Suppressed, Adopted and Invented Memories

The encounter of Indonesian society with foreign cultures leaves a mark on a culture, leaving traces in the form of narratives and symbols. In Larantuka, the encounter of local culture with the Portuguese leaves the Semana Santa tradition or Easter tradition which in the oral narrative and ritual process still presents the Portuguese style. This research was conducted to find out how the presence of Portuguese culture functions in the Semana Santa tradition in Larantuka; and why Portuguese heritage is maintained and preserved in the tradition. Data collection utilized participatory observation, interview, and literature study methods. The results showed that the Semana Santa ritual as a Portuguese heritage still takes place as an annual ritual, the use of Portuguese language in the ritual, symbols, and the Confraria brotherhood formed by the Portuguese. Three important points that become the reason for the Portuguese presence in the Semana Santa ritual are the acculturation process, narratives in collective memory, and the obedience of tradition actors in carrying out ancestral messages.

Dark events are frequently analyzed in terms of their social and political contexts and this is especially true in the case of dark commemorative events, linked to national tragedies, wars, and other conflicts. Countries stage national commemorative events to create and sustain national myths. The way that these are designed and held, combining multiple elements into a narrative form, can be understood as a process of nationalist storytelling. This research note argues that while previous research into these events has drawn on theories of collective memory, viewing them from a storytelling perspective suggests that alternative approaches of competitive or multidirectional memory can provide insightful explanations of the often-contested role they play in national myths and contemporary social and political conflicts.

Trauma and repressed memory have long served as a critical departure in collective memory studies. This article employs the time-image episode to detail how (post)memories of subsequent-generation genocide survivors are constructed when survivor-generation silences proliferate and transgenerational subjects are temporally and experientially dirempted from the violence experienced by their elders. Time-image episodes function as presently situated, imagined accounts of history and memory. They represent the circulation of narrative and nonnarrative forms of communication, extending the present into other temporalities. By complicating the definition of transgenerational trauma to encapsulate not only psychopathologies but also alienation from a family and cultural history, we can better understand that the trauma experienced by descendants revolves around an absence of knowledge. Empirical data on Cambodian Americans are provided to (1) redefine trauma not solely in pathological terms, (2) analyze nonphysical forms of memory, and (3) conceptualize the multiple temporalities of trauma that shape collective memory formation.

The chapter focuses on recent cinematic representations of one of the most dramatic collective journeys of Estonian history – the massive Soviet deportations of Estonians in June 1941 and in March 1949. In mid-June 1941, about 9,000 Estonians, mostly women and children from urban areas, were crammed into cattle cars and exiled to Siberia; in late March 1949, over 20,000 people (more than 2.5% of the Estonian population, two thirds of them women), condemned as ‘the people’s enemies’ by the Soviet authorities, met the same destiny. Portraying these involuntary journeys, both Ülo Pikkov’s stop motion short Body Memory (Keha mälu, 2011) and Martti Helde’s feature-length (live-action) debut In the Crosswind (Risttuules, 2014) take up the complex questions of collective (national) memory and identity by means of experimental narrative and audiovisual form. This chapter investigates how these films engage with the particular historical events, and (collective) memories of them, utilising a study of national narratives on screen by David Martin-Jones (2006), which considers the concepts of national history and identity in the light of Gilles Deleuze’s (1989) and Homi K. Bhabha’s (1990) writings.

The main aim of this article is to reconstruct the evolutions and the political implications of the Italian historical novel between the nineteenth and twenty‐first centuries. The starting hypothesis is that the historical novel has always performed a vicarious function with respect to traditional historiography. In the Italian case, in particular, the canon of the historical novel has progressively lost the apologetic function it had during the Risorgimento, turning into an instrument of indirect criticism of Italian society after 1861. At the turn of the twentieth and twenty‐first centuries, the historical novel had a new editorial fortune, thanks to authors such as Umberto Eco, Valerio Evangelisti, Luther Blissett, Giancarlo De Cataldo, Giuseppe Genna, Tiziano Scarpa and Wu Ming, becoming a very fertile field of historical analysis on the transition from the First to the Second Republic. Finally, thanks to Antonio Scurati, the author of M. Il figlio del secolo, M. L'uomo della provvidenza, and M. Gli ultimi giorni dell'Europa, the historical‐documentary‐novel has become a perfect tool for a critical analysis of collective memory in Italy. The thesis of this article is that Scurati manages to rediscuss the ways and forms of the historical memory of fascism because he uses an innovative form of counterfactual narration: the implicit uchrony.

