Maybe I am a pessimist ...
One quite thought provoking book I have had the pleasure of reading is In Praise of Forgetting...
One quite poignant point is on collective memory which for the most part is less dependent on facts but emotion dressed up as historical fact ...it provides feelings of ones own solidarity, of mourning, love for ones own nation or hatred of it...or hatred of others nations or envy of it...
Wherever in the world you go to there are ‘memories’...the issues of Yugoslavia come to mind where each faction had its own sets of collective memory going back millennia ...Israel/Palestine....Jihadis, the BJP all focused on a collective memory...
Memory goes a long way to building a national identity which in turn leads to the hostility with which the other is viewed....cos of course the other doesn’t share those memories and possess their own ...
‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it’ seem like conventional wisdom but does this actually ring true...
Does remembrance of the past and in particular the remembrance of collective wounds ever actually remedy an injustice and has it ever led to a reconciliation ?...
You have those who take pride or shame in things they had nothing to do with...those who feel victim to history...in what way does group think benefit the individual ?...forgetting does an injustice to the past, while remembrance does an injustice to the present...with collective memory doing more to create violence and conflict in the present...
Wouldn’t it be great if everyone could view history in the same way ?...of course...is it realistic? ...absolutely not...collective memory for the most part is toxic imo...
Is this a suggestion that history isn’t instructive...no it is when one doesn’t define their collective memory from it...especially in this sad anti-intellectual age where populism reigns, and emotions trump reason....
It seems counterintuitive to define yourself as a member of a group and yet expect to be viewed as an individual ...does viewing oneself as an individual ensure that group problems don’t effect you?...sadly no but there is consolation in being able to live in the present and view the future on ones own terms, and to view others as individuals as opposed to defining them by the group they belong to...
We are often told that remembrance ensures ‘never again’ ...yet war continues unabated...is there a place for forgetting?...at least in my case there is...
One quite thought provoking book I have had the pleasure of reading is In Praise of Forgetting...
One quite poignant point is on collective memory which for the most part is less dependent on facts but emotion dressed up as historical fact ...it provides feelings of ones own solidarity, of mourning, love for ones own nation or hatred of it...or hatred of others nations or envy of it...
Wherever in the world you go to there are ‘memories’...the issues of Yugoslavia come to mind where each faction had its own sets of collective memory going back millennia ...Israel/Palestine....Jihadis, the BJP all focused on a collective memory...
Memory goes a long way to building a national identity which in turn leads to the hostility with which the other is viewed....cos of course the other doesn’t share those memories and possess their own ...
‘Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it’ seem like conventional wisdom but does this actually ring true...
Does remembrance of the past and in particular the remembrance of collective wounds ever actually remedy an injustice and has it ever led to a reconciliation ?...
You have those who take pride or shame in things they had nothing to do with...those who feel victim to history...in what way does group think benefit the individual ?...forgetting does an injustice to the past, while remembrance does an injustice to the present...with collective memory doing more to create violence and conflict in the present...
Wouldn’t it be great if everyone could view history in the same way ?...of course...is it realistic? ...absolutely not...collective memory for the most part is toxic imo...
Is this a suggestion that history isn’t instructive...no it is when one doesn’t define their collective memory from it...especially in this sad anti-intellectual age where populism reigns, and emotions trump reason....
It seems counterintuitive to define yourself as a member of a group and yet expect to be viewed as an individual ...does viewing oneself as an individual ensure that group problems don’t effect you?...sadly no but there is consolation in being able to live in the present and view the future on ones own terms, and to view others as individuals as opposed to defining them by the group they belong to...
We are often told that remembrance ensures ‘never again’ ...yet war continues unabated...is there a place for forgetting?...at least in my case there is...
