Commemorations and the Politics of Memory: Narrative Dynamics and the Memory of the Second World War in Moldova
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2020
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Abstract
This research aims to understand how the narratives about the Second World War in Moldova are deployed in the political agendas and how these narratives perform in the broader social and political context of Moldova. To explore, understand, and analyze how history and memory are harnessed in the processes of establishing legitimacy for political agendas in Moldova, the research focuses on the dynamics of contestations between historical narratives through the commemorations of Victory Day, the end of the Second World War. The research question is: how are memories and interpretations of World War II are used to advance the political agendas of different political groups, and how do these narratives circulate and perform to produce a particular story of Moldova? Drawing on qualitative methods such as participant observations, interviews, textual analysis, and narrative analysis, this project reveals that commemorations of Victory Day are seen as sites of contestation through which political elites seek legitimation of their visions of identity and statehood. The master narrative that emerges from this study is about competing identities and their corresponding historical ‘truth’ that is implicated in justifying certain futures for the Moldovan nation. Attention to politics and narrative dynamics in the study of memory in Moldova reveals how the master narrative of ‘competing identities’ in Moldova constructs and limits the ways memory, identity, and nation are interpreted and discussed. The contradiction between the simplified dominant narrative about memory and the complexity of the experiences of the war in Moldova that emerges in the study highlights the need for critical engagement with the notions of collective memory and collective identities in the conflict resolution field.