Commemorative Practices Research Articles

How Long Does a Memory Last? Bayesian Chronological Modelling and the Temporal Scope of Commemorative Practices at Aeneolithic Monjukli Depe, Turkmenistan

In this paper the history of one house and a human burial in the prehistoric settlement of Monjukli Depe, Turkmenistan, serves as a case study for the use of Bayesian chronological modelling to approach the reach of past memories. The method combines relative and absolute chronological data and aims not only at a more precise and robust chronology of past events, but also allows estimations of duration of particular processes. However, chronological models must be constructed with care, since the prior archaeological information significantly affects the output. The comparison of three alternative models for the Aeneolithic settlement of Monjukli Depe shows that prior information in modelling has a considerable impact on duration estimates for periods of the settlement history. The modelling chronology for Monjukli Depe allows the tracing of commemorative practices at a generational scale—the memory of Monjukli Depe House 14 was transmitted over several generations of inhabitants long after the house destruction. It is clear that houses possessed a great value in the social life of the settlement since local building histories were remembered over a long time.

Yvonne Loriod and the Practice of Analytical Memory

Yvonne Loriod and the Practice of Analytical Memory

‘We Must Find a Way to Remember Them Too’: British Second World War Conscientious Objectors in Post-War Culture

This article examines the ways in which British Second World War conscientious objectors (COs) have been commemorated, memorialized, and represented since 1945. Despite comprising nearly 60 000 men, the CO is strikingly absent in both the popular narrative of the Second World War and official, institutional commemorations of the conflict. This is not true of their First World War counterpart. This is unsurprising: the Second World War CO is largely at odds with popular British conceptions of the war as a ‘just’ conflict. Nevertheless, a broad and diverse set of initiatives have been established to commemorate the CO. The CO also features in numerous forms of post-war popular culture, including fiction, films, television programmes, and plays. It is these disparate remembrance practices and representations that this article brings together to help us explore both the memory of wartime conscientious objection and the broader cultural legacies of the Second World War.

Коммеморативные практики Республики Таджикистан в 1991–1999 годы

The aspects of the formation and development of the historical policy of the Republic of Tajikistan in the 1990s are considered. Considerable attention was paid to the speeches of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan E.Sh. Rahmon, emphasizing the contribution of the Samanid dynasty to the foundation of Tajik statehood. The pre-Samanid and Samanid constructs of historical memory are analyzed as the main stages in the justification of historical memory in the state in the 1990s. Attention is drawn to the figure of I. Samani as the forefather of Tajik statehood. Regulatory legal acts indicating the formation of commemorative practices in the Republic of Tajikistan from 1991 to 1999 are considered.

The Postwar Fight Against Fascism: Auschwitz Memory in Leftist Activism

ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the memory activism of three survivors of the Auschwitz resistance and explores the ways in which they linked fascism and genocide to economic exploitation. By doing so, our paper excavates a leftist-antifascist paradigm of postwar memory that waned with the advent of contemporary Holocaust culture. We analyse the memoirs of Oszkár Betlen, Bruno Baum, and Hermann Langbein, members of the international communist movement before, during, and after the Second World War. For these authors, calls to remember Auschwitz were inseparable from a struggle for social change in the present, and their memory practice was never restricted to writing. Therefore, our paper places their memoirs into the wider context of their political-organizational work, and shows that their efforts to commemorate Auschwitz responded to some pressing issues of their time, including the re-militarization and NATO-membership of the Federal Republic, reparations, amnesty and reintegration of former Nazis, and war crimes trials. Importantly, all these issues were intertwined with what they regarded as capitalist restoration and a looming resurgence of fascism. Our paper argues that the so-called economic case was central to their postwar campaigning because they believed that economic exploitation was central to fascism and had wide-ranging implications for postwar societies as well. Furthermore, we challenge the prevailing view on antifascism by demonstrating that for these authors the economic aspect of fascism did not eclipse the genocidal character of fascism and the specifically Jewish experience of it. In contrast to some Marxist historians, they did not see genocidal policies as merely derivative or secondary either. Rather, these leftist-antifascists commemorated Auschwitz in ways which regarded economic exploitation and genocide as interrelated and constitutive aspects of fascism.

