Towards an Understanding of Kurdistani Memory Culture

This book presents a thorough analysis of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq's memory culture, focusing particularly on commemorations and representations of the Anfal and Halabja atrocities. The author employs a transdisciplinary approach that draws on Memory Studies, Postcolonial Studies, Heritage Studies, Kurdish Studies, Literary Studies and Trauma Studies, to analyze cultural objects such as Kurdistani literary novels, museums, and school curricula. The book introduces two key concepts: the "phantomic museum" and the "apostrophic museum." The former explores the fragile and politicized nature of memories of missing individuals who disappeared during Saddam Hussein's genocidal campaigns and who have never been found, primarily as they return in the Halabja Monument and Peace Museum. The latter examines how the addressing apostrophizing of Kurdistan, in and by the Amna Suraka museum in the city of Sulaymaniyah, institutionalizes official and highly politicized versions of the past.

Provides unique insights into the KRI's memory culture Develops original concepts: the apostrophic and the phantomic museum Ingeniously combines various academic disciplines

Autorentext
Bareez Majid holds a PhD in Cultural Studies from Leiden University, and is currently an affiliated fellow at Heidelberg University. She specializes in memory, trauma, museums, and literature, with a specific focus on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Majid co-authored the 2022 book Exploring Hartmut Rosa's Concept of Resonance.

Klappentext

This book presents a thorough analysis of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq s memory culture, focusing particularly on commemorations and representations of the Anfal and Halabja atrocities. The author employs a transdisciplinary approach that draws on Memory Studies, Postcolonial Studies, Heritage Studies, Kurdish Studies, Literary Studies and Trauma Studies, to analyze cultural objects such as Kurdistani literary novels, museums, and school curricula. The book introduces two key concepts: the "phantomic museum" and the "apostrophic museum." The former explores the fragile and politicized nature of memories of missing individuals who disappeared during Saddam Hussein's genocidal campaigns and who have never been found, primarily as they return in the Halabja Monument and Peace Museum. The latter examines how the addressing apostrophizing of Kurdistan, in and by the Amna Suraka museum in the city of Sulaymaniyah, institutionalizes official and highly politicized versions of the past.

Inhalt

1. Introduction: Kurdistani Memory Culture.- 2. Master Narratives: Kurdistani Memory Culture and Educational Textbooks.- 3. Resisting Master Narratives: Kurdistani Memory Culture and Two Literary Texts by Bachtyar Ali.- 4. The Apostrophic: Amna Suraka, In Order Not to Forget.- 5. The Phantomic: The Halabja Monument and Peace Museum.- 6. Conclusion: Memory as an Agent of Change.