Exploring the role of context models in memory-building: the completion of informative voids and the re-organisation of narratives in second-hand memories

Abstract

Introduction. The transmission of memory after traumatic collective events (such as armed conflicts or wars) is a complex phenomenon which always involves a discursive re-construction from a present viewpoint. In the case of second and third generations who have no direct memories of the conflict, knowledge about the collective past is more mediated each time, and a variety of contextual factors can interfere in the process of meaning-making. In this paper, we explore some of the discursive strategies employed by the first post-conflict generation in order to fill in informational voids or to manage discourses that seem contradictory with their current context or pre-established belief systems when re-building narratives about violent conflicts their community has experienced. Background. We combine theories from the field of Memory Studies with theoretical-methodological approaches from Critical Discourse Analysis, both of which presuppose the existence of pre-established and culturally constructed interpretative models which are activated in each process of (re)construction of narratives. Methods. Oral data collected from eight in-depth interviews with adolescents belonging to the first post-conflict generation in the Basque Country was analysed, following methods of Wodak's Discourse-Historical Approach. Results. Four types of rearrangement and re-contextualisation of information were identified during the interviews: all speakers drew on contextual information and pre-established mental models in order to fill in informational voids, even if the resulting narratives sometimes altered the original meaning. Conclusions. Evidence suggests that remembering is a discursive practice strongly influenced by the current context and situation of the speaker, which would offer an explanation as to why collective memory changes with each generation.