[Commlist] CFP III International H/Story Seminar: Communism in Historical Fiction

*Call for Papers
III International H/Story Seminar*
*Communism in Historical Fiction*
*2 April, 2026*
*online*
*University of Silesia in Katowice*
*Institute of Literary Studies*
*H/Story Research Group*

Although communism might seem a remnant of the past, this is not the 
case for many reasons. As an ideology and political system, it persists 
in countries that openly embrace it, ones that work on their 
decommunisation, and ones that have its ideological-political 
representatives (despite never having been essentially communist). As a 
philosophical system, the socialist thought that derives from Marxism 
seems to permeate every aspect of our lives. But these are not the only 
political and ideological reasons that keep making communism a vital 
element of our cultural imaginary. Literature, cinema, and games 
continue to offer us representations of communism that tap into either 
our experiences or ideas of it; further stimulating our appetite for it. 
Combing through various texts of literature and culture and games 
evidences this point. For those nostalgic about this era, /All That I 
Love/ and/ The Hundred-Year-Old Man who Climbed out the Window and 
Disappeared/ offer a rather idealistic take on a period usually 
associated with struggle and hardship. Those who either endured or are 
aware of communist brutality might experience it vicariously through 
historical novels like /Paradise of the Blind, The Bonesetter’s 
Daughter, /or/ Painter of Silence/. Reviving communism in literature, 
cinema, and games is not limited to black and white representations of 
it. Those who struggled but also managed to make a life for themselves 
under communism can find their memories echoed in /Edge of Eternity, 
Dreaming in Cuban, Swimming in the Dark, /and /Heroes of the Evening 
Mist/. For those interested in the cultural life of the era, /You, 
Fascinating You, The Last Man in Europe, /and/ Pearl of China/ offer 
nuanced portrayals of the bygone glitterati. The panoply of portrayals 
of communism also includes works focusing on more ticklish subjects – 
such as (dis)loyalties under communism (/The Sympathizer, The Death of 
Stalin, Jack Strong/) or (ir)religiousness (/The Christening, Operation 
Pope/) – and using communism as a fabric with which to weave alternative 
histories (/S.T.A.L.K.E.R., The Man in the High Castle, 1983/).

These diverse representations of communism are indicative of perhaps the 
most popular function that replaying communism has: entertainment (and 
one may wonder about the effects of rendering communism as 
entertaining). But, as might be deduced, these works also serve other 
purposes. Even those who experienced or are experiencing communism 
first-hand have limited knowledge of it and, by having it replayed via 
media, may deepen their understanding of its workings. Interestingly, 
such “education” might be variously motivated – just as it might be a 
form of propaganda, so it might also be a means by which to keep 
communism afloat in the cultural imaginary; perhaps, to keep us wary of 
the threats that it brings with itself. Replaying communism also 
(re)introduces us to the workings of this doctrine/ideology and 
explains, for instance, how communism-inspired politics was made and 
translated into economic decisions and ideological indoctrination.

This seminar is interested in representations of communism in various 
media, with the primary focus on – understood very broadly – historical 
fiction. Thus, we invite scholars working in various disciplines and 
fields of study to participate in the *III International H/Story 
Seminar, Communism in Historical Fiction*. Among the specific themes 
that might be covered are the following (the list is by no means 
exhaustive):
• memory and nostalgia for communism
• uses and abuses of communism (for example, communism as a narrative 
means to address contemporary problems or bygone evils and injustices)
• fighting and/or embracing communism
• historicising communism and history through the lenses of communism
• the public and the private communism
• the tragic and the comic interpretations of communism
• sympathies and fears evoked by communism (the Red Scare, the Cold War)
• crimes of communism (tortures, prisons, trials, communism dividing 
nations and families, traumas, corruption, abuse of power)
• communisms and their values, ideas, and norms
• the rise and fall of communism
• communism versus capitalism
• legitimisation processes of communism (founding myths, fantasies, 
manipulation, falsifying history, propaganda, stereotypes)
• dismantling communism (narratives exposing the lies of communism and 
challenging its intellectual basis)
• communist and anti-communist heroes (ideologues, spies, protesters, 
resistance movement members)
• communism as a form of oppression and colonisation
• communism and its wars (with the bourgeoisie, its own people, and 
non-communist nations)
• communism as an intellectual revolution, cultural movement, and a 
substitute for religion
• affects, agency, and everyday life
• attitudes towards the environment and industry under communism
• identity formation under and against communism (love, coming of age, 
survival, death)
• philosophical, political, social, and psychological takes on communism
• communist history as official history and as alternative history

We are delighted to announce that the seminar's keynote address will be 
delivered by Dr Anna Varadi (Cardiff University) and Dr Lucy Jeffery 
(Cardiff University), the authors and editors of /Replaying Communism: 
Trauma and Nostalgia in European Cultural Production/ (CEU Press, 2025).
We welcome scholars to submit their proposals by 15 February 2026. 
Abstracts (of no more than 300 words) accompanied by short biographical 
notes should be emailed to *(hstory.seminar /at/ gmail.com) 
<mailto:(hstory.seminar /at/ gmail.com)>*. Notifications of acceptance will be 
sent out on an ongoing basis. *The seminar is free of charge and is held 
online*. A post-seminar publication is planned in the form of either a 
collected volume by a prestigious academic publisher or a special issue 
of a journal indexed in the Web of Science.

Contact us at: (hstory.seminar /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(hstory.seminar /at/ gmail.com)>.


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