The study carried out by Susnjic (2011, this edition) shows, in a clear and conclusive way, the close relationship between historical memory and the attitude towards 'the other', considered as the enemy from the point of view of a given group identity. Based on the social identity ...

As humanitarian catastrophes and international security dilemmas engulf Syria, distant observers are eager to explain away the horrors through the ethnic and religious animosities that exist between domestic groups. When Syria, Iraq, Ukraine or future conflicts appear just like the Balkans did to our collective minds, it is only because we insist on applying the same simplifying narrative of ancient hatreds to all regions with a diversity of identities. It is a self-fulfilling prophecy with the worst of consequences as it minimises the likeliness of prudent policymaking, one that considers all facets of an issue alongside costs and benefits. Yet, many will continue to enjoy the instant clarity that the “ancient hatreds” narrative offers, willfully blind or indifferent to its destructive consequences.

his interview was conducted on 9th May 2019, during the workshop ”Knowledge, Politics and Publics: Conversations on the Role of the Academic, the Intellectual and the Writer in Times of Change”, organized by the Forum Transregionale Studien and the ZEIT Stiftung Ebelin and Gerd Bucerius. Naira Sahakyan is a doctoral candidate at the University of Amsterdam and fellow of the “Trajectories of Change” programme of the ZEIT Stiftung that addresses historical and current transformation processes in the European neighbourhood. Her thesis, written under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Michael Kemper and Dr. Alfrid K. Bustanov, examines the Dagestani Reformists during the Russian Revolutions of 1917.

In several post-colonial countries, the war on monuments and cultural traditions has been given impetus by the Black-Lives-Matter movement and is further fuelled by racist hate messages on social media. Teachers grapple with heated debates on these issues in their multicultural classes. They have a tremendously difficult task in dealing with students' emotions about contested pasts. Sometimes teachers are also confronted with violence outside the classroom. That happened to French history teacher Samuel Paty in 2020, when he was brutally beheaded in front of his school by a young extremist Muslim. In this polarized atmosphere, how can teachers organize a meaningful historical conversation that recognizes students' interpretative traditions without freezing these traditions? Several researchers have pointed to the need for more intercultural orientation in history education. In the context of current tensions, it is therefore invaluable to consider in depth the different interpretative frameworks of student responses. My paper focuses on this problematic by using a holistic approach to historical culture that encompasses three interactive levels of analysis: historical narratives; mnemonic infrastructures; conceptions of history. The third level offers the opportunity to historicize the concept of historical consciousness and to deconstruct its possible, implicit Western assumptions. I then discuss some aspects of the hermeneutic process of meaning-making in relation to conducting a conversation. I will illustrate my argument with two sensitive topics from the Dutch practice of history education.

It is difficult to claim that a nation has no history. As time goes by, the present quickly becomes part of the past. What may make a difference, however, is the documentation of the present to be a visible proof of its once existence in ten or hundred years. Words are powerful. Oral or written, words carry an innate power that can represent or misrepresent their content. However, since oral words are ephemeral, one can confidently say that written words are more powerful in the history-representation of a nation. They are tangible accessible proof for the next generations, and even foreigners, that certain events, traditions, and rituals were part of the past of that nation. One may wonder what the case would be if there was no written archive of history. The answer is simple: it is lost. The only way it can be saved is by translating what is left from oral stories into written ones. This is one of the reasons why ethnographers travel; to help preserve the native's culture and translate what is orally transmitted to them into written texts. Innocent as this may seem, believing it might be naive. The translation process by the ethnographer cannot be 'innocent' nor 'authentic' and it should immediately be questioned.