Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Cultural Amnesia'

This thesis examines contemporary discourses of forgetting, and in particular the notion of `cultural amnesia'. I take as the object of my research the mobilization of amnesia in the humanities and social sciences during the last two decades, arguing that this concept does not have a consistent relation to cultural phenomena but rather names a perceived loss, absence or deficiency, and sometimes excess or surfeit, in knowledge and the articulation of knowledge. I explore what is at stake in these rulings of cultural and social deficiency, the values and frameworks that are invoked to authorize them, and the specific fact of their being set out in terms of memory. My method of historicizing the emergence of the concept of amnesia as a preferred means of figuring cultural deficiency is to trace in contemporary discourses of forgetting certain legacies of Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School. I submit that Theodor W. Adorno's thought is construed by theorists working on the subject of memory as a significant antecedent for contemporary debates; specifically, he is regarded as having anticipated late twentieth-century anxieties about amnesia. I attend to such characterizations both by offering a fresh consideration of the function of memory-related concepts in Critical Theory and by questioning what is at stake in contemporary claims of a relationship to - as well as in frequent disavowals of - aspects of this current of thought. The chapters that follow examine: the discursive functions of the concept of amnesia in cultural and social theory; the relationship between the concepts of reification and forgetting; the processes through which the postwar period became recognized as a period of amnesia for the Holocaust; the place of the concept of amnesia in Fredric Jameson's thesis on postmodernism and in today's recollection of his contribution; and the return of the notion of `the forgotten' in the turn to ethics in poststructuralist literary theory.

By the term “Cultural Amnesia” I refer to a diagnosis of a condition that has been caused by external damage or trauma. This may result in a society forced to forget about their roots, culture and connection to the landscape, once been embraced by a community as a whole but now been forgotten and replaced by different ideals that are displaced from context.  It is an assumption that something is missing or is about to be forgotten, that would have disastrous consequences. The causes of the amnesia need to be diagnosed and identified and their possible effects imagined. The term “Culture” here can refers simply to the way how have been done and developed in a specific context from the beginning of times. Cultural amnesia, then, would be the widespread ignorance of and indifference to what used to be important but has now fallen into forced displacement, resulting in a possible “dystopian future”.  The aim of the research is to analyse the recent developments in Norrland and the Sápmi areas that are largely affected by capitalist space production. It highlights also the story of displacement and injustice the Sámi have suffered. There has been an exploitation of the Sámi rights by the government and evidence of the Swedish state land theft from the Sámi. The real repression began with the modernization of society, where the causes lay in factors like the need for forest, agricultural efficiency and new definitions of land ownership. Today the indigenous people find themselves fighting a battle against the state and multinational mining companies, while their land, cultural heritage and their way of life is at stake.  Can we imagine a cure, a plan of care or an antidote to Cultural Amnesia?

