Talking Stones: The Politics of Memorialization in Post-Conflict Northern Ireland

Talking Stones: The Politics of Memorialization in Post-Conflict Northern Ireland
ISBN-10
1782384081
ISBN-13
9781782384083
Category
Social Science
Pages
288
Language
English
Published
2014-08-01
Publisher
Berghahn Books
Author
Elisabetta Viggiani

Description

If memory was simply about past events, public authorities would never put their ever-shrinking budgets at its service. Rather, memory is actually about the present moment, as Pierre Nora puts it: “Through the past, we venerate above all ourselves.” This book examines how collective memory and material culture are used to support present political and ideological needs in contemporary society. Using the memorialization of the Troubles in contemporary Northern Ireland as a case study, this book investigates how non-state, often proscribed, organizations have filled a societal vacuum in the creation of public memorials. In particular, these groups have sifted through the past to propose “official” collective narratives of national identification, historical legitimation, and moral justifications for violence.

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