Afterlife of Events Perspectives on Mnemohistory

In the last few decades, we have witnessed a rearticulation of the traditional relationship between the categories of past, present and future in Western societies. It has enabled the historian's gaze to shift more freely than ever before so that the past no longer appears as something final and irreversible but persists in many ways in the present. The recognition of this new situation has given rise to a novel approach in historical research, called 'mnemohistory' by Jan Assmann. Mnemohistory is interested not so much in the factuality as in the actuality of the past – not in the past for its own sake, but in its later impact and reception. This volume looks at the perspectives of mnemohistory, argues for a redefinition of the notion of 'event', and proposes to conceptualize the link between 'event' and 'mnemohistory' by re-introducing the concept of 'afterlife' (Nachleben), first employed by Aby Warburg in the 1910s.

Marek Tamm is Associate Professor of Cultural History at the Estonian Institute of Humanities and Senior Researcher in Medieval Studies at the Institute of History, both in Tallinn University. His primary research fields are cultural history of medieval Europe, theory of history, and cultural memory studies. He has recently published Monumental History: Essays on the Historical Culture of Estonia (in Estonian, 2012) and co-edited Crusading and Chronicle Writing on the Medieval Baltic Frontier (with L. Kaljundi and C.S. Jensen, 2011).

Introduction: Afterlife of Events: Perspectives of Mnemohistory; Marek Tamm
PART I: THEORETICAL REFLECTIONS
1. Historical Event between the Sphinx and the Phoenix; François Dosse
2. Events, Proper Names, and the Rise of Memory; Nikolay Koposov
3. Accelerating Change and Trigger Events; Olivier Remaud
4. Theories of Cultural Memory and the Concept of 'Afterlife'; Aleida Assmann
5. Literature and the Afterlife of Events: The Lost and Haunted World of Austerlitz; Siobhan Kattago
PART II: EMPIRICAL ANALYSES
6. Exodus and Memory; Jan Assmann
7. Convulsion Recalled: Aftermath and Cultural Memory (post-1798 Ireland); Joep Leerssen
8. Celebrating Final Victory in Estonia's 'Great Battle for Freedom': The Short Afterlife of 23 June 1919 as National Holiday, 1934–1939; Karsten Brüggemann
9. Novemberland: 9th November, The German Master Example of Hauntology; Claus Leggewie
10. German Pasts in a Russian City – Kaliningrad between 1946 and 2006; Stefan Berger
11. Can a Criminal Event in the Past Disappear in a Garbage Bin in the Present? Dutch Colonial Memory and Human Rights: The Case of Rawagede; Chris Lorenz
12. Do Apologies End Events? Bloody Sunday 1972–2010; Ann Rigney
Afterthoughts on Afterlives; Peter Burke