Nation-states not only perpetrate mass violence regularly but also pivotally shape how that violence is remembered and memorialized. In doing this, they shape how communities heal or do not heal from violence. Memorializing violence is also tied to how states both make violence endemic and draw upon violence that may already be endemic within particular social contexts. This class will examine these phenomena in transnational and transhistorical perspective, focusing on case studies spanning different historical eras and various continents. These comparisons will reveal differences and linkages between the formation, utilization, and weaponization of memory in widely divergent contexts.
Nation-states not only perpetrate mass violence regularly but also pivotally shape how that violence is remembered and memorialized. In doing this, they shape how communities heal or do not heal from violence. Memorializing violence is also tied to how states both make violence endemic and draw upon violence that may already be endemic within particular social contexts. This class will examine these phenomena in transnational and transhistorical perspective, focusing on case studies spanning different historical eras and various continents. These comparisons will reveal differences and linkages between the formation, utilization, and weaponization of memory in widely divergent contexts.
