Learning from the Germans? History and Memory in German and European Discourses of Integration
History and memory appear to be increasingly important to discussions of European values and identity, as exemplified by references to ‘bitter experiences’ and ‘divided pasts’ in the draft EU constitution. The article takes recent suggestions that Europe could learn from German experiences of confro...
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2007-10-01
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doaj-f8e1ce9e50224ebe8e64f3a4a5e4d53f2020-11-24T23:01:03ZengUTS ePRESSPORTAL: Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies1449-24902007-10-0142Learning from the Germans? History and Memory in German and European Discourses of IntegrationAndrew BeattieHistory and memory appear to be increasingly important to discussions of European values and identity, as exemplified by references to ‘bitter experiences’ and ‘divided pasts’ in the draft EU constitution. The article takes recent suggestions that Europe could learn from German experiences of confronting multiple difficult pasts as its starting point, and considers critically what lessons those German experiences might in fact hold for ‘Europe’. It explores similarities and differences in the two integration contexts and their dominant approaches to, and assumptions about history and public memory. Specifically, it considers debates about the east-west division of the Cold War and about the place of communism and nazism in public memory. Contrary to common assumptions, the article argues that German experiences are not necessarily worth of European emulation.http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/portal/article/view/483HistoryMemoryEuropean integrationGerman unificationcommunism |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Andrew Beattie |
spellingShingle |
Andrew Beattie Learning from the Germans? History and Memory in German and European Discourses of Integration PORTAL: Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies History Memory European integration German unification communism |
author_facet |
Andrew Beattie |
author_sort |
Andrew Beattie |
title |
Learning from the Germans? History and Memory in German and European Discourses of Integration |
title_short |
Learning from the Germans? History and Memory in German and European Discourses of Integration |
title_full |
Learning from the Germans? History and Memory in German and European Discourses of Integration |
title_fullStr |
Learning from the Germans? History and Memory in German and European Discourses of Integration |
title_full_unstemmed |
Learning from the Germans? History and Memory in German and European Discourses of Integration |
title_sort |
learning from the germans? history and memory in german and european discourses of integration |
publisher |
UTS ePRESS |
series |
PORTAL: Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies |
issn |
1449-2490 |
publishDate |
2007-10-01 |
description |
History and memory appear to be increasingly important to discussions of European values and identity, as exemplified by references to ‘bitter experiences’ and ‘divided pasts’ in the draft EU constitution. The article takes recent suggestions that Europe could learn from German experiences of confronting multiple difficult pasts as its starting point, and considers critically what lessons those German experiences might in fact hold for ‘Europe’. It explores similarities and differences in the two integration contexts and their dominant approaches to, and assumptions about history and public memory. Specifically, it considers debates about the east-west division of the Cold War and about the place of communism and nazism in public memory. Contrary to common assumptions, the article argues that German experiences are not necessarily worth of European emulation. |
topic |
History Memory European integration German unification communism |
url |
http://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/portal/article/view/483 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT andrewbeattie learningfromthegermanshistoryandmemoryingermanandeuropeandiscoursesofintegration |
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1725640893275308032 |