Exile: Native Opposition AbroadBack to modules »
During the Cold War, every new political crisis in Eastern Europe sent a new wave of people into emigration; the most prominent of those people who were forced to leave their home country because of their political views were considered "exiles." This term gained more and more currency over the decades, and defined a position for a person who remained in a distinctly oppositional stance to their home country's government, while continuing a public life abroad. Eastern European exiles played a unique role in the politics and culture of the period: as a liaison with Western intellectuals; as spokesperson for their home country's opposition in the Western press; and always in some tension with their respective linguistic diaspora. In this module we will cover the role and functions of exiled intellectuals in this system, their impact on Western discourse, their importance to the foreign radio broadcasting programs, and in some cases the stories of their return to Eastern Europe as the state socialist regimes weakened and fell.