‘The End of History’ in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

Since it is my contention in this volume that postcommunist Czech Shakespeare has begun to serve as a newly emerging site of resistance to neoliberal practices of the neo-imperial West, particularly the European Union (EU), it is crucial to outline such policies — and their material consequences on Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) citizen subjects — at some length. It is only through the exploration of some of the most relevant examples of Western intervention in the postcommunist transitional process that we can begin to appreciate the dimensions of the emerging disbelief, sense of betrayal and subsequent mobilizing of cultural resistance to exploitive policies and cultural frameworks that enable them. I hope that my attention to the sociopolitical context here will provide an ample backdrop not only to my initial argument made in the Introduction, but also for the detailed consideration of particular incarnations of Shakespeare in the following chapters.