The Politics of Trauma and Memory Activism

Polish-Jewish Relations Today
Softcover Nachdruck of the original 1. Auflage 2018
ISBN: 978-3-319-87527-9
Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Buch, Englisch, 79 Seiten, Paperback, Format (B × H): 148 mm x 210 mm, Gewicht: 132 g

Reihe: Memory Politics and Transitional Justice

This book analyses four case studies of Holocaust memory activism in Poland, contextualized within recent debates about Polish-Jewish relations and approached through a theoretical framework informed by critical theory. Three cases are advocacy groups, each located in a different region of Poland—Lublin, Kraków, and Sejny—and each group is presented with attention to the local context and specific dynamics of its vision and strategy. The fourth case study is the state, which has emerged as a powerful memory actor. Using research based on extensive fieldwork, including interviews and direct observation, the author argues that memory activism must grapple with emotional attachments to identity if it is to move beyond a reconciliation paradigm. Drawing on works from semiotics and critical trauma studies, the volume analyzes the assumptions each memory actor makes about three dimensions of Holocaust memory: 1) the relationship of the individual to Polish national identity; 2) the possibility of a reconciled Polish-Jewish history; and 3) the assignment of traumatic suffering to a particular group or event.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Holc, Janine

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Internationale Beziehungen Europäische Union, Europapolitik
• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Jüdische Studien
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtswissenschaft Allgemein Geschichtspolitik, Erinnerungskultur
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Deutsche Geschichte Deutsche Geschichte: Holocaust
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Europäische Länder

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. Introduction.- 2. Memory Activism Challenging the Reconciliation Paradigm.- 3. Memory Activism in a Historic Borderland.- 4. Memory Activism in a Porous Field.- 5. The State as Context and Competitor in Memory Politics.- 6. Conclusion: Memory Beyond History.

Über Autor(innen)

Janine Holc is Associate Professor of Political Science at Loyola University Maryland, USA.