Stefan Ihrig

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"In describing and unveiling the nation-building approach of the two main identity discourses, [Ihrig] has made an interesting and compelling study of this problem, making his work one of the most complete ones in describing the Moldavian identity problem. We can surely state that Stefan Ihrig’s book does not only serve as a tool in researching the aspects of identity crises and nation-building, but also in understanding the situation of post-Soviet republics nowadays."

R. Betea, Europolis 4 (2008), 377-380

 

"What sets Wer sind die Moldawier apart from similar studies on the Moldovan nation, is the systematic but intelligently and elegantly composed inclusion of all the relevant producers of concepts of the Moldovan nation. The study deals not only with the Romanianists and the Moldovanists, but also with the Gagauz and Transnistrian reactions to the Moldovan nation-state and marginalized unconventional historians in Chisinau... This is not small feat in view of the intricacy of the debates, language competencies (Russian, Romanian/Moldovan and Turkish), and the intractable accumulation of political, academic, and ideological motives that make Moldova unique in the post-communist world.

Thus, Ihrig’s analysis interesting evidence for the political (ab)use of academic and textbook history for the multiplicity of historical interpretations, as well as (fortunately) for the limited impact of incendiary textbook views on daily interethnic relations in the Republic of Moldova."

W. van Meurs, Ab Imperio 2 (2008), 458-461

 

"It is beyond any doubt that Ihrig’s book is an important study and a valuable source for all interested in the post-Soviet history of Moldova and the process of nation-building in general."

A. Mihaylova, Études balkaniques 1-2 (2010), 276-280

 

"This book should be more widely accessible... [It] provides an outstandingly nuanced and notably unbiased understanding of what it might mean to be Moldovan."

M. H. Ciscel, Nationalities Papers 6 (2009), 961-963

 

"Stefan Ihrig hat auf breiter Quellengrundlage eine eindrückliche Studie zur Geschichtsschreibung und Geschichtspolitik in der Republik Moldova vorgelegt. Das Buch ermöglicht tiefe Einsichten in die Unfähigkeit und den Unwillen der politischen und kulturellen Eliten des Landes, einen Modus der Verständigung über Geschichte und kulturelle Identität der Moldova, geschweige denn eine konsensfähige Lesart darüber zu entwickeln. Er charakterisiert dies zu Recht als „failed historiography“, die nicht unwesentlich zu der Anmutung der Moldova als „failed state“ beigetragen haben dürfte."

D. Müller, H-Soz-u-Kult, 1 June 2010

 

"Ihrigs Darstellung ist ein wichtiger Beitrag zum besseren Verständnis der vertrackten Situation Moldovas, aber auch zur Rolle von Geschichtsschreibung in Nationsbildungsprozessen."

U. Brunnbauer, Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas 1 (2011), 144-145

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