Thesis advisor: Roberto Goizueta
In the context of a globalized and postmodern world, there is a vector of thought in Mexican culture that remains fixated on the present, invested in the urgency of the moment, and content with hurried decisions in political and economic matters. Such a mindset makes little room for memories and, in fact, promotes rapid forgetfulness, especially of uncomfortable memories. Nevertheless, another vector of thought simultaneously persists, one that prizes memories, emphasizes traditions and ancestral anamnetic forms, and is quite richly expressed in small `campesinos' and indigenous communities, where men and particularly women - though otherwise lacking political influence - are actively engaged in preserving their memories. Not surprisingly, these two vectors of thought share an uneasy co-existence. In these pages I will argue that these memories are actually considered dangerous on two fronts: first, because they interrupt our productive present and the system we live in; and, second because they challenge us to imagine, and even to work toward, a more just future, one not characterized by easy amnesties or corporate forgetfulness. I will support the view that memories enable us to conduct an honest reconstruction and analysis of the past, in all of its complexity, and then oblige us to integrate lessons learned truthfully in the present. In Mexico, such memories need to be listened to and integrated as part of our identity as a society and a Church for, if we do not, we will always remain a broken society and an incomplete Church. This position, along with the questions that it raises, will be confronted and illuminated herein by a theological perspective on memory. After all, it was Israel's belief in being in the memory of God that gave that people their solid communitarian consistency. Later on, the Christian community inherited this anamnetic culture as the core of its liturgical life and Christian praxis: "Do this in memory of me". Johann Baptist Metz reflects theologically on the "cultural amnesia" that drags us towards a dehumanizing progress, emphasizing merely technological advancement. Societal adoption of such an attitude inevitably leaves victims in its wake, namely, those who do not - or cannot - achieve the standards of success established by the technocrats. Metz identifies the destruction of memory as a typical tool of totalitarian domination. The slavery of human beings begins when their memories are taken away; this is the principle and foundation of all colonization. Metz explains that we must remember the memories of these victims in order to interrupt our present situation and activate creative resistance. He suggests a mysticism characterized by suffering unto God while, at the same time, keeping our eyes open to reality. Consequently a praxis is realized wherein we act as subjects in freedom participating actively in the construction of history. It is important for the Mexican Church to recover these memories at both the social and ecclesial levels and to allow them to interrupt us, because they constitute a new way for us to look back at what we have been, and to construct what we want to be. In doing so, we can be a community of memory and hope
Thesis (STD) — Boston College, 2010
Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry
Discipline: Theology

Описується фактор цільової впливу на культурну пам'ять з боку державної ідеологічної системи, що прагне змінити картину культурної пам'яті в інтересах такого подальшого розвитку,
The factor of the target influence on cultural memory by the state ideological system, which seeks to change the picture of cultural memory in the interests of such further development, is described.

A comparative analysis of Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony and Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, with a focus on individual as well as collective memory work in historically marginalized indigenous and African-American communities, respectively. This represents a critical study of how the novels invoke progressive and redemptive models of remembering, as well as foreground the role of spiritual guides in the transformative process from trauma towards healing.

Trabalho de project de Mestrado em Antropologia de Direitos Humanos e Movimentos Sociais
The focus of this project is the visual dimension of transformative powers within society, which is approached by inspecting the visual communication of a human rights organization, Amnesty International. My interest towards this type of thematic arose from my previous concentration on human rights discourse and the rhetorics related to it, and now I wanted to prolong my scope on visual rhetorics. My intention was to find out what kind of registers and narratives are used by a human rights organization when human rights are communicated through visuality. I came up with an idea to work with two organizations for gaining a comparative perspective, and these fields turned out to be two local sections of Amnesty International, those of Portugal and Finland. The intention was to follow the paths that these sections have taken in terms of the use of photograph during the transformation related to organizational change and the need to be globalized and unified at once. Visual culture is treated within this project in its strong sense, by emphasizing its cultural dimension, the values and identities that are constructed and communicated using visuality as a medium (Barnard 2001:1-2). The organization, Amnesty International, and its two national sections, the Finnish and the Portuguese one, are all seen as cultural groups that reproduce their particular character and identity with the use of visuality.

Despite abundant oil resources, the residents of the Niger Delta endure extreme poverty, polluted environments, poor infrastructure, and high unemployment. In the early 1990s, these problems led to a violent uprising against oil exploration. In 2009 the government of Nigeria attempted to end the uprising by implementing an amnesty program for the militants that was designed to address the region's problems. The amnesty program resulted in suspending the violence but so far has not resolved the region's problems. If these problems are not addressed, the uprising may resume. Although the Urhobo people comprised the largest number of militants from the Western Niger Delta, there has been no research on whether there are aspects of the Urhobo culture that may be helpful for strengthening the amnesty program and preventing a return to violence by Urhobo ex-militants. Benet's polarities of democracy model served as the theoretical framework for this ethnographic study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and observations of 20 Urhobo ex-militants to learn what might prevent their return to violence. Content analysis was used to identify significant themes. Findings indicated that aspects of the Urhobo culture, such as communal obligations, respect for elders, and commitment to social justice and equality, may contribute to strengthening the amnesty program and preventing a return to violence. Recommendations include incorporating meaningful participation of Urhobo elders in the further development and implementation of the amnesty program. Implications for social change include informing policy makers of the importance the Urhobo culture may play in strengthening the amnesty program.

