 , ed. by Joachim C. Häberlen, Mark Keck-Szajbel, and Kate Mahoney (London: Berghahn, 2018), 45-65.

ABSTRACT: This chapter examines the permitted modes of transgressions in Czechoslovakia after the... more ABSTRACT: This chapter examines the permitted modes of transgressions in Czechoslovakia after the forceful end of Prague Spring in 1968. Because the so-called normalization government aggressively persecuted any organized dissidence in the country, many Czechs and Slovaks expressed and circulated their criticism in disguised forms such as telling political jokes or spreading and listening forbidden music of the era. Drawing mostly on oral history interviews and memoirs, the chapter analyzes the way in which the citizens constructed their authentic-selves and insinuated their criticism to public sphere through popular transgressive acts of resentment in post-1968 Czechoslovakia.

Keywords: 1968; Czechoslovakia; dissidence; normalization; transgression; Prague Spring.

Research paper thumbnail of Old Question Revisited: Towards a Holistic Understanding of 1989

This paper provides analyses for the reasons behind the different fates of 1989 movements in East... more This paper provides analyses for the reasons behind the different fates of 1989 movements in Eastern Europe and in China. Many Sinologists have suggested that the cultural peculiarities of China necessitate the disentanglement of Tiananmen Democracy Movement from broader 1989 narrative. This paper demonstrates the epistemological constraints resulting from the academic disentanglement between Chinese and Eastern European revolutions of 1989 and argues that many of the socalled Chinese peculiarities within Tiananmen Movement were prevalent in Eastern European revolutions of 1989. Hence, neither students' mobilization nor their failure can be explained through an exotic quest for Confucian values or Asiatic despotism. Instead of making farstretched speculations on the impacts of distant Confucian past, I will suggest one has to consider the structure of People Liberation Army, China's post-1978 integration to world capitalism, and the subsequent shift in the subjectivity among the new urban youth in the so-called postmodern era.

Research paper thumbnail of Jornada Miradas transnacionales sobre la Nueva Izquierda latinoamericana

Si algo definió la emergencia de la Nueva Izquierda fue su carácter global y la circulación trans... more Si algo definió la emergencia de la Nueva Izquierda fue su carácter global y la circulación transnacional de sus actores. En América Latina, el triunfo de la Revolución cubana dio inicio a un proceso de movilización que adquirió rápidamente una dimensión continental. Lejos de quedar limitado al plano discursivo o teórico, las y los revolucionarios latinoamericanos plasmaron esta visión continental en diferentes vías: consolidaron redes militantes transnacionales, conformaron organizaciones de coordinación regional e implementaron una solidaridad activa como internacionalistas en diversos procesos revolucionarios contemporáneos.

Con la instauración de las dictaduras militares en el Cono Sur y la salida al exilio de miles de militantes, el factor transnacional de esta movilización se acentuó. El marco de las relaciones, hasta ese momento restringido a América Latina, se amplió. Se conformaron organismos de solidaridad en Europa y Estados Unidos, y se profundizaron los lazos con los movimientos de liberación nacional y los países recientemente emancipados del Sur global.

El Grupo de Investigación de Historia de América de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (HistAmérica) y el Centro de Estudios Sociopolíticos de la Escuela Interdisciplinaria de Altos Estudios Sociales (EIDAES-UNSAM), con la colaboración del Centro de Documentación de los Movimientos Armados (CeDeMA), reúnen en esta jornada a investigadores locales, de Argentina, Chile y Turquía.

Desde un enfoque transnacional, la jornada profundizará en la movilización de la Nueva Izquierda latinoamericana, abordando los procesos de difusión de ideas y propuestas de intervención, los vínculos entre organizaciones, sus estrategias de internacionalización y el impacto de los exilios. Del mismo modo, se debatirá en torno al papel de los Estados revolucionarios, la interpretación desde la Nueva Izquierda de procesos revolucionarios contemporáneos de diverso signo, y la internacionalización de la represión en el marco de la Guerra Fría.