BHA Webinar Series (Zoom)
Petra Košťálová (Department of East European Studies, Charles University, Prague)
Date & Hour: February 16 (Monday), 16:00 CET / 17:00 EET
Moderator: John Polemikos (USA)
Technical assistance: Timothy French, contact: timothymfrench@yahoo.com
Webinar link
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81531442186
Moravian Wallachia represents one of Central Europe’s interestingly distinctive ethnographic regions, shaped by a complex interplay of cultural memory, landscape symbolism, and re-constructed, even „invented“ traditions, rites and shared customs. This presentation examines the key topoi—recurring spatial, narrative, and symbolic motifs—through which Wallachian identity has been imagined, preserved, and continually negotiated. Drawing on the concept of lieux de mémoire, it explores how mountains, pastoral life, wooden architecture, folklore, and heroic figures such as the zbojník (outlaw) have become emblematic sites of memory that anchor collective identity from Early Modern Era period till today. These elements function not only as markers of regional distinctiveness but also as dynamic cultural artifacts mobilized in nation-building, tourism, and contemporary heritage discourse. By analyzing both historical representations and modern reinterpretations, the paper highlights how Moravian Wallachia’s memoryscape is produced through selective remembrance, myth-making, and the ongoing negotiation between authenticity and commodification. The region thus emerges as a vivid example of how cultural memory shapes—and is shaped by—place, narrative, and identity.