Remembering/forgetting hunger: towards an understanding of famine memorialisation

Abstract

Although famines have historically claimed millions of lives, they are rarely publicly remembered through monuments, commemorative events or museums. This article investigates the apparent silence around famine memory by asking if there is something about famines that makes them less ‘commemorable’ than other mass-atrocities, and in which circumstances famines become the object of public memorialisation. Bringing together a rather fragmented literature on famine memory, the article outlines seven ways that famine memorialisation is impeded or made possible. First, it draws attention to the divisiveness of famines and their lack of clearly defined heroes and perpetrators. Second, shame and culpability shape how individuals and states talk – or keep quiet – about hunger victims. Third, earlier commemorative traditions and other traumatic events can inspire or crowd out famine memory. Fourth, for famines to be officially remembered, a break with the past tends to be necessary. The article also, fifth, discusses how famine memory can be used to construct national unity, or, sixth, instrumentalised in domestic and international politics. Finally, it highlights the role of activism and memory projects from below. While famines may not easily lend themselves to public commemoration, political contestation, nation-building or civil society initiatives can enable their memorialisation.