Este trabajo explora los temas de la nostalgia y la amnesia, de los africanos inmigrantes así como de los españoles, representados en tres películas contemporáneas españolas que se tratan de la inmigración de los africanos a España. Va a explorar estos temas de la amnesia y la nostalgia a través de los pasos de un inmigrante africano – 1ª paso) el viaje difícil de África a España, 2ª paso) la vida del inmigrante dentro de España, y 3ª paso) el regreso a África - como representados, respectivamente, en las siguientes películas: 14 kilómetros (2008), Said (1998), y Pobladores (2006).

Fokus i uppsatsen är begreppet mångfald och svenska Amnesty. Utgångspunkten är dels det oproblematiserade och positiva talet om mångfald som kommer till uttryck i den offentliga debatten i Sverige och dels det faktum att den svenska sektionen av Amnesty International nyligen tagit beslut om att införa ett"mångfaldsperspektiv"i syfte att genomsyra all organisation och verksamhet.

Syftet med uppsatsen är formulerat i två steg: som ett första steg analyserar jag uppfattningar och föreställningar om Amnesty som organisation, och om dess medlemmar och som ett andra steg gör jag - med särskilt fokus på etniska och kulturella aspekter - en analys av hur mångfald förstås i intervjuerna och hur denna förståelse relateras till svenska Amnesty som organisation. Kvalitativa intervjuer med sex aktiva medlemmar inom svenska Amnesty utgör grunden för analysen. Ett socialkonstruktionistiskt inspirerat synsätt används som teoretisk referensram och begrepp som etnicitet, kultur, mångkulturalism och kategorisering är centrala och används som teoretiska verktyg i analysen.

De huvudsakliga slutsatserna av analysen är att den bild av Amnesty, och dess medlemmar, som kommer till uttryck i intervjuerna är nästintill uteslutande positiv, vilket får till följd att en diskussion om utanförskap och diskriminering i rörelsen inte ges något direkt utrymme. Mångfald förstås i mångt och mycket i termer av en representation av olika"kategorier"av människor såsom "män", "kvinnor", "invandrare", "icke-akademiker". En oreflekterad och oproblematiserad förståelse av mångfald riskerar att"låsa fast"människors olikheter i"kategorier"och på så sätt riskerar olikheter att essentialiseras. Det problematiska i talet om mångfald är inte att man fokuserar på människors olikheter utan att olikhetsdiskussionen snarare utgår från olika kategorier av människor än från individer.

The focus of this study is the concept of diversity and the movement of Amnesty International in Sweden. The starting-point of the study is partly the unproblematic and positive way of referring to diversity in Swedish working life and the public debate and partly the decision taken by Amnesty in Sweden to introduce a “diversity-policy” in the association.

The aim of the study is expressed in two steps: firstly, my aim is to analyse the understanding of Amnesty as an organisation, expressed by active Amnesty-members in Sweden. Secondly, my aim is to analyse the understanding of diversity, expressed by the members, and the way this understanding refers to the movement of Amnesty in Sweden. The empirical material is primarily based upon qualitative in-depths interviews with six active Amnesty-members. Social constructionism is used as a theoretical frame of reference and concepts as ethnicity, culture, multiculturalism and categorizing are essential in the study and used as theoretical tools in the analysis.

The main results are that the image of Amnesty and its members given in the interviews, is, in principle, exclusively positive, giving no space for a discussion of discrimination in the organisation. The understanding of diversity is based upon a conception of representation of different categories of people, such as “men”, “women”, “immigrants”, “non-academics” etc. The unproblematic way of speaking of diversity run the risk of strengthen the conception of “difference” based upon different categories of people, not individuals.

