A Cultural History of Memory in the Long Twentieth Century

A Cultural History of Memory in the Twentieth Century cannot be written without taking into account the massive impact of the nation state on collective memory formation. This volume explores the power of the nation as a framework for the operation of collective memory but, in line with recent memory theory, the contributions also warn against the pitfalls of ‘methodological nationalism’ which risks subsuming society under the rubric of the nation-state. Likewise, it would be hard to imagine a cultural history of twentieth century memory which did not accord the Holocaust a central place in that history. As such, several chapters in this volume address this genocide. One key concern which emerges in this book is the question of periodization: how should we conceive of patterns in memory over the course of the twentieth century? Many developments in memory across the globe are connected by the fact that political, social and cultural forces in the twentieth century have been and remain global in reach. As such, this volume underlines the importance of progressing the agenda of ‘transnational memory’ studies. In doing so, A Cultural History of Memory in the Twentieth Century emphasizes the need to move beyond a focus on memory of war and genocide and seeks to offer a rich and diverse study of memory in the modern world.