La dernière catastrophe: l’histoire, le présent, le contemporain

By Sonja Dechian | Published: February 5, 2013

Elizabeth Rechniewski, of the University of Sydney has reviewed Henry Rousso’s 2012 book, La dernière catastrophe: l’histoire, le présent, le contemporain.

Henry Rousso’s essay offers a wide-ranging reflection on what it means to write the ‘history of the present’ a field which, in recent decades, has moved from the margins of history to its very centre.  His aim is to trace the evolution of the ‘history of the present’– the forms it has taken and the problems it has posed over the centuries, and poses now. In his first chapter Rousso outlines the historiography of the history of the present: he explores what it meant to write this history in classical times, in the Middle Ages, and in the ‘modern’ era – a period which, he notes, is open to uncertain dating. The principal focus of the book, however, is to trace and explain the emergence of a particular form of ‘the history of the present’ from the 1970s on, with  a focus on the French, German, English and American historical fields (although, understandably, the French field receives most attention)…continue reading

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Memory, Politics and Identity: Haunted by History

By Sonja Dechian | Published: February 4, 2013

Aline Sierp, of Maastricht University has reviewed Cillian McGrattan’s 2012 book, Memory, Politics and Identity: Haunted by History:

In his latest book Cillian McGrattan tries to untangle the difficult relationship between memory, history and politics. Focusing on the Northern Irish context, he examines how short  term political compromises, unquestioned narratives of self-justification and self-exculpation  compromise the long-term prospect of a lasting peace. By drawing from transitional justice  and post-colonial theories he tries to map the reproduction of ideas and narratives about  history, providing a new outlook on the residual force that history has on the development of  identity and values in post-conflict societies… continue reading

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Commemorating Hell: The Public Memory of Mittelbau-Dora

By Sonja Dechian | Published: February 3, 2013

Steven Cooke of Deakin University has reviewed Gretchen Schafft and Gerhard  Zeidler’s 2011 book Commemorating Hell: The Public Memory of Mittelbau-Dora:

In disciplines such as Anthropology, History, Sociology, and Geography, work on the aftermath of  genocide has often focused on the politics of memory. That work is frequently place-based, exploring the role of monuments, memorials and landscapes as sites of contestation over visions of the past.  ‘Commemorating Hell’ is a welcome addition to this body of work. It focuses on the Mittlebau-Dora camp and is co-authored by Gretchen Schafft, an Applied Anthropologist in Residence at the American University, and Gerhard Zeidler, a former archivist at Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp  memorial, and details the way in which the memory of the site has changed over time as a Gedenkstätte: ‘a place of remembrance’… continue reading

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Le 17 octobre des Algériens

By Sonja Dechian | Published: January 23, 2013

Elizabeth Rechniewski  of the University of Sydney has reviewed Gilles Manceron’s Le 17 octobre des Algériens. Marcel et Paulette Péju. Suivi de La triple occultation d’un massacre:

On October 17, 1961, a demonstration took place in Paris against the curfew imposed on North Africans living in the capital. Over the following hours and days hundreds of peaceful protestors were arrested, beaten and sometimes tortured, and hundreds were killed. It was the most deadly assault by authorities on the Parisian population since the Commune of 1871. And yet for many years this incident was little known and tended to be overshadowed by, or confused with, the events at the Charonne metro in February 1962, when nine – mostly European – protestors were killed by police…continue reading.

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War, Guilt, and World Politics after World War II

By Sonja Dechian | Published: January 21, 2013

Elazar Barkan of Columbia University has reviewed Thomas U. Berger’s 2012 book, War, Guilt, and World Politics after World War II:

There is a growing public recognition that history has come to play a central role in international and domestic politics. The reasons for this expanded impact vary and include the spreading of democracy, the centrality of human rights norms, increased regional and global interdependence, and the wide role of international networks of advocates and civil society. In each country the mix is different, but few democracies are immune to or unburdened by their past. Nowhere has this trend been more evident than in the different policies of Germany and Japan since WWII, as the two countries embody different trends of the politics of history, both domestically and internationally. Germany is seen as responsible and contrite, while Japan is viewed as unrepentant. Thomas Berger’s, War, Guilt, and World Politics after World War II, adds Austria to the mix, and compares the history of historical dialogue and accountability in each country. I found the book thorough and informative … continue reading.

