Normalizing a Difficult Past? Cultural trauma and collective memory in Austria and Croatia

Project Information

CULTRAMACY

Grant agreement ID: 795374

DOI

10.3030/795374

Project closed

EC signature date 27 February 2018

Start date 1 April 2019

End date 29 September 2022

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 178 156,80

EU contribution

€ 178 156,80

Coordinated by

UNIVERSITAET GRAZ
Austria

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CULTRAMACY (Normalizing a Difficult Past? Cultural trauma and collective memory in Austria and Croatia)

Reporting period: 2019-04-01 to 2021-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The project dealt with the impact of trauma on the collective memory of wars in Austria and Croatia. In particular two corresponding forces are explained: cultural trauma - representing a response to the alteration of collective identity, and collective memory - acting as a cohesive element for group identity.
The current societal challenges, with migration/traveling of memory across borders and generations, can be researched with a similar methodology. This project has identified major gaps and divergences in historical discourses which make burdensome heritage often difficult to overcome and explored how dealing with negative heritage acts as a unifying force among (young) Europeans.
Three main objectives were explored in the framework of the study: 1) repercussions of trauma on collective and individual, as well as cultural and public memories, 2) traveling of memory through time and space - generational and transcultural transmission of memory, 3) analysis of patterns of European memory.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

This project first analyzed print and video media outlets in order to grasp the official politics of memory and representation of selected commemorative practices.
Moreover, it researched the attitudes of Austrian and Croatian youth and history teachers on a wide range of topics like history education, but also political participation.
The summary of previous work set the basis for the analysis of elements/patterns of transcultural memory on the wider, European level.

The finding of the research project contained (so far) one special issue, five peer-reviewed journal articles, and three peer-reviewed book chapters. The project is being presented both at the academic and non-academic level

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

This project went against the trap of methodological nationalism and instead tries to work on the community level in order to grasp how memories are negotiated, changed, and socially produced. I offered a new perspective for research on the difficult past and communicated the results to wider society. Some research results are presented as a repot which will be used in future guidelines for history education.

Round table in Eltz castle in Vukovar

My winning photo for the cover of the Nationalities Papers journal

Staff meeting in the time of pandemics