The Aftermath. Postwar Times in Modernity and Premodernity

Re-Constructions – Re-Writings – Re-Orderings

Eighty years after the end of World War II and in view of the numerous conflicts worldwide, especially in Ukraine and the Middle East, urgent questions about the nature and history of postwar times once again arise: How can a stable and just peace be achieved after the (possible) end of the war, how can and should war-affected societies be reordered and reconstructed, and to what extent does the transition from war to peace affect cultural self-perception and collective as well as individual identities?

Historically, postwar periods have often been transformative, as societies come to terms with the changes and frequently devastation left in the wake of war. This has meant grappling with how to transition from war to peace economies, to reorganise the political and legal conditions or how to reintegrate veterans, care for widows and orphans, resettle the displaced and rebuild devastated cities and landscapes. In postwar times, individuals as well as societies and states often faced fundamental choices between returning to a (supposed) status quo ante bellum or pursuing radical departures from the past. These can be seen on a material and a cultural level (for example in architecture and literature) as well as in regard to political, judicial and economic issues such as the choice between (legal) amnesty and prosecution.

Finally, in postwar societies the question arises as to how the past should be remembered and rewritten and how to fashion a new sense of purpose out of the ashes of the old, amongst others through literary means. 

With regard to these manifold problems, the three-day conference at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Study (FRIAS) explores und discusses the practices, experiences, concepts, and cultural representations of postwar times across epochs and disciplines. It examines the physical, emotional, artistic-literary, political, and legal dimensions of reconstructing, reordering, and rewriting after war from early modernity to the recent past.

• FRIAS Projektgruppe „Nachkriegszeiten: Pluralität – Temporalität – Re/Konstruktionen“

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• Conference Programme (PDF)

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