Generational succession, culture, and politics: the shaping of Euro-Atlantic sites of memory
Generational succession, culture, and politics: the shaping of Euro-Atlantic sites of memory
Memory studies have often looked to the Cold War and the fall of the Iron Curtain as the principal mediators of collective memory for the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Scholars have often assumed the primacy of political factors in memory work with Cold War politics understood as shaping collective memory both West and East of the Iron Curtain. The present article proposes to problematize these assumptions. While not negating the role of politics, it suggests that the changing cultural priorities of each successive generation were of greater importance than current memory analyses permit. Using the former KL Plaszow (Kraków, Poland) as a case study, this essay draws attention to the common features of memory work shared across the Euro-Atlantic world. Establishing how each of the postwar generations engaged with memory work to suit their particular needs this article analyses the impact that generational sensibilities had on memory sites.
Cold War, generational memory, Kraków, memory work, Plaszow
988-1003
Gryta, Janek
b86f786f-13d6-41da-bf28-ee5f67415d6d
1 December 2020
Gryta, Janek
b86f786f-13d6-41da-bf28-ee5f67415d6d
Gryta, Janek
(2020)
Generational succession, culture, and politics: the shaping of Euro-Atlantic sites of memory.
Memory Studies, 13 (6), .
(doi:10.1177/1750698018823232).
Abstract
Memory studies have often looked to the Cold War and the fall of the Iron Curtain as the principal mediators of collective memory for the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Scholars have often assumed the primacy of political factors in memory work with Cold War politics understood as shaping collective memory both West and East of the Iron Curtain. The present article proposes to problematize these assumptions. While not negating the role of politics, it suggests that the changing cultural priorities of each successive generation were of greater importance than current memory analyses permit. Using the former KL Plaszow (Kraków, Poland) as a case study, this essay draws attention to the common features of memory work shared across the Euro-Atlantic world. Establishing how each of the postwar generations engaged with memory work to suit their particular needs this article analyses the impact that generational sensibilities had on memory sites.
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e-pub ahead of print date: 13 January 2019
Published date: 1 December 2020
Keywords:
Cold War, generational memory, Kraków, memory work, Plaszow
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Local EPrints ID: 482105
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/482105
ISSN: 1750-6980
PURE UUID: b2f3da44-e15d-4b05-a03f-28a94969b238
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Date deposited: 19 Sep 2023 16:39
Last modified: 18 Mar 2024 04:15
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Author:
Janek Gryta
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