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Politiques de la Mémoire et Résolution des Conflits

By Sonja Dechian | Published: January 7, 2013

Sally Carlton from the Nepal Institute for Policy Studies has reviewed Jean-Serge Massamba-Makoumbou’s 2012 book, Politiques de la Mémoire et Résolution des Conflits:

Memory, and particularly the interplay between memory and post-conflict politics, has long been a subject of preoccupation among French academics. A refreshing recent addition to this already well-debated field is Jean-Serge Massamba-Makoumbou’s Politiques de la mémoire et résolution des conflits. The book’s primary contribution to the memory debate stems from its temporal focus …continue reading.

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Politics and the Art of Commemoration

By Sonja Dechian | Published: January 5, 2013

Natan Sznaider of Israel’s Academic College of Tel-Aviv-Yaffo, has reviewed Katherine Hite’s Politics and the Art of Commemoration: Memorials to struggle in Latin America and Spain.

Can art save us where politics has failed? This is an intriguing little book about the possibility of political redemption through art. The author takes us on a journey through Spain, Peru, Chile and Argentina, moving between the representation of politics and the politics of representation to describe the politics of memorials in detail. The book is also a personal journey through those places, written in an engaged voice rarely found in books on politics and commemorations … continue reading.

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Enduring Injustice

By Sonja Dechian | Published: November 30, 2012

Olivera Simic of Griffith University has reviewed Jeff Spinner-Halev’s new book, Enduring Injustice:

In his new book Enduring Injustice, Jeff Spinner-Halev draws upon a critical appraisal of liberal political theory to provide a fresh outlook on historical injustices. To this end he examines a variety of cases from around the world, focusing his attention on Israel, India, and the United States, but also taking in, if in a more abbreviated manner, Australia, Canada, Europe and New Zealand. Spinner-Halev argues that while advocates of remedying historical injustices invite communities and individuals to take responsibility for their past, their arguments are ambiguous about whether all past injustices need remedy or just those that concern groups suffering from current injustice…continue reading.

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Abusi di memoria: negare, banalizzare, sacralizzare la Shoah.

By Sonja Dechian | Published: November 16, 2012

Daniele Salerno of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Study of Cultural Memory and Traumas, (University of Bologna, Italy) has reviewed Valentina Pisanty’s Abusi di memoria: negare, banalizzare, sacralizzare la Shoah 

If we could pinpoint the exact year in which negationism came into the public domain, it would be 1978, the year of both the “Faurrison case” in France and the release of the mini- series Holocaust in the US. According to Valentina Pisanty’s semiotic work Abusi di memoria. Negare, banalizzare, sacralizzare la Shoah, this is neither surprising nor a coincidence: negationism is part of a sort of “narrative competition” for the memory of the Shoah in which the negationists’ very existence, visibility, and access to the mass media depend on the visibility and importance of other competitors (in this case, those who use the memory of the Holocaust for commercial or entertainment purposes). So Holocaust, which marked the entry of memories of the Shoah into global popular culture through its adaptation of entertainment and fictional models, allowed negationists access to the most important and influential newspapers in the world, bringing reaction from politicians and scholars. This suddenly turned negationism from a marginal and almost negligible movement into an academic and political interlocutor…continue reading

 

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The Memory of Pain: Women’s Testimonies of the Holocaust

By Sonja Dechian | Published: October 24, 2012

Adam Brown of Deakin University has reviewed Camila Loew’s ‘The Memory of Pain: Women’s Testimonies of the Holocaust.’

The work of a number of feminist scholars over the past thirty years has gone some way to ameliorating the general paucity of Holocaust research into the experiences and representations of women; however, certain paths still remain only lightly travelled. Mainstream films from wartime features such as The Mortal Storm (1940) through to Steven Spielberg’s Hollywood blockbuster Schindler’s List (1993) and beyond continue to paint collective memories of the Holocaust with a heavily gendered brush. Even those Holocaust texts that do incorporate women’s experiences often do so by inscribing the event with patriarchal meanings … Well-known authors whose names can be commonly seen on bookshelves and school reading lists include Primo Levi, Elie Wiesel, Jean Améry, Imre Kertész and Tadeusz Borowski. The crucial importance of the work of such figures is undeniable, yet the fact that dominant understandings of Nazi persecution and the ‘camp experience’ pivot on the suffering and resilience of ‘man’ is problematic … continue reading.

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