Whatever happened to Hungarian freedom fighters? Collective memory, collective forgetting, and dissociative collective identity

As the war in Ukraine unfolds, the Hungarian government seems less enthusiastic about the idea of state sovereignty than one might have anticipated given Hungary’s historic past. Moreover, there is a surge of pro-Russian sentiment among government supporters. This is counterintuitive in light of prevailing mnemonic practices which put heavy emphasis on Hungary’s struggle for freedom and independence. The new developments suggest that the role of collective memory in collective identity formation needs to be reconsidered, especially concerning the apparent inhibition of otherwise persistent and widely shared memories. The article discusses the problem in the context of socially shared retrieval-induced forgetting and social identity complexity theory. It puts forward two complementary arguments: (1) this Janus-faced public behaviour might be accounted for by selective commemorative practices of the government and (2) how memories of historical events sustain a shared sense of belonging and continuity is not only contingent on group membership but also on the ever-changing group interest.

AI As Artificial Memory: A Global Reconfiguration of Our Collective Memory Practices?

Abstract ai’s evolution has drastically reshaped our relationship with collective memory. Large ai models, like gpt and dall·E, have emerged as memory agents, assimilating vast cultural and historical data across centuries. Unlike traditional digital repositories, these tools employ an analogical approach, capturing the complexity of human memory. Their potential to weave together fragmented pieces of the past offers new ways to delve into historical and cultural data. Tech giants are ambitiously positioning these ai models as primary mediators for information access, integrating them into popular platforms. While they present new forms of collective memory, their widespread use raises profound ethical concerns. Challenges arise regarding historical truth, representativeness, and data reuse, leading to debates on data ownership and the governance of digital collective memory.

“Anti-monument: The Way to a Forgotten Historical Event”. Participation as a Tactics for Creating New Memory

In this text, I will address historical memory as an ethical obligation and a means of intervening in the process of social change, with a particular emphasis on the problem of excluding women from main historical narratives. My analysis is set in relation to the marginalized historical episode of the political camp for women in Goli Otok and Sveti Grgur. I will explore how tactics of socially engaged artistic practice can effectively bring this forgotten historical episode into public focus and integrate it into institutional frameworks. Special attention will be given to the concept of the anti-monument as an innovative critical approach to the memorialization practices of violent heritage. The anti-monument involves the public in the process of memory transmission, allowing everyone to seek information and respond according to their own interest, and by building their own memory, become carriers of memory, and take responsibility for the future. For the purpose of this paper, I will refer to the case study “850 Women for 850 Women”, which I initiated and have been leading since 2021 within the artistic project “You Betrayed the Party Just When You Should Have Helped It”, as a concrete example of participatory building of a collective anti-monument and repositioning towards memory. This participatory practice indicates how artistic interventions can actively transfer memory from the past through present collective action into the future. The paper provides insight into ways artistic tactics establishes connection with marginalized histories and strengthens collective memories with the idea of historical justice and inclusion.

Modeling Memory Institutions: The Ainu Case Study

ABSTRACTThis study aimed to construct a model of memory institutions (libraries, archives, and museums) as a lens for analyzing contemporary collective memory practices related to the Ainu people. First, we developed a pilot model to organize the current phenomena and practices of collective memories and suggest a respective circulation mechanism consisting of three core elements: media, collective representations, and collective memory. Additionally, employing this pilot model, we conducted close readings of 449 pieces of literature and illustrated the characteristics of collective memory practices and phenomena in a case study of the Ainu. Our findings indicate that 1) the traditional collective memory of the Ainu has gradually shifted toward recognizing them as a unique ethnic group, and 2) by translating their oral literature into diverse media, the Ainu have reshaped their cultural identity.

In the labyrinth of ideological search: ways to construct a memory of an uncomfortable past (on example of events of the 1917 Revolution and the Civil War)

This article is devoted to the problem of constructing a collective memory of the "inconvenient past" by modern elites of Russia on the example of the events of the 1917 revolution and the subsequent civil war. The conflict aspects of commemoration (installation of monuments and memorial signs) in the process of constructing an official historical narrative are considered. Concidered changes in the official historical narrative regarding the "difficult past" in different periods of time. The preservation of historical memory largely depends on the political objectives of the current government, which not only supports collective memory through various commemorative practices, but also constructs a modern historical narrative. This narrative does not imply the restoration of Soviet historiography; it combines a variety of interpretations of the events of the Revolution and the Civil War in the context of building the historical continuity of Russian statehood. Therefore, the images of some Soviet figures coexist with the figures of their opponents, forming ideas among the mass audience about patriotic service to the Russian state, regardless of ideological and political views. The "lost memory" is not being restored; current generations of Russians have not accepted the political experience of supporters of democratic socialism, who rejected Bolshevism and did not support the "white movement" in the civil war. The attitude towards the losers in the fight against the Bolsheviks today is negative, as towards weak and incapable politicians. Considering historical memory as an integral part of collective memory, it is concluded that only those events of the past that are perceived by society as extremely useful for modern generations are integrated into the structure of collective consciousness. In addition, the inertia of public consciousness affects the "selection of event material". For this reason, during the entire post-Soviet period, it was not possible to completely replace the former Soviet ideological cliches with a new historical narrative.

