Page 50 - Dark Shades of Istria
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Memorialisation Theory and Discourse
or place – the holocaust is a representative example).⁶ Scholarly speaking,
bringing together remembrance, globalisation, governance, and transna-
tionalism is a possible way of overcoming the often nation-centric nature
of memory studies (Sierp & Wüstenberg, 2015; Wüstenberg, 2019) and
thus many social problems, e.g. the disagreements in the Balkans. In this
context, the actors in charge of memorial sites should strategically engage
all mechanisms of commercialisation and professionalisation (both also
extremely important from the dark tourism point of view) in order to
‘translate’ local memories to be understood globally (Wüstenberg, 2019);
this is also fully consistent with the Resolution on the Importance of Euro-
pean Remembrance for the Future of Europe (European Parliament, 2019),
which is a political and legal document. It would be especially reasonable
to implement such approaches to enhance the understanding of memo-
ries in multicultural environments at all levels as well.
Transcultural memory can be linked to the ‘mediation of memory,’
which refers to the perception of the media in terms of memory and
to the perception of memory in terms of the media; it is a process of
creation and also of re-creation. ‘Mediated memory’ has a strong indi-
vidual character and is a crucial ‘site’ for negotiating the relationship be-
tween self (autobiographical reflections/perceptions of self, of family, and
of larger circles beyond the private sphere) and culture at large (indi-
viduals are also active collectors of mediated culture). Exchanging self-
recorded items with friends or family members and all the way to com-
plete strangers is an important way of creating collectivity (van Dijck,
2010, pp. 272–274). Kitch (2008, pp. 312–313), on the other hand, claims
that the news/media cover extreme events (wars, disasters, assassinations,
political revolutions), which are discussed within the mediated memory
context – this is a different/wider view than van Dijk’s. The author high-
lighted journalism as the venue in which people imagine themselves to
be connected, involved or part of the group who celebrates, mourns or
protests. It is a memory-media connection. The same understanding of
the term is perceived by Hoskins (2001, pp. 336–337), who points to media
manipulations. However, only this specific (media) perspective is relevant
for this research.
3.2 Memory and History
This study is not particularly focused on differences between history and
memory, nor on the complex connections between them. This is the sub-
⁶ More can be found in Radstone (2011), and Sierp and Wüstenberg (2015).
50
or place – the holocaust is a representative example).⁶ Scholarly speaking,
bringing together remembrance, globalisation, governance, and transna-
tionalism is a possible way of overcoming the often nation-centric nature
of memory studies (Sierp & Wüstenberg, 2015; Wüstenberg, 2019) and
thus many social problems, e.g. the disagreements in the Balkans. In this
context, the actors in charge of memorial sites should strategically engage
all mechanisms of commercialisation and professionalisation (both also
extremely important from the dark tourism point of view) in order to
‘translate’ local memories to be understood globally (Wüstenberg, 2019);
this is also fully consistent with the Resolution on the Importance of Euro-
pean Remembrance for the Future of Europe (European Parliament, 2019),
which is a political and legal document. It would be especially reasonable
to implement such approaches to enhance the understanding of memo-
ries in multicultural environments at all levels as well.
Transcultural memory can be linked to the ‘mediation of memory,’
which refers to the perception of the media in terms of memory and
to the perception of memory in terms of the media; it is a process of
creation and also of re-creation. ‘Mediated memory’ has a strong indi-
vidual character and is a crucial ‘site’ for negotiating the relationship be-
tween self (autobiographical reflections/perceptions of self, of family, and
of larger circles beyond the private sphere) and culture at large (indi-
viduals are also active collectors of mediated culture). Exchanging self-
recorded items with friends or family members and all the way to com-
plete strangers is an important way of creating collectivity (van Dijck,
2010, pp. 272–274). Kitch (2008, pp. 312–313), on the other hand, claims
that the news/media cover extreme events (wars, disasters, assassinations,
political revolutions), which are discussed within the mediated memory
context – this is a different/wider view than van Dijk’s. The author high-
lighted journalism as the venue in which people imagine themselves to
be connected, involved or part of the group who celebrates, mourns or
protests. It is a memory-media connection. The same understanding of
the term is perceived by Hoskins (2001, pp. 336–337), who points to media
manipulations. However, only this specific (media) perspective is relevant
for this research.
3.2 Memory and History
This study is not particularly focused on differences between history and
memory, nor on the complex connections between them. This is the sub-
⁶ More can be found in Radstone (2011), and Sierp and Wüstenberg (2015).
50
