Staging Traumatic Memory: Competing Narratives of State Violence in Post-Communist Hungarian Museums
Author(s)
Publication Name
Publication Date
Abstract
The article examines the way three contemporary Hungarian museums–the House of Terror Museum, the Jewish Museum and the Holocaust Memorial and Documentation Center–represent the history of the Holocaust and the history of Jewish/non-Jewish relations. Reflecting different political agendas, each of the three museums offers a different interpretation of how the Holocaust fits into the larger narrative of Hungary's 20th century history. The article argues that post-communist public memory has been constructed through debates about these histories. By analyzing the three museums' displays, narratives and the debates surrounding them, the article argues that Hungarian public discourse has yet to come to terms with the meaning and place of “Jewishness” (and the way it has informed “Hungarianness”) in modern Hungarian history. Despite the centrality of Jews and Jewish-non-Jewish relations to the museums' narratives, none are able to offer a clear definition of what “Jewishness” means and how it functioned at different times throughout the 20th century.
Topics
Main Topic: Culture and Heritage Jewish Museums Memory Holocaust Commemoration Holocaust Education Holocaust Memorials Jewish - Non - Jewish Relations Post-1989 Communism
Genre
Geographic Coverage
Original Language
Volume/Issue
45(2-3)
Page Number / Article Number
236-251
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DOI
Link
Link to article (paywalled), Staging Traumatic Memory: Competing Narratives of State Violence in Post-Communist Hungarian Museums
Bibliographic Information
Staging Traumatic Memory: Competing Narratives of State Violence in Post-Communist Hungarian Museums. 2015: 236-251. https://archive.jpr.org.uk/10.1080/13501674.2015.1070636
