Local Memories In A Nationalizing And Globalizing World
by Marnix Beyen /
2015 / English / PDF
6.2 MB Download
In historical studies, 'collective memory' is most often viewed
as the product of nationalizing strategies carried out by
political élites in the hope to create homogeneous nation-states.
In contrast, this book asserts that collective memories develop
out of a never-ending, triangular negotiation between local,
national and transnational actors. Within this negotiation
process, the authors focus on the important contribution of
processes occurring at a local level. These can either generate
entirely new memories, or bestow nationally forged sites of
memory with innovative, sometimes subversive meanings. As many
cases in this book attest, local memories can be at the same time
eminently transnational: they can reflect the concrete – more or
less harmonious – co-existence of several groups on the same
territory, or the willingness to bring about reconciliation
between nations at a site of common mourning.
In historical studies, 'collective memory' is most often viewed
as the product of nationalizing strategies carried out by
political élites in the hope to create homogeneous nation-states.
In contrast, this book asserts that collective memories develop
out of a never-ending, triangular negotiation between local,
national and transnational actors. Within this negotiation
process, the authors focus on the important contribution of
processes occurring at a local level. These can either generate
entirely new memories, or bestow nationally forged sites of
memory with innovative, sometimes subversive meanings. As many
cases in this book attest, local memories can be at the same time
eminently transnational: they can reflect the concrete – more or
less harmonious – co-existence of several groups on the same
territory, or the willingness to bring about reconciliation
between nations at a site of common mourning.
