Contribution à l’analyse des constructions mémorielles en histoire sociale : l’exemple des discours rapportés dans le monde syndical socialiste

Abstract

Contribution to the analyses of memory construction in social history : the discourse of socialist syndicalists in Liège. This article analyses the interviews with thirteen members of the Liège syndicalist union Syndicat des employés, techniciens et cadres (SETCa). These oral sources, that served to reconstruct parts of the history of this syndicate in 2012, are used here from a completely different angle. Our goal is to gain insight in the construction of collective images of memories that are present in the discourse of this socialist syndicate. After having established the methodological framework, we focus on the discourse itself. A detailed analysis of the sources reveals different narrative frameworks through which the individual witness borrows words or opinions from voices that are not his own (but are the voices of laborers, employers etc.). It also reveals the frameworks through which the witness identifies himself with an allegedly homogeneous group (such as ‘ the socialists’ in the early 20th century). The article also tackles the way in which an individual represents his own role within a collective action.