Conflicted Pasts & National Identities: Narratives of War & Conflict

War and conflicts have always played a significant role in defining national identities, often with reference to events that happened centuries ago. The role of passing on collective memories of these types of events has become even more complex in a globalising world, where new configurations of cosmopolitan memories challenge more locally and nationally based memories. The many aspects of societies’ remembering and forgetting call for interdisciplinary studies. This book reflects this effort. With reference to current theories of cultural memory, it explores how memories of war and conflict are passed on from generation to generation, how these complex processes have transformed and shaped collective identities, and how they are still inform national ‘conversations’. Contributions from, among others, James Wertsch, Alistair Thomson, Judith Pollman, and Paula Hamilton.