Narrativity and Narrative Strategies in Popularization of Contemporary History: Historical Exhibitions as Laboratories and Mirrors of the Narrations of History in the Former Socialist Countries

The thesis examines the phenomenon of narrativity and narrative strategies in the popularization of contemporary history, with a focus on museum exhibitions in selected East-Central European countries. Exhibitions and museums are conceived as texts in the broader sense of the term - as semantically grounded discursive practices which interact with the wider sphere of historical culture as well as with various categories of individual and collective memory. The aim of the research is to identify and describe the forms of narrativity associated with the presentation of the recent past, and to analyze the factors that may influence these forms. The analysis focuses on museum representations of the second half of the 20th century, with a particular emphasis on issues related to socialist dictatorships, their memory, and heritage. The first chapter introduces the key terms and concepts. It provides a factual framework for conceiving of socialist dictatorships within the local discourses of the examined countries. The overview of the development of history museums and its professional reflection is also included. This is followed by five empirical chapters that propose a typology of "narrative designs" in museums and place it in dialogue with problem-oriented studies of two selected topics. The first of...