Remembering Violence: How Nations Grapple with their Difficult Pasts

This book explores how the violent legacies of the 20th century continue to shape the concept of the nation, focusing on three societies' commemoration of notorious episodes of state violence. It examines new public sites of memory, such as museum exhibitions and monuments, and the responses of various actors, including civil society, government, and diasporic citizens, as well as UN and other international agencies.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 134 pages
Publication date: 30 May 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This comprehensive volume delves into the enduring impacts of the violent legacies of the 20th century on the notion of nationhood. By examining the ways in which three societies commemorate notorious episodes of state violence from the 1930s, the author explores how the focus on authoritarianism, exclusions, and the legacies of the past has challenged prevailing conceptions of the nation. Through extensive ethnographic research in El Salvador, Spain, and the Dominican Republic, Remembering Violence explores the emergence of new public sites of memory, including museum exhibitions, monuments, and commemorations, as powerful platforms for representing ideas about the nation. It also examines the responses of various actors, including civil society, government, and diasporic citizens, as well as those of UN and other international agencies involved in new nation-building goals. The book pays close attention to the ways in which memory practices shape ongoing national exclusions and contemporary efforts to contest them, making it a valuable resource for scholars across the social sciences and humanities interested in public memory and commemoration.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367534813