Memorization of the Armenian Genocide in Narratives

Anthonie Holslag

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceedingChapterAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

In this chapter Anthonie Holslag will explore how second, third and fourth generation “survivors” of the Armenian genocide give meaning to their collective history. How do they encapsulate the genocidal violence, what cultural meaning do they derive from the violence and how does this violence get internalized by the victimized group? He will take a dual approach in this chapter; first he will discuss the nature of genocidal violence as a cultural and symbolic construct and will argue that genocidal violence has specific cultural traits. Secondly, by using his ethnographic data of current Armenian Diaspora communities, he will analyze how the meaning of violence can be internalized and can be used as "empowerment" by the victimized group. Here he will combine history and present day constructions and will make a comparison between Armenians living in Diaspora in both London and the Netherlands. How can it be that in demographic different Diaspora communities there are so many similarities between the social imaginaire; both in the way the violence and history is interpreted as the way the day-to-day live is experienced? It is this main question that Anthonie Holslag will try to answer. Or as one of his informants stated: “The genocide is everywhere.”

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Armenian Legacy
EditorsAlexis Demirdjan
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherPalgrave (Macmillan/St. Martin's Press)
Chapter16
Pages255
Number of pages273
ISBN (Print)978-1-137-56162-6
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2016

Keywords

  • Genocide
  • Armenian genocide
  • history
  • trauma
  • genocidal process
  • transgenerational transmission of trauma

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