Israeli football clubs and the post-October 7, 2023 national emotional ecology

ABSTRACT 7 October 2023, marked a significant shift in Israeli football’s commemoration practices. Previously focused on honouring prominent figures by naming sports facilities, these practices have evolved following the Hamas massacres and the Israeli response in Gaza. Football fans who were killed or kidnapped have become central to memorials, as can be seen in the cases of Maccabi Haifa and Maccabi Netanya, the two clubs discussed in this article. However, these commemorations have also sparked tensions, fuelled by club rivalries and occasional racist outbursts. While expressing genuine grief, clubs use collective mourning to bolster their morale and patriotic image and reinforce a sense of belonging.

Head in the clouds: A Deleuzoguattarian analysis of the environmental impacts of digital memory

Digital memory in the twenty-first century is a complex combination of human and nonhuman elements that interact in various combinations. In an era where environmental devastation is inundating the planet, it is vital to address the digital’s role in this degradation. This article explores various facets of the environmental implications of the digital storage of memory objects using Deleuze and Guattari’s assemblage theory. I identify the ways in which the digital realm is constructed, or ‘territorialised’ in Deleuzoguattarian terms. Beyond identifying the most common myths related to digital memory’s environmental impact, I expand on the work of information theorists such as Clements, Floridi, and Ess by forwarding three ways in which digital memory practices can be deterritorialised. These approaches include (1) knowledge acquisition, (2) taking response-ability, and (3) anti-redundancy movements. I argue that it is vital for cloud storage users, especially those who self-identify as environmentally conscious, to align their online memory practices with accurate understandings of the environmental impacts of the digital.

Sutjeska Memorial Park (1958–75): Yugoslav World War II Memorial Complexes and Embodied Strategies for Solidarity

ABSTRACT This article investigates the expansion of World War II memorial sites in socialist Yugoslavia, with a focus on the Sutjeska Memorial Park in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Beginning in the early 1960s, a new typology of memorial complexes emerged, merging domestic tourism and commemoration. These sites operated as forms of social infrastructure that provided ground not solely for the remembrance of the historical events of the War but for enabling solidaristic sentiments required to prevent its resurgence. The Sutjeska Memorial Park exemplifies how artists and architects experimented with new forms to produce embodied affective strategies to engage new generations without personal war memories. Expanded memorial parks attempted to evoke somatic responses to fascist horror while using new tourist amenities to stimulate a sense of significance across diverse generational and cultural communities. Drawing on archival materials and the formal elements of Sutjeska’s monuments, this research examines understudied sites that produced immersive environments intended to open the realm of visual experience to other embodied possibilities and to instil new cultural practices of comradeship and commemoration. This paper illustrates how the design of the Sutjeska Memorial Park as social infrastructure facilitates its continued function today despite Yugoslavia’s dissolution, maintaining much of its original antifascist character.

Cultural Memory and Trauma: Commemorating the Past in Post-Conflict Bosnia Herzegovina

Post-conflict societies grapple with the complex interplay of cultural memory and trauma. Bosnia and Herzegovina, marked by the devastating 1992-1995 war, provides a poignant case study. This research delves into how collective memory shapes commemoration practices and influences the ongoing process of healing and reconciliation. A mixed-methods approach was employed, incorporating qualitative data collection and analysis. In-depth interviews were conducted with survivors, community leaders, and cultural practitioners. Additionally, content analysis was performed on commemorative events, memorials, and public discourses. Findings highlight the dynamic nature of cultural memory. Commemoration practices serve as sites of contestation, reflecting diverse narratives and interpretations of the past. Trauma manifests in both individual and collective experiences, shaping identity and influencing social relations. In conclusion, the study underscores the crucial role of cultural memory in post-conflict societies. Commemoration serves as a vehicle for acknowledging suffering, promoting healing, and fostering reconciliation. However, it is essential to navigate the complexities of diverse narratives and ensure inclusive representation.

