Glossary
The concepts and terms used in work with the past and collective memory. We create the glossary together with experts in memory studies, history, philosophy, art history, international law and other disciplines
What is it and what is it for?
Glossary is a basic vocabulary which can help people without a special academic or professional background to navigate through the dominant problems and research trends in memory research. This is important because the past is often used to justify political decisions, and, regrettably, also as an instrument of manipulation. Understanding the terms used in the public discourse makes us stronger as a society.
In order to effectively work together on the difficult problems of the past, representatives of different disciplines need to have a means to check whether they understand one or another term correctly. Research of memory – is a dynamic interdisciplinary field in which specialists from different disciplines may move in their own paths. If we lack a common basic vocabulary, we are doomed to endlessly clarify concepts or argue while talking about one and the same thing.
Who can use it?
Specialists in different fields, who deal with collective memory in their own work.
Representatives of the state, who need to clearly formulate their messages on commemorative dates.
Any person that does not want to become a hostage of political manipulations.
Who creates the glossary?
We invite experts in memory studies, history, anthropology, law, art history, political science and other disciplines to draft individual entries. Author of each text appears at the end of the entry, and a full list of authors is displayed below.
How to work with the glossary?
If a term consists of several works (i.e. collective memory, working through the past etc) and you cannot find it according to the first letter of one first work, try looking for the term based on the first letter of other words. We also provide a Ukrainian equivalent of each term, and depending on the need – the equivalents in the original languages of the term.
We started the glossary in 2020. Ever since, we continuously work to update and expand it.
In the English language version of the glossary we provide a small selection of translated entries that shed light on how Ukrainian scholars and practitioners understand and apply these terms. To explore the glossary in full – go to the Ukrainian version.
Working through the past
Ger. Vergangenheitsbewältigung
Ukr. Пропрацювання минулого
The rational analysis of nature and of tragic events, memory of which continues to have an influence today. Working through the past presumes a creation of a critical view of past events, that should prevent any attempts to whitewash or silence the memory about past crimes.
The idea of Working through the past was proposed by Theodor Adorno in his article “What does Working through the Past Mean?” published in 1963. In the text Adorno criticised attempts to justify, silence or obfuscate the crimes of Nazism. The philosopher claimed that there were attempts to get rid of the past by diminishing the crimes, using euphemisms or silencing. Traumatic events were being rid of their traumatism by settling the mutual balance of guilt (Germany is guilty for the death of a certain number of people, but the allied bombings also killed a certain number of people – hence we’re even), by fighting the “feeling of guilt” (borrowing of a psychoanalytical term in this context meant an attempt to show that in fact there was no guilt), and other means.
Adorno criticised the claims that Germans were not ready for democracy, as infantilising: to him such claims were similar to attempts of teenagers to justify the violence they commit by their sheer belonging to a group of teenagers. Totalitarianism is based on an overblown nationalist arrogance, when an individual finds a surrogate pleasure in his or her identification with the whole. Collective narcissism pushes people towards crimes without permitting them to see their guilt.
The question of working through the past arises in a state of democracy. It’s a demand for utmost clarity about what has happened, a demand to oppose forgetting, an appeal to every single individual and his or her critical thinking. The idea of working through the past has become one of the cornerstones of memory studies and its application has been much wider than the analysis of German society and its relationship with the Nazi past. The conclusions drawn by Adorno are relevant for all societies that are trying to build its relationship with the past through the human rights framework. (Oksana Dovgopolova)