Do woes unite foes? Interplay of narratives, memory, emotions and attitudes in the Karabakh conflict

Abstract

This article argues that effective dealing with a troubled past, especially in divided societies, cannot be achieved without certain transformations of historical narratives, particularly in school textbooks. Based on a sociocultural approach to collective memory as mediated by specific kinds of cultural tools, in particular “textual resources” in the form of narratives, the author suggests a model of progressive narrative transformation as a tool for transforming memories and changing attitudes. This model was tested in an experiment examining the interplay of different narratives, emotions and attitudes among the Azerbaijani population. The results suggest that a narrative of common suffering can backfire to remind victims of their own suffering inflicted by the enemy.