Participants

Sven Jaros⁴; Kristina Wittkamp²; Iurii Zazuliak¹; Nora Berend⁵; Sébastien Rossignol⁶; Gleb Kazakov³;  ¹ University of Leipzig, Germany;  ² University of Passau, Germany;  ³ Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Germany;  ⁴ Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany;  ⁵ Cambridge University, UK;  ⁶ St. John’s Memorial University, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Discussion

In an era marked by global polycrisis and decreased gate-keeping of information flow via mass media distribution, narratives depicting premodern East Central and Eastern European history have become potent tools in public and political discourse. From the strategic deployment of early Kyivan Rus' history by Russian state actors to justify the invasion of Ukraine, to the invocation of crusading imagery in contemporary anti-migration policies, and the Hungarian right’s oscillation between Christian nationalism and imagined Eurasian nomadism, premodern themes are repeatedly mobilized to legitimize present-day agendas by activating seemingly common-knowledge popular imagologies for their target audience. Meanwhile, medieval motifs proliferate in popular culture—cinema, streaming platforms, and social media—garnering identity offers and mass engagement by means of emotional mobilization, blurring the line between producing, consuming and spreading messages, discourses, and images. Paradoxically, these pervasive multi-media appropriations have not translated into heightened academic interest or increased student enrollment in premodern East Central and Eastern European history; instead, the field faces declining visibility and shrinking audiences worldwide – trapped within the academic ivory tower, traditional approaches to premodern East Central and Eastern European history frequently belittle cross-media research.
This roundtable, organized on behalf of the Premodern East Slavic Europe Network, brings together internationally recognized scholars with expertise in public, popular, and interdisciplinary East Central and Eastern European history to interrogate this phenomenon. Key questions will include: What factors underlie the disjunction between public appropriation and academic marginalization of the field? What role do professional historians play in this public discourse? How do metahistorical narratives, propaganda, and the politics of collective memory (compared with subaltern cultures of remembrance) shape engagement with premodern pasts? What persistent pedagogical and methodological challenges—such as limited access to primary sources, lack of digitalization, both linguistic and methodological barriers—impede the field’s renewal? How can emerging transdisciplinary and cross-media approaches, including subaltern and decolonial perspectives, reframe the study and teaching of premodern East Central and Eastern Europe? What uses and gratifications can we achieve by studying and teaching premodern Eastern European history? What is specific about this debate regarding the premodern history of this region compared to other periods and/or regions? 
Through critical discussion and exchange, the roundtable aims to map out strategies for reinvigorating the field, increasing its public and academic relevance, and demonstrating its vital potential for nuance, pluralism, and reflective citizenship in contemporary global society.