When the past seeps into the present: The role of press agencies in circulating new historical narratives and restructuring collective memory during and after the Holocaust transitional justice

Journalism ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (7) ◽  
pp. 823-844 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Herfroy-Mischler
Keyword(s):  
Collective Memory ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Historical Narratives ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Holocaust

Transitional Justice. I conti con il passato

2009 ◽  
pp. 5-26
Author(s):  
Pier Paolo Portinaro
Keyword(s):  
Collective Memory ◽  
Restorative Justice ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Truth Commissions ◽  
Democratic Transitions ◽  
Criminal Trials ◽  
The Past ◽  
Human Rights Abuse

- Transitional justice refers to the admission of wrongdoing, the recognition of its effects and the acceptance of responsibility for those effects. It provides an alternative to vengeance and a measure of accountability for the perpetrators and justice for the victims by establishing truth. The article considers the different ways of taking account of the past (from direct retaliation to amnesty, from prosecution of perpetrators responsible for large-scale state brutality to public discussion about human rights abuse and shaping of collective memory) and focuses the emergence of the paradigma of restorative justice. In amending tragic historical immoralities, restitution, reparation, apology, and reconciliation replace a universal comprehensive standard of criminal justice with a negotiated justice among opposing parties in specific cases. Drawing on the discussion of some recent studies (Teitel, Elster, Barkan, Frei, Koenig) concerning the role of criminal trials, lustration policies and truth commissions in democratic transitions, the article attempts to outline even broader conclusions about a theory of transitional justice.

scholarly journals Polityczność sztuki. Analiza pracy Zbigniewa Libery pt. LEGO. Obóz koncentracyjny z 1996 roku

2018 ◽  
pp. 81-96
Author(s):  
Magdalena Lorenc
Keyword(s):  
Collective Memory ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Concentration Camp ◽  
Educational Policies ◽  
The Past ◽  
Artistic Activity ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Theoretical Foundations ◽  
Repeating Patterns

The objective of the paper is to analyze Zbigniew Libera’s Lego. Concentration Camp from 1996, which is considered to be one of the most important Polish works of art in the 1990s. Lego exemplifies the problem of the politicality of art which consists of art’s involvement in politics. The considerations on the permeation of the fields of politics and esthetics constitute a sig- nificant part of the work of French philosopher Jacques Ranciere, whose concepts provide the theoretical foundations for the analysis of Libera’s Lego. The juxtaposition of toys with the symbol of the Holocaust raises questions about the role of art in uncovering the discourse of power as understood by Michel Foucault, the influence of public policies (cultural, educational policies and the policy towards the past) on art and the borders of commercialization and trivialization of the symbols of collective memory. Libera’s Lego is a transgressive work, representing the trend of so-called critical art in modern Polish art. The artist used artistic methods to break the cultural taboo that concerns the presentation of the non-presentable. Libera showed the past and the present, the former by re- ferring to the topic of the Holocaust, indicating the pragmatism of the Nazi system, and the lat- ter by uncovering the laws of the teaching process, carried out by means of repeating patterns. Above all, however, Libera showed that artistic activity can be a form of expressing interests and can influence the shape of public policies.

The Perils and Promises of Disability Biography

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim E. Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Historical Narratives ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Cultural Discourses ◽  
The Past ◽  
Helen Keller ◽  
Rigorous Study ◽  
Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Biographical scholarship provides a means by which to understand the past. Disability biography writes disabled people into historical narratives and cultural discourses, acknowledging power, action, and consequence. Disability biography also analyzes the role of ableism in shaping relationships, systems of power, and societal ideals. When written with skilled storytelling, rigorous study, nuance, and insight, disability biography enriches analyses of people living in the past. Disability biography makes clear the multiple ways by which individuals and communities labor, make kinship, persevere, and both resist and create social change. When using a disability analysis, biographies of disabled people (particularly people famous for their disability, such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Helen Keller) reveal the relationality and historically embedded nature of disability. In an ableist world, such acts can be revolutionary.

scholarly journals Cinematic Memory and The Americanization of The Holocaust

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 138-146
Author(s):  
Barbara A. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
The Past ◽  
The Holocaust

Abstract Steven Soderbergh’s The Good German (2006), while grounding itself in WWII, casts a wide net as it attempts to examine the role of memory, the difficulty of assigning guilt, determining justice, defining the past, and writing history. Its nuanced treatment of these issues is enhanced by its complex ethnic characterizations and its contextualization among a group of WWII American cinematic classics. This ultimately leads to a shift in viewer reception aimed at creating greater understanding and empathy.

scholarly journals Rola języka w uwalnianiu się z dziedzicznych traum

Politeja ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (2(65)) ◽  
pp. 189-204
Author(s):  
Katarzyna Marcol
Keyword(s):  
Collective Memory ◽  
Cultural Memory ◽  
Social Position ◽  
Traumatic Experiences ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
The Village

The Role of Language in Releasing from Inherited Traumas. Negotiations of the Social Position of the Silesian Minority in Serbian Banat The aim of the paper is to show the dependence between language, collective memory (also post-memory) and sense of identity. This issue is analysed using the example of an ethnic minority living in the village of Ostojićevo (Banat, Serbia) called ‘Toutowie.’ Their ancestors came in the 19th century from Wisła (Silesian Cieszyn, Poland); they left their homes because of great hunger and were looking for jobs in Banat. Narratives about the past contain traumatic experiences of the past generations transmitted in the Silesian dialect and constituting communicative memory. At the same time, a new Polish national identity is being constructed, supported by institutions and authorities; it carries a new image of the world and creates a new cultural memory. This new identity – shaped on the basis of national categories – leads to changes of its self-identification and gives the opportunity to raise its social position in the multi-ethnic Banat community.

