Abstract
Using a case study of representations of communism in Romania, the paper offers a sketch of a critical-interpretive approach
for exploring and engaging with the social memory of communism. When one considers the various contemporary appraisals, responses
to and positions towards the communist period one identifies and one is obliged to deal with a series of personal and collective
moral/political quandaries. In their attempt to bring about historical justice, political elites create a world that conforms
more to their needs and desires than to the diversity of meanings of communism, experiences and dilemmas of lay people. This
paper argues that one needs to study formal aspects of social memory as well as “lived”, often conflicting, attitudinal and
mnemonic stances and interpretive frameworks. One needs to strive to find the meaning of the social memory of communism in
the sometimes contradictory, paradoxical attitudes and meanings that members of society communicate, endorse and debate. Many
of the ethical quandaries and dilemmas of collective memory and recent history can be better understood by describing the
discursive and sociocultural processes of meaning-making and meaning-interpretation carried out by members of a polity.
for exploring and engaging with the social memory of communism. When one considers the various contemporary appraisals, responses
to and positions towards the communist period one identifies and one is obliged to deal with a series of personal and collective
moral/political quandaries. In their attempt to bring about historical justice, political elites create a world that conforms
more to their needs and desires than to the diversity of meanings of communism, experiences and dilemmas of lay people. This
paper argues that one needs to study formal aspects of social memory as well as “lived”, often conflicting, attitudinal and
mnemonic stances and interpretive frameworks. One needs to strive to find the meaning of the social memory of communism in
the sometimes contradictory, paradoxical attitudes and meanings that members of society communicate, endorse and debate. Many
of the ethical quandaries and dilemmas of collective memory and recent history can be better understood by describing the
discursive and sociocultural processes of meaning-making and meaning-interpretation carried out by members of a polity.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Category Regular Article
- Pages 1-18
- DOI 10.1007/s12124-012-9207-x
- Authors
- Cristian Tileagă, Discourse and Rhetoric Group, Department of Social Sciences, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK
- Journal Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science
- Online ISSN 1936-3567
- Print ISSN 1932-4502