The social organization of representations of history: The textual accomplishment of coming to terms with the past

This paper is concerned with the social organization of collective memory and representations of history in the context of how post‐communist democracies reckon with former regimes. It specifically centres on the textual accomplishment of coming to terms with the past in the ‘Tismăneanu Report’ cond...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:British journal of social psychology 2009-06, Vol.48 (2), p.337-355
Main Author: TILEAGA, Cristian
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adaptation, Psychological
Biological and medical sciences
Collective Memory
Communism
Communism - history
Crime - history
Democracy
European Continental Ancestry Group - history
European Continental Ancestry Group - psychology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Government - history
Historiography
History, 20th Century
Humans
National Identity
Politics
Psychological factors
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Romania
Romania - ethnology
Social attribution, perception and cognition
Social History
Social Identification
Social organization
Social psychology
Social representations
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This paper is concerned with the social organization of collective memory and representations of history in the context of how post‐communist democracies reckon with former regimes. It specifically centres on the textual accomplishment of coming to terms with the past in the ‘Tismăneanu Report’ condemning Communism in Romania. The focus is on how the Report displays and shapes the ideological contours of coming to terms with the past around a particular ‘social representation’ of history. Several constitutive features of the Report that facilitate bringing off a particular ‘representation of history’ are identified: (a) the construction of a practical framework for the inquiry as a matter of public concern and attention; (b) the production of ‘Communism’ as an empirical category with uniquely bound features; and (c) the structuring of time by bringing together a political agenda and national identity. The present argument tries to place representations of history (and coming to terms with the past) as something in need of constitution rather than simply relied on. It is suggested that a conception of coming to terms with the past as a textual accomplishment may lead to a fuller appreciation of the structure, function and salience of representations of history as integral part of moral/political/legal courses of action.
ISSN:0144-6665
2044-8309
DOI:10.1348/014466608X349487