Narratives of memory and national identity; analyzing agency in contemporary Holocaust memory initiatives

ABSTRACT

Constructing narratives of memory has long been acknowledged as a major component of nationalism and nation building. In Israel the memory of the Holocaust is widely seen as constituting one of these major components and is at the core of Israeli national identity. Since the early 2000s, the imminent passing of Holocaust survivors has resulted in an intense preoccupation with the question of the future of this memory. This preoccupation has produced new commemorative initiatives engaging with interactive digital platforms. In our article we explore the role of human agency in successfully conjuring up alternative or forgotten memories that dramatically transform contemporary remembrance landscapes by analyzing two recent commemorative projects in Israel, Zikaron Besalon and Eva’s story. Informed by the understanding of the centrality of temporal orientations to the dynamics of social interaction in our analysis we adopt a temporal framework.

KEYWORDS:

• Memory
• memory agency
• media
• commemoration
• Holocaust memory

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the discussions with colleagues that greatly helped us crystallize our ideas.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rebecca Kook

Rebecca Kook is an associate professor at the Politics and Government Department at Ben Gurion University of the Negev.

Noam Tirosh

Noam Tirosh is a senior lecturer at the Communication Studies Department, Ben-Gurion university of the Negev.