scholarly journals Mnemonic Populism: The Polish Holocaust Law and its Afterlife

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kornelia Kończal
Keyword(s):  
Significant Other ◽  
The Past ◽  
Cultural Foundations ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Heated Debate ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Relationship

In early 2018, the Polish parliament adopted controversial legislation criminalising assertions regarding the complicity of the ‘Polish Nation’ and the ‘Polish State’ in the Holocaust. The so-called Polish Holocaust Law provoked not only a heated debate in Poland, but also serious international tensions. As a result, it was amended only five months after its adoption. The reason why it is worth taking a closer look at the socio-cultural foundations and political functions of the short-lived legislation is twofold. Empirically, the short history of the Law reveals a great deal about the long-term role of Jews in the Polish collective memory as an unmatched Significant Other. Conceptually, the short life of the Law, along with its afterlife, helps capture poll-driven, manifestly moralistic and anti-pluralist imaginings of the past, which I refer to as ‘mnemonic populism’. By exploring the relationship between popular and political images of the past in contemporary Poland, this article argues for joining memory and populism studies in order to better understand what can happen to history in illiberal surroundings.

Regime Change, State Crime and Transitional Justice: A Criminal Law Retrospective Concentrating on Former Eastern bloc Countries3

1998 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-158
Author(s):  
Jörg Arnold ◽  
Emily Silverman
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Eastern Bloc ◽  
Criminal Prosecution ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The Past ◽  
Change State ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
The Individual

AbstractIn an initial summing up of this necessarily abbreviated and cursory report of findings, the first thing to recognise is that the countries examined in the study accorded different significance to the criminal law as a means for dealing with the past. The Eastern European countries, at any rate, appear to be largely in agreement with regard to the role of rehabilitation and compensation, although more comparative research into their realization in practice is required. With regard to the direct criminal prosecution and punishment of political and state-promoted crime, however, there is much less uniformity. This is clearly illustrated by the disparate criminal justice practices in the individual countries. Nevertheless, it cannot be said that criminal law plays no role whatsoever in accounting for the past.

Agreeing to Disagree on the Legacies of Recent History

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siobhan Kattago
Keyword(s):  
Collective Memory ◽  
National Socialism ◽  
National Narratives ◽  
Politics Of Memory ◽  
Agreeing To Disagree ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Communist Countries ◽  
Historical Difference

Since 1989, social change in Europe has moved between two stories. The first being a politics of memory emphasizing the specificity of culture in national narratives, and the other extolling the virtues of the Enlightenment heritage of reason and humanity. While the Holocaust forms a central part of West European collective memory, national victimhood of former Communist countries tends to occlude the centrality of the Holocaust. Highlighting examples from the Estonian experience, this article asks whether attempts to find one single European memory of trauma ignore the complexity of history and are thus potentially disrespectful to those who suffered under both Communism and National Socialism. Pluralism in the sense of Hannah Arendt and Isaiah Berlin is presented as a way in which to move beyond the settling of scores in the past and towards a respectful recognition and acknowledgement of historical difference.

scholarly journals A ‘model of reconciliation’? Fifty years of German–Israeli relations

2018 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 507-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Wittlinger
Keyword(s):  
Collective Memory ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
West Germany ◽  
Academic Literature ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
Memory Culture ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Key Aspects

This article argues that German–Israeli reconciliation after 1945 has not been as exemplary as is often suggested. Drawing on key aspects which emerge from a discussion of relevant concepts in the first part of the article – transitional justice and reconciliation – it will show that Germany’s memory culture, as evidenced in the elite discourse, has indeed developed in a way that points to a successful reconciliation between the two countries. On the other hand, however, German regret emerged only reluctantly, was by and large confined to West Germany, and took a long time to establish itself formally, with emphasis on German suffering rather than suffering caused by Germans always playing an important role in German collective memory after 1945. It will also show that at grass-roots level, reconciliation between Germany and Israel is far from unproblematic. Apart from providing a critical assessment of the reconciliation between Germany and Israel after 1945, the article contributes to current academic literature on transitional justice, reconciliation and the role of memory which suggests that even though commemoration and micro-level reconciliation might be important, the geopolitical context in which reconciliation takes place and strategic security considerations also play a significant role.

A Biographical Case Study of a Victimizer's Daughter's Strategy: Pseudo-Identification With the Victims of the Holocaust

1992 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriele Rosenthal ◽  
Dan Bar-On
Keyword(s):  
Life Story ◽  
Psychological Consequences ◽  
Behavioral Sciences ◽  
The Real ◽  
Repair Strategy ◽  
The Past ◽  
Working Through ◽  
The Holocaust

Abstract Previous studies have shown that many children of former Nazi perpetrators either identify with their parents by denying their atrocities, by distancing them-selves emotionally from their parents, or by acknowledging their participation in the extermination process. Through a hermeneutical case study of the narrated life story of a Euthanasia physician's daughter, a type of strategy, which we defined as pseudo-identification with the victim, is reconstructed. The results of the analysis suggest that this is a repair strategy. Putting oneself in the role of one's parents' victim provides refuge from acknowledging possible identification with Nazism and its idols, as well as identifying oneself with the real victims of one's parents. In this case, the psychological consequences of this strategy are described: The woman still suffers from extermination anxieties which block further working through of the past. (Behavioral Sciences)

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