Aim of the Study: The present study investigates the subjective and collective memories of the urban residents of Istanbul, with a specific emphasis on the insights offered by urban literature. The present study examines the propensity of urban areas to undergo transformation as a consequence of successive civilizations. Methodology: The present study utilizes a qualitative-theory methodology and adopts De Quincey's concept of "Palimpsest" as the theoretical framework to accomplish its objectives. The primary research approach utilized is a methodology centred around the textual analysis. This methodology entails a thorough examination and interpretation of the intricate layers of individual and collective memories intertwined within the selected literary work. Findings: The analysis of the selected work reveals that the portrayal of Istanbul reinforces the concept of a palimpsest, symbolizing the perpetual transformations occurring within the urban landscape. The narrative underscores the historical and cultural influences that are discernible in Istanbul, placing emphasis on the dynamic nature of its growth, which has been moulded by the interplay of various civilizations throughout the ages. Conclusion: This research provides insight into the concept of Istanbul as a palimpsest, characterized by the ongoing transformation of its physical infrastructure and social fabric due to the successive influences of diverse civilizations. The identity of a place is shaped not only by its architectural and historical components, but also by the intricate interaction of social, cultural, economic, and traditional artefacts.

In dialogue with the work of anthropologist Roy Wagner, Gabriel Amato conceptualizes oral history as a culture of research shared by a research community. Similarly to anthropologists, who presuppose culture in the social groups they encounter in fieldwork, oral historians presuppose social memory, narrative, or certain forms of performance when they go to dialogue with their interviewees. Thus, this chapter argues in favor of a self-reflexive oral history, aware of its relative objectivity and open to the unforeseen points of view raised by interlocutors.

This chapter explores how in the period from the first decades of the seventeenth century to the middle of the nineteenth century the Russian imperial state encountered and ruled over one of its most remote territories, and how the people who populated that territory responded to imperial rule. In studying imperial languages of description and self-description in North-Eastern Siberia in the seventeenth-nineteenth centuries, the author reconstructs an original semantics of imperial historical experiences. In the Siberian case, this original semantics of imperial experiences appears to have been no less complex than in the European part of the Russian Empire. In Siberia, Alfred Rieber's concept of society developed in application to European Russia's layers of social and institutional memory acquires geopolitical and chronological dimensions as Siberian practices retained elements drawn from the Mongol, Muscovite, and imperial periods of Russian history.Keywords: imperial rule; Russian imperial state; sedimentary society; Siberia; Steppe Duma

The article explores the impact of Israeli policies and practices on Palestinian urban nodes in occupied East Jerusalem focusing on Kubsa junction. It argues that the Segregation Wall has created spaces where Palestinian life is expendable and where the practice of eliminating the Arab Palestinian character of the city has transformed a once vibrant Palestinian urban node into a dead end. Kubsa Junction illustrates settler-colonial military spatial policies and urban planning to control the urban space of Kubsa Junction which have created a ‘frame’ to segregate and control the colonized Palestinians. Such policies, the article argues, are better interpreted by settler-colonial state strategies than racialized global capitalism. Yet, while different layers of daily lives and memory of the colonized on both sides of the Segregation Wall have been harmed, the spiritual and collective memory layers maintain meaning and purpose to the colonized’s steadfastness or Sumoud.

DOI: 10.3176/tr.2008.3.01 1. Introduction Memory has become one of buzzwords in today's humanities and social sciences. Concepts like 'collective memory' (Halbwachs 1950), 'lieux de memoire' (Nora 1989, 1996, 1998), 'cultural memory' (Bal et al. 1999), 'social memory' (Fentress and Wickham 1992, Misztal 2003), and many others catch our attention in titles of recently published books and articles, in tables of contents and lists of keywords. We are witnessing an increasing 'memory boom' (Winter 2000) in humanities and social sciences and a new field of research--memory studies--has emerged and develops rapidly. Under these circumstances we should, more than ever, pose ourselves question--what do we mean by 'memory'? Is memory an object of study, a unit of research, or is it a theoretical perspective through which we investigate other phenomena? What are differences between concepts of memory and history or memory and tradition? In which aspects do processes of individual memory and collective memory correlate, and in which they diverge? How far can we extend sub-concepts related to memory like remembering, forgetting, or trauma? And how can individuals' remembering be juxtaposed to construction of social memory? What is agency of language or artefacts in producing memory, in reflecting experience of temporality? What kind of potential, individual and collective, cultural or political, does inversion of temporal order extend in narratives of memory? The current special issue aims to raise some of these questions while implementing an interdisciplinary perspective on particular phenomena that arise from these explorations, in order to consider different aspects of memory with particular focus on cultural memory. 2. From memory boom to critical contemplations Taking into account abovementioned developments, 'memory' has become an excessively used and 'abused' concept, in humanities and social sciences, to extent that 'memory's' meaning and heuristic value become almost unclear (see Berliner 2005, Klein 2000, Fabian 1999). Misuses of memory seem to stem from feeling that it may be easier to avoid providing an adequate account of memory rather than to risk providing an insufficient definition. In field of anthropology Johannes Fabian warns against 'dangers of overextension' of concept of memory in 'current boom of memory, whereby memory becomes indistinguishable from either identity or culture' (Fabian 1999:51). It appears that concept of memory is undergoing developments similar to those that concept of culture recently underwent (cf. Fox and King 2002). We, as authors of this introduction, recognize that whereas it is probably impossible to provide an exhaustive definition of memory, it is nevertheless necessary, in ongoing academic boom of memory research, to continue discussion on possibilities and limitations of memory as an object and as a method. One of first significant critiques of 'the memory boom' by historian Kerwin Lee Klein (2000:128) pointed out that memory has become a 'metahistorical category', something like a Foucauldian field of discourse, referring to both individual and collective practices of remembering. However, it does not mean that memory is becoming a more abstract object, quite opposite--we witness the new materialization of memory to status of a historical agent, and we enter a new age in which archives remember and statues forget (Klein 2002:136). Wulf Kansteiner has argued that cumulative research on collective memory has not yet established a clear conceptual or methodological basis for cultural study of collective memory processes. The characteristics of individual memory are too eagerly attributed to collective memory, ignoring that memory in group processes does not function same way as it does in individual mind, and collective memory as an object of study needs therefore appropriate methods for its analysis. …