Magister Legum - LLM
The end of Apartheid and the transition to a new constitutional democracy in South Africa was ushered in by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The purpose of the TRC was to promote a dialogue between victims and perpetrators of gross human rights violations to try and achieve reconciliation in the country. To this end, the TRC was given the power to grant conditional amnesty to those who came forward to reveal the full truth to the country about the crimes that they had committed. Those who refused to apply for amnesty or who did apply but were denied amnesty were supposed to be prosecuted. A number of years have passed since the final TRC report was submitted and hardly any prosecutions have taken place. This paper argues, by comparing the transitions in Argentina and Chile to the one in South Africa, that the lack of post-Truth Commission prosecutions in South Africa has contributed to nurturing a culture of impunity for acts of corruption in high offices of state. It argues that in countries transitioning from repressive and authoritarian regimes to democratic governments, prosecutions of gross human rights violations are necessary for the creation and strengthening of the rule of law and a human rights culture. Therefore, the impunity for economic crimes such as corruption is detrimental to democracy.

The Niger Delta militancy ravaged the Nigerian upstream petroleum sector between 2004-2009, bringing it to a standstill. In response, the Nigerian state adopted an amnesty policy―a globally recognized tool for conflict resolution and peacebuilding―to protect the sector and the economy from collapse. Little is known, however, about the unintended consequences of the amnesty implementation for the Nigerian upstream petroleum sector. Thus, the purpose of this study was to fill this gap in the research literature on the Niger Delta amnesty program. Polarity management was the conceptual framework applied; relative deprivation and polarities of democracy constituted the theoretical foundation for this qualitative case study. Face-to-face interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with 29 purposefully selected participants from the senior ranks of the petroleum industry, sector trade unions, relevant government agencies, and a regional university. Data were inductively coded as part of content analysis, the data analysis strategy. Participants viewed the amnesty policy as being poorly conceived and implemented due to the many unintended negative consequences arising from the policy implementation. The key finding from the study indicates that both the sector and the Niger Delta region are worse off post the amnesty policy implementation. The study concludes that by adopting and implementing the study recommendations, stakeholders may be able to mitigate the identified unintended consequences, position the Nigerian upstream petroleum sector for sustainable growth, address the root causes of the militancy, and deliver a positive social change for the residents of Niger Delta.

This thesis is an exploration of ancestral narratives in the fiction of Thomas Keneally and Christopher Koch. Initially, ancestry in literature creates an historical relationship which articulates the link between the past and the present. In this sense ancestry functions as a type of cultural memory where various issues of inheritance can be negotiated. However, the real value of ancestral narratives lies in their power to aid in the construction of both personal and communal identities. They have the potential to transform these identities, to transgress “natural” boundaries and to reshape conventional identities in the light of historical experience. For Keneally, ancestral narratives depict national forbears who “narrate the nation” into being. His earlier fictions present ancestors of the nation within a mythic and symbolic framework to outline Australian national identity. This identity is static, oppositional, and characterized by the delineation of boundaries which set nations apart from one another. However, Keneally’s more recent work transforms this conventional construction of national identity. It depicts an Irish-Australian diasporic identity which is hyphenated and transgressive: it transcends the conventional notion of nations as separate entities pitted against one another. In this way Keneally’s ancestral narratives enact the potential for transforming identity through ancestral narrative. On the other hand, Koch’s work is primarily concerned with the intergenerational trauma causes by losing or forgetting one’s ancestral narrative. His novels are concerned with male gender identity and the fragmentation which characterizes a self-destructive idea of maleness. While Keneally’s characters recover their lost ancestries in an effort to reshape their idea of what it is to be Australian, Koch’s main protagonist lives in ignorance of his ancestor’s life. He is thus unable to take the opportunity to transform his masculinity due to the pervasive cultural amnesia surrounding his family history and its role in Tasmania’s past. While Keneally and Koch depict different outcomes in their fictional ancestral narratives they are both deeply concerned with the potential to transform national and gender identities through ancestry.

