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PARTICIPATION in the ASEN Conference ‘Nationalism and Memory’
April 9 - April 11
KonKoop-member Nicola Gajić will participate in the Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism (ASEN) conference ‘Nationalism and Memory’ in panel session B ‘The place of ethnic discrimination and genocide in the memory’.
Description:
“I Solemnly Declare that I will Speak the Truth, the Whole Truth, and Nothing but the Truth”: Afterlife of the ICTY Victims’ Testimonies
The paper encapsulates a significant aspect of the ongoing PhD project, focusing on the role of victim-witness court testimonies in front of the ICTY in shaping the memory of the 19gos wars in the former Yugoslavia. The thesis examines the political instrumentalization of testimonies by political actors and national churches as social agents influencing war-related memories in the post-Yugoslav space. The central question driving the analysis is how political and religious actors instrumentalize victims’ testimonies in constructing the public memory of post-conflict wars. The hypothesis tested claims that such instrumentalization leads to the alienation of victims from their testimonies, turning them into tools for political power and resulting in the disenfranchisement and neglect of victims. The research employs digital humanities tools as an innovative approach for utilizing a micro perspective on the issue by focusing on individual cases. The study underscores the significance of testimonies as mediums for memory politics, highlighting that memory not only depicts particular events but also promotes and spreads social values rooted in them. Politicized by political actors, the shared mnemonic perception of conflicts influences the behavioral practices of the broader public. In the context of post- conflict nations and the growing nationalist discourse, the research emphasizes the critical examination of the role and potential misuse of court testimonies. It aims to shed light on the mnemonic afterlife of victims’ court testimonies, critically assess reconciliation processes, and provide a new empirical example for comparative post-conflict contexts.
9-11 April 2024 – 9:00 CET in Edinburgh
Organisation: Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism (ASEN)