In Search of the Greengrocer (Jak vykládat zelináře). Issue 2 (May 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Day, Barbara
• Other Names: Krapfl James guest-editor.; Falk Barbara J. guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: East European politics and societies. Volume 32:Issue 2(2018)
• Page Start: 244
• Page End: 249
• Publication Date: 2018-05
• Subjects: Communism -- unofficial culture -- teaching contemporary history -- Václav Havel -- Power of the Powerless; Europe, Eastern -- Politics and government -- 1945-1989 -- Periodicals; Europe, Eastern -- Politics and government -- 1989- -- Periodicals; Europe, Eastern -- Social conditions -- Periodicals; 947.0005
• DOI: 10.1177/0888325417742493
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0888-3254

Abstract

The author reflects on her experience teaching present-day students about life under totalitarianism. Forty years of Communism is a long time; attitudes and opinions matured and shifted—even (if we examine Havel's essay) those of his greengrocer. And what should be the focus of the teaching: the terror, the heroism, or the everyday business of living? How can one convey the different levels and subtleties of a world that history presents in black and white? The past could disappear in a hazy memory, but young people, once provoked, ask direct and practical questions that do connect the past to the present.