Stories about History from August, 2008
Morocco: Burgeoning Mollywood
Morocco has long been a mecca for foreign filmmakers. Iconic films like The Last Temptation of Christ and Lawrence of Arabia, as well as more recent films Rendition and Black Hawk Down, use Morocco as their backdrop. Other films like Babel utilize more than Morocco's landscape, taking its culture and people into account as well. Morocco's film industry hasn't escaped the blogosphere, reports Jillian York, on Mollywood.
Morocco: The True Story of Andalusia
die blog van toons expresses frustration at an Al Jazeera documentary and clarifies the history of Andalusia.
Haiti: Black Chopin
AfriClassical profiles Ludovic Lamothe, “one of Haiti's most renowned classical composers”, whose méringue Nibo won a municipal contest in Port-au-Prince and celebrated the coming end of the U.S. Occupation in...
Jamaica: Connecting with Memories
Francis Wade makes a trip out to his late grandfather's home and realises that one reason he moved back to Jamaica was “to give up the rootless and drifting feeling...
Balkans: “The banality of journalistic evil”
Gray Falcon writes a detailed critique of a recent article by Dan Bilefsky published in the New York Times titled “Hero to Some, Butcher to Others”, about fugitive Ratko Mladić....
Croatia: Interview with Dubravka Ugrešić
Balkanikum [French] posted an interview with Croatian writer Dubravka Ugrešić, published by H-Alter on the occasion of the publication of her latest novel in French, Baba Yaga a pondu de...
Estonia: Review of the Singing Revolution
Babel Tallinn posts a review of the recent documentary The Singing Revolution (Laulev Revolutsioon) about the period 1986-1991, when Estonia – along with Latvia and Lithuania – gradually reconquered its...
Croatia: Anniversary of Operation Storm
On the 4th of August 1995 the largest European land offensive since World War II started in Central Croatia, in the area of Krajina. Until then Croatian Serbs were the majority population there, but a few days later there were no Serbian families left in this area. For that reason it was called Operation Storm (Operacija Oluja). Bloggers comment on the anniversary.
Trinidad & Tobago: Unchained?
“Here every creed and race find an equal place but there is no solidarity. Only the Africans celebrate the fact that they are free. Only the Indians celebrate the fact...
Cambodia: Blogging on Genocide
After graduating from Brown University in 2004, the articulate, cunning Elena Lesley was awarded a Henry Luce Scholarship to Cambodia to write for The Phnom Penh Post. With a long-time interest in Asia, it seemed like a good match. But knee-deep in a society scourged by years of civil war and gut-wrenching poverty, the experience quickly proved eye-opening.
Cape Verde: To be or not to be African
Cape Verdean blogger Cesar Schofield Cardoso [pt] reflects on what to be African means. “In our case, to take the African-ness on is to take on a large, majority inheritance....
Czech Republic: Křelov fortress
The Journeys of Captain Oddsocks describes (including photos) his weekend trip to the old baroque fort at Křelov near Olomouc in the Czech Republic, which this year is open to...
Lithuania: Romuva Religious Renaissance
Vilnius Blogs writes about a visit to Moletu, homestead of the Lithuanian pagan religion Romuva, which is currently experiencing a renaissance.
Russia: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the Nobel Prize-winning author of The Gulag Archipelago, has died on Sunday. He was 89. Reactions to Solzhenitsyn's death are already beginning to appear in the Russophone blogosphere, and here's one post on the writer's legacy, by LJ user markgrigorian.
Poland: Anniversary of 1944 Warsaw Uprising
Polandian writes about and posts pictures illustrating the 64th anniversary of the 1944 Warsaw uprising against the German Nazi occupiers.
Hungary: Coverage of Gay Pride and Right-Wing Opposition at Hungarian Spectrum
One year after she launched Hungarian Spectrum, blogger Eva S. Balogh explained that her primary motivation had been dissatisfaction "with political information available in English about Hungary." Many of the posts on Hungarian Spectrum are devoted to the politics of Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union, the country's largest opposition party, and its supporters. Below is a roundup of some of the recent entries.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Sarajevo's New Towers
Anthony Guennegou (FRE) posted a series of photos of the newly constructed towers in Sarajevo, as a follow-up to his post on the Avaz Tower, which had been heavily destroyed...
Russia: 94 Years Since WWI Started
LJ user crazycat_meyr commemorates (RUS) the 94th anniversary of the German declaration of war on Russia in 1914.
Hungary: Public TV
Hungarian Spectrum writes about the Hungarian Public Television – “Magyar Televízió = MTV”: “Most people I know tell me that they hardly ever watch MTV with the possible exception of...
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Karadžić in The Hague
In spite of demonstrations in Belgrade against Radovan Karadžić's extradition to the ICTY in The Hague, he was transferred in the early hours of the 30th of July. The next day his first court appearance took place, where the charges against were read. Bloggers have been commenting on his transfer to The Hague and on the initial court hearing.
Ukraine: Chernobyl
Belatedly, a trip report, photos and video from the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, by Darkness at Noon – here and here.