I’ve chosen primary to analyze commercial form of advertising by world leading companies; McDonald’s, Coca-Cola and HP due to their implementation of global advertising. The fourth campaign that’s being analyzed is not of commercial type instead it’s characterized as an informative campaign that the ideal organization Amnesty is carring out.  The study has been successful in gathering data that could be presented in correlation with already established theories and then comparing the results. The goal of the research is to create an understanding regarding global advertising as well as the scientific debate that’s going on within the subject. The scientific research has been debated for a long time regarding advertising that’s positioned globally; whether it should be standardized or adapted. This means whether advertising should look the same in all countries or if it should be adapted to a nation’s specific culture. Scientists haven’t yet been successful in establishing what’s considered to be more prominent due to various diverse opinions.

By implementing content analysis together with semiotic analysis as a reinforcer, the study was able to examine the global advertising’s design and their common characteristics. Within this study the campaigns have been studied both visually and verbally in addition to their messages and values. The McDonald’s and Coke campaign has been categorized as advertising that reflect specific kinds of lifestyles and therefore characterized as “lifestyle format”. HP campaign on the other hand was using celebrities. This contributed that their global campaign became very personal because the celebrities were reflecting their own personality in the commercials. That’s why HP was categorized as the “personalized format” while Amnesty remained characterized as an informative campaign. Results show that these campaigns’ global form of advertising weren’t only implementing standardized form but also incorporated adapted commercial characteristics as well. This is what the theorizers Hassan, Craft and Kortam call a”hybrid strategy” that’s by their opinion most effective form of global advertising. Another important result was that the “creative strategy” (its promise/statement) is what makes the campaign cohesive. While the “creative tactic” (the visual elements) differs more or less within an advertising campaign.

Jag har valt att främst analysera kommersiella kampanjer från de världsledande företagen McDonald’s, Coca-Cola och HP eftersom de tillämpar global form av reklam.  Den fjärde kampanjen som analyseras är inte av kommersiellt slag då den karaktäriseras som en informativ kampanj som den ideella organisationen Amnesty har genomfört.  Studien har lyckats generera data som kunde sättas i relation med de redan fastställda teorierna och på så vis jämföra resultaten.

Forskningens mål är att skapa en förståelse angående global reklam samt den vetenskapliga debatten i ämnet. Den vetenskapliga forskningen har länge debatterat angående om reklam som appliceras globalt borde vara standardiserad eller anpassad, det vill säga om den ska se lika ut i alla länder eller om man borde anpassa den till varje lands individuella kultur. Forskarna har fortfarande inte kommit fram till vad som anses vara mest effektivt då en splittrad syn angående denna fråga uppstår.  

Genom kvalitativ innehållsanalys med förstärkning av den semiotiska analysen så kunde studien granska den globala reklamens utformning och dess gemensamma karaktäristiker som uppstår. I denna studie så har reklamkampanjerna granskats både visuellt och språkmässigt samt dess budskap och värderingar. Reklamkampanjerna McDonald’s och Coca-Cola blev kategoriserade som den form av reklam som reflekterar specifika livsstilar och därför karaktäriserades som ”livsstilsformatet”. HP är den reklamkampanj som använde sig av kändisar. Detta gjorde att deras globala reklam blev väldigt personlig då den reflekterade kändisarnas personligheter. Därför kategoriserades HP:s reklamkampanj som det” personifierade formatet” medan Amnesty förblev karaktäriserad som informativ form av kampanj. Resultatet visade att dessa reklamkampanjers globala reklam inte endast implementerade standardiserad form utan likaså integrerade anpassad form. Detta kallar teoretikerna Hassan, Craft och Kortam för ”hybridstrategi” och anses enligt dem vara mest effektivt tillvägagångssätt när det gäller global reklam.  En annan viktig sak som resultatet påvisade var att den ”kreativa strategin” (dess utlovande/påstående) är det som gör kampanjen sammanhängande medan den ”kreativa taktiken” (dess visuella element) mer eller mindre skiljer sig inom en kampanj.