This research looked at the role of social memory for adaptive natural resource management within indigenous communities of the North Rupununi social‐ecological system (SES) in Guyana. Secondary data from historic texts and archives were first used to build a social and ecological history of the North RupununiSES. Current social memory ‘in use’ was then surfaced through a participatory video (PV) process led by the indigenous community. From this, a compendium of key narratives of the communities' social memory was identified and modes of social memory creation, transmittance and modification were revealed. These highlighted the role of social memory in identity formation and self representation, how social memory maintains and reinforces community connectedness and collectiveness, and howPVsupports indigenous ways of communication, especially the visual. The study provides some valuable insights into the dynamic nature of the North RupununiSESsocial memory, how it is used to make sense of the world, and howPVcan be used as a tool for surfacing and recording social memory.

Acts of commemoration construct narratives of collective memory and identity, shaped by organisers’ agendas. Existing literature presumes that organisers primarily use commemoration for national political, social and cultural outcomes. Contemporary commemoration, however, takes place in times of a contested role of the nation for collective memory and identity, while events are commonly used for economic outcomes in addition to political, social and cultural ones. There is hence not enough research that explores the roles and uses of contemporary commemorative events. Drawing primarily on literature from the nascent fields of memory studies and event studies, this qualitative constructionist research explores how narratives of collective memory and identity emerge at commemorative events of the fall of the Berlin Wall in the major anniversary years of 2009 and 2014. These events are an interesting and suitable context for the research as they were the first events of this kind and commemoration of the Wall poses various challenges due to the Wall’s shifting meanings. Findings from a semiotic analysis of the events suggest that these events construct narratives beyond the national dimension. By interpreting the historical events to be rooted in Berlin and of international significance, strong local and international identity narratives are constructed. Findings from a thematic analysis of documents and interviews with organisers illustrate that organisers use the events for branding and event tourism development. This research argues that such emerging uses of commemoration play a significant role for the commemorative narrative. The findings further illustrate the permeable nature of the state-sponsored narrative in Berlin and the now consolidated role of Wall-related memory for local identity construction. The research contributes to the theoretical understanding of commemorative events in general and Berlin Wall commemoration in particular, as well as of contemporary German national identity. It further makes a methodological contribution on the use of semiotics in this context. An applied contribution on implications for the management of commemorative events is also made.

This article explores the Internet’s often touted potential for facilitating reconciliation. It conceptualises Wikipedia as a site for collective memory construction and analyses the Chinese- and Japanese-language entries on the bilaterally contentious Second Sino-Japanese War. It addresses the question of how to make sense of the construction of these online collective memory narratives theoretically. Both historical determinism and instrumentalism – two influential theoretical approaches to collective memory and reconciliation – have great difficulties in fully accounting for this case. Instead, it is argued that ontological security theory is better equipped for understanding collective memory construction in Wikipedia. It is suggested that ontological security seeking can impede efforts for reconciliation even when, as in Wikipedia, there exist norms seeking to promote more neutral narratives. It is argued that a subtle bias in favour of the in-group and against the out-group functions as a mechanism for ontological security management that protects a positive self-identity.

Abstract“Memory” and “narrative” are terms describing how individuals and groups represent past events in the present. Children must learn what events are narratable; this is also training in what kinds of events should be remembered. Adults also must learn what stories are appropriate when they join new institutions, or convert to a new religion or ideology. Individuals' narratives change through the life course, altered by new events and new understandings of past events. Groups also represent their past in narrative. Collective memory is studied in anthropology, business, cognitive science, computer science, folklore, oral history, linguistics, literary studies, management studies, and sociology. The study of collective memory must distinguish between resources for memory, such as files, databases, archives, and so forth, and acts of remembering. New developments include uses of the Internet: archives, as well as social networking sites, blogs, computer games, personal and shared websites, and many other forms whose social conventions are still developing.

This article explores the affinity of filiation stories with the phenomenon of migration. Oscillating between family biography and autobiography, this literary genre has over time become a privileged sphere for both intimate and universal reflection on the topics of exile and integration. Focusing on a recent work – La Mémoire délavée (2023) by Mauritian writer Nathacha Appanah – the article proposes a sociopoetic reading of the ambivalences inscribed into a postmemory of migration. It highlights how filiation narratives articulate individual and collective memory, while revealing the tensions between heritage, transmission, and identity reconstruction. This framework allows for an interrogation of contemporary narrative forms that give voice to migratory experiences, and for considering migration as a vector of literary and social transformation.