Отношение российской молодежи к современному отечественному историческому кино (на примере учащейся молодежи г. Краснодара)

The article analyzes the place of Russian historical cinema in the commemorative practices of Russian youth. It substantiates the relevance of studying the ideas conveyed in films of this genre. Based on the data of sociological surveys, statistics from informational and analytical publications, and video hosting platforms, the representation of the historical genre in the Russian film distribution system and audience evaluations of films released in recent years are investigated. Given that modern youth tend to process information visually, cinema serves as a communicative transmitter and can be one of the primary sources of historical knowledge. Using data from a sociological survey of students in Krasnodar, the study examines the attitudes of the youth audience towards modern historical films. Conclusion dwells upon the fact that the unpopularity of domestic films in this genre among young people is determined by both the quality of the films themselves and the limited scope of their genres. By analyzing the intersection between youth cultural consumption and historical representation in cinema, this study sheds light on the broader implications for how history is taught and perceived by younger generations. It suggests that enhancing the thematic diversity and production quality of historical films could increase their appeal and educational impact.

Rituals of Colonial Memory: Crafting Imperial Nostalgia in Republican Italy

The latest historiographical trends are revealing how the end of colonialism has influenced the political and social configuration of former metropolitan centres. In particular, the return of former colonial settlers has raised a series of issues that have resonated in European political debates and societies. In Italy, these processes were shaped by a peculiar decolonization process, coinciding with the equally tortuous transition from fascism to the Republic. Drawing on recent historiography on the return of colonial settlers, and expanding the chronological span and methodological scope of previous works through original archival sources, my intervention aims to reconstruct how imperial nostalgia became a political resource exploited by both repatriate associations and conservative political factions. Although similar to contemporaneous cases, in Italy colonial commemorative practices had peculiarities linked to the role of Catholicism and to the fact that far right and even neo-fascist movements exploited the demands of repatriates for their own political benefit. This article thus broadens the historiographical understanding concerning the decline of Italy's empire and deepens the analysis of its lasting impacts on the politics and society of Republican Italy.

Post-cinematic memory ecology and the remediation of Chinese Red Cinema

The transition from mnemonic aura to memory bytes has mobilized technical experts, archivists, scholars, and cinephiles to preserve film copies, record eyewitness accounts, reconstruct viewing conditions, and recreate audience sensations. The ensuing network of agents, technologies, and discourses may be described as an intersection of new media and memory ecosystems. This post-celluloid, post-theatrical environment, which I call the post-cinematic memory ecology, engages new modes of production, storage, promotion, consumption, and recall. This essay highlights the main characteristics post-cinematic memory ecology and outlines the synergy between the emerging technologies, media industry models, patterns of viewer involvement, and practices of commemoration. The essay examines post-cinematic memory ecology through Film Legends ( Dianying chuanqi), a made-for-TV mega-series that first aired in China in 2004.

The Formation and Role of Commemorative Practices during the Russian-Ukrainian War

The Formation and Role of Commemorative Practices during the Russian-Ukrainian War

Mort i posteritat públiques de Maria Aurèlia Capmany i Montserrat Roig

The treatment of the deaths of Maria Aurèlia Capmany and Montserrat Roig both in the media and in the various commemorative events and initiatives organised in the months and years that followed generate rich and nuanced understanding of the public weight of these two women writers as well as providing insights into approaches to literary afterlives and commemoration in the Catalan cultural scene of the 1990s. This article is based on careful scrutiny of the various texts and discourses produced in memory of two emblematic women writers and public figures who themselves recognised the political and ethical importance of such practices of commemoration. It is followed by reproduction of an article written by Roig herself in memory of Capmany shortly before her own passing.

Cap a una geografia líquida: Anna Murià i els camins i fluxos de la commemoració

This article sets out to address the presence/absence of female writers in processes of commemoration of literary figures in contemporary Catalan culture, focusing on the case of Anna Murià (1904–2002). Recently included among the ten “classic” writers presented as part of the volume Women Writers in Catalan (Huerga, 2017), the process of her recovery for a possible feminine – let alone feminist – canon has been complicated by the fact that she dedicated the majority of her life, after 1939, to consolidating the “voice” of her husband, the poet Agustí Bartra, in exile in the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Mexico and the US, and after the couple’s return to Catalonia in 1970. Considering different moments of Murià’s commemorative labour and reception – from the moment of return; through the death of Bartra in 1982; to posthumous reframings after her own death in 2002 – the article explores the debates and ambivalence surrounding her significance, as a figure which, depending on the perspective of the reader, can be employed to represent: Republican memory; the continuity of exile; the experience of being a woman; feminism and feminine creativity; and/or the subordination of her own subjectivity to that of her husband and life partner, Bartra. Rather than attempting to resolve this ambivalence, this article will show how a more attentive, genealogical reading of her work enables us to contrast the inescapably patriarchal politics of monumentalizing associated with national memory cultures with the more fluid and relational ethics that characterise her own commemorative labour and writing of the self: as a call to imagine and begin to formulate alternative practices of memorialization.