Between Official Truth and Personal Memory: Oral Histories of Civilians and Soldiers in the Post-Yugoslav Wars 1991–1995
PDF (Hrvatski)

Keywords

oral history
post-Yugoslav wars
reconciliation
rehumanization
collective memory
thematic analysis

How to Cite

Petrović, N., & Lazić, A. (2019). Between Official Truth and Personal Memory: Oral Histories of Civilians and Soldiers in the Post-Yugoslav Wars 1991–1995. Poznańskie Studia Slawistyczne, (16), 227–241. https://doi.org/10.14746/pss.2019.16.13

Abstract

In times of violent conflicts, societies tend to promote narratives that enable successful coping with the situation. Official collective memory can thus provide foundation for a group’s belonging, mobilization, persistence. On the other hand, it often perpetuates the animosity by, for example, delegitimizing (and often dehumanizing) the other side. In this article, we explore whether unofficial personal memories of a violent conflict could mitigate the damage in intergroup relations done by the dominating narratives. We conducted a secondary thematic analysis of 38 interviews with civilians and soldiers in the Post-Yugoslav wars (1991–1995). The themes we report here offer deeply personal and humanizing accounts of the war experience, which have largely remained outside traditional historiography.
https://doi.org/10.14746/pss.2019.16.13
PDF (Hrvatski)

References

Baker, K.M. (1985). Memory and practice: Politics and the representation of the past in eighteenth-century France. „Representations“ 11, str. 134–164. https://doi.org/10.2307/2928429

Bar-Tal, D. (2000). Shared beliefs in a society: Social psychological analysis. Tho¬usand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications, Inc.

Bar-Tal, D., Rosen, Y. (2009). Peace education in societies involved in intractable con¬flicts: Direct and indirect models. „Review of Educational Research“ 79(2), str. 557–575. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654308330969

Bartlett, F.C. (1932). Remembering: A study in experimental and social psychology. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Boraine, A. (2000). A country unmasked: Inside South Africa’s Truth and Reconcilia¬tion Commission. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Cairns, E., Roe, M.D. (eds.). (2003). Memories in conflict. London: Macmillan.

Cakal, H., Petrović, N. (2017). Intergroup contact and ingroup identification as pre¬dictors of intergroup attitudes and forgiveness in the Serbian context: The mode¬rating role of exposure to positive information. „Primenjena psihologija“ 10(4), str. 477–497. https://doi.org/10.19090/pp.2017.4.477-497

Ebbinghaus, H. (1913). Memory. Trans. H.A. Ruger, C.E. Bussenius. New York: Teachers College [Original work published 1885].

Gojković, D. (2005). Ljudi u ratu: Govore žene: Ne bilo ga nikad i nigdje. Beograd: Dokumentacioni centar Ratovi 1991–1999.

Gojković, D., Bašić, N., Delić, V. (ur.). (2003). Ljudi u ratu: Sudbine civila 1. Beograd: Dokumentacioni centar Ratovi 1991–1999.

Gojković, D., Bašić, N., Delić, V. (ur.). (2004). Ljudi u ratu: Ratovanja 2. Beograd: Dokumentacioni centar Ratovi 1991–1999.

Gojković, D., Bašić, N. (ur.). (2004a). Ljudi u ratu: Ratovanja 1. Beograd: Dokumen¬tacioni centar Ratovi 1991–1999.

Gojković, D., Bašić, N. (ur.). (2004b). Ljudi u ratu: Ratovanja 3. Beograd: Dokumen¬tacioni centar Ratovi 1991–1999.

Halbwachs, M. (1980). The collective memory. New York: Harper Colophon.

Kostovicova, D. (2016). Seeking justice in a divided region: Text analysis of regional civil society deliberations in the Balkans. „International Journal of Transitional Justice“ 11(1), str. 154–175. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijtj/ijw023

Kunda, Z. (1990). The case for motivated reasoning. „Psychological Bulletin“ 108(3), str. 480–498. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.108.3.480

László, J. (2013). Historical tales and national identity: An introduction to narrative social psychology. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315880105

Loftus, E.F. (1979). The malleability of human memory: Information introduced after we view an incident can transform memory. „American Scientist“ 67(3), str. 312–320.

Neisser, U. (ed.). (1982). Memory observed: Remembering in natural contexts. New York: W.H. Freeman.

Petrović, N. (2007). Kolektivna sećanja i perspektive poslekonfliktne modernizacije. U: T. Cipek, O. Milosavljević, 1918: Kultura sjećanja: Povijesni lomovi i svlada¬vanje prošlosti. Zagreb: Disput.

Pettigrew, T.F., Tropp, L.R. (2006). A meta-analytic test of intergroup contact theory. „Journal of Personality and Social Psychology“ 90(5), str. 751–783. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.90.5.751

Petty, R.E., Cacioppo, J.T. (1986). Communication and persuasion. New York: Sprin¬ger. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-4964-1

Tajfel, H., Turner, J.C. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. U: S. Worchel, W.G. Austin (eds.), Psychology of intergroup relations. Chicago: Nelson-Hall, str. 7–24.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Africa Report. (1998). Vol. 1–5. Cape Town: TRC.