Social Aspects of Memory

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, Jefti- 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. Jefti- 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.

Alma Jeftic is a PhD candidate in Psychology at the University of Belgrade, Serbia, President of the Association of Psychologists in Federation Bosnia-Herzegovina - Sarajevo Subsidiary, and a Governing Board member of the Research Network on Transnational memory and Identity in Europe (Council for European Studies at Columbia University).

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