Main description:

Social Aspects of Memory presents a compelling study of how ordinary people remember war. Whilst the book focuses on the cities of Sarajevo and East Sarajevo during the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Jeftic also presents narratives from other war-torn cities and countries around the world. This book adopts a unique approach, by looking at how perpetrators and victims (as well as new generations who may not remember the war directly) manage in the aftermath of war. Jeftic explores how our memories of war and violence are formed, and how we can learn to reconcile those memories, individually and as a collective.

Drawing on the author's own extensive empirical research, the book explores the connections between memories for significant war events, transgenerational transmission of memories, bias for in-group wrongdoings and readiness for reconciliation between two groups.

Giving a voice to underrepresented narratives and prioritising the importance of expression as a necessary catalyst for reconciliation, this book is essential reading for those interested in collective and transgenerational memory and memory studies, especially in relation to the aftermath of the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Contents:

Preface

Chapter 1 - Sarajevo for Beginners: History, Culture and Politics from the Ottoman Empire to Post-Dayton Bosnia-Herzegovina

Chapter 2 - The Siege of Sarajevo between "Mnene" and "Anamnesis"

Chapter 3 - Sins of Memory: Terror of Remembrance and Terror of Forgetting

Chapter 4 - Memory and Remembrance in Divided Bosnia-Herzegovina between a "labour in vain" and perspective taking