Page 21 - Dark Shades of Istria
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1.3 Research Purpose and Objectives
• establish a representation of topics related to Istrian history (of con-
flicts) of the 20th century, contemporary public memorial practices
and dark tourism in leading regional electronic mass media, based
on which the specific media-created social reality can be identified.
Only those public events which constitute a contemporary collective
memory are relevant in this case, while those subject to social amnesia
and silence are not, as they are obviously not the subject of public and,
consequently, media discourse.¹⁴ This means that we are dealing with
public dark commemorative events¹⁵ as they are described in the elec-
tronic media. The reasons for this orientation are explained below in this
research.
According to the above-mentioned research purposes, the following
objectives were created:
• to compile a conceptual framework of memory studies and dark
tourism using the facts of the traumatic 20th century of Istria and
its public memorial practices. The multiple theory perspective as-
sociated with the historical aspect merely reinforces and enriches
research achievements;
• to define different groups (clusters) and characteristics of various
Istrian contemporary history-centric memorial practices and re-
lated dark tourism on the basis of the relevant media reports on
dark commemorative events. Thus, we want to identify the media-
constructed social (memorial) reality as an important part of con-
temporary social life in Istria;
• to identify and map contemporary types and locations where public
history-centric dark commemorative events take place and where,
potentially, the transfer of memories occurs in situ;
• to describe, compare, contrast and thus fully understand a range of
different dark commemorative event types with different historical
backgrounds, which reflect the traumatic Istrian past and offer spe-
cial experiences to visitors.
¹⁴ This does not mean that they do not exist.
¹⁵ A ‘dark commemorative event’ is (only) a terminological construct used in this research,
which concurrently reflects its memorial and dark tourism dimensions (death, suffering,
trauma, atrocities and the macabre as well as the memory of them). Although its social
deviancy is also a relevant aspect (Spracklen, 2013, p. 204), it is not particularly high-
lighted in this monograph. The construct derives from the dark event typology of Frost
and Laing (2013, pp. 36–42) and Kennell et al. (2018, p. 948).
21
• establish a representation of topics related to Istrian history (of con-
flicts) of the 20th century, contemporary public memorial practices
and dark tourism in leading regional electronic mass media, based
on which the specific media-created social reality can be identified.
Only those public events which constitute a contemporary collective
memory are relevant in this case, while those subject to social amnesia
and silence are not, as they are obviously not the subject of public and,
consequently, media discourse.¹⁴ This means that we are dealing with
public dark commemorative events¹⁵ as they are described in the elec-
tronic media. The reasons for this orientation are explained below in this
research.
According to the above-mentioned research purposes, the following
objectives were created:
• to compile a conceptual framework of memory studies and dark
tourism using the facts of the traumatic 20th century of Istria and
its public memorial practices. The multiple theory perspective as-
sociated with the historical aspect merely reinforces and enriches
research achievements;
• to define different groups (clusters) and characteristics of various
Istrian contemporary history-centric memorial practices and re-
lated dark tourism on the basis of the relevant media reports on
dark commemorative events. Thus, we want to identify the media-
constructed social (memorial) reality as an important part of con-
temporary social life in Istria;
• to identify and map contemporary types and locations where public
history-centric dark commemorative events take place and where,
potentially, the transfer of memories occurs in situ;
• to describe, compare, contrast and thus fully understand a range of
different dark commemorative event types with different historical
backgrounds, which reflect the traumatic Istrian past and offer spe-
cial experiences to visitors.
¹⁴ This does not mean that they do not exist.
¹⁵ A ‘dark commemorative event’ is (only) a terminological construct used in this research,
which concurrently reflects its memorial and dark tourism dimensions (death, suffering,
trauma, atrocities and the macabre as well as the memory of them). Although its social
deviancy is also a relevant aspect (Spracklen, 2013, p. 204), it is not particularly high-
lighted in this monograph. The construct derives from the dark event typology of Frost
and Laing (2013, pp. 36–42) and Kennell et al. (2018, p. 948).
21
