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The Resource In praise of forgetting : historical memory and its ironies, David Rieff

In praise of forgetting : historical memory and its ironies, David Rieff

Creator
Author
Summary
"The conventional wisdom about historical memory is summed up in George Santayana’s celebrated phrase, zThose who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.y Today, the consensus that it is moral to remember, immoral to forget, is nearly absolute. And yet is this right? David Rieff, an independent writer who has reported on bloody conflicts in Africa, the Balkans, and Central Asia, insists that things are not so simple. He poses hard questions about whether remembrance ever truly has, or indeed ever could, zinoculatey the present against repeating the crimes of the past. He argues that rubbing raw historical wounds—whether self-inflicted or imposed by outside forces—neither remedies injustice nor confers reconciliation. If he is right, then historical memory is not a moral imperative but rather a moral option—sometimes called for, sometimes not. Collective remembrance can be toxic. Sometimes, Rieff concludes, it may be more moral to forget. Ranging widely across some of the defining conflicts of modern times—the Irish Troubles and the Easter Uprising of 1916, the white settlement of Australia, the American Civil War, the Balkan wars, the Holocaust, and 9/11—Rieff presents a pellucid examination of the uses and abuses of historical memory. His contentious, brilliant, and elegant essay is an indispensable work of moral philosophy." -- publisher
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
x, 145 pages
Contents
  • Footprints in the sands of time, and all that
  • Must we deform the past in order to preserve it?
  • What is collective memory actually good for?
  • The victory of memory over history
  • Forgiveness and forgetting
  • The memory of wounds and other safe harbors
  • Amor fati
  • Against remembrance
Isbn
9780300182798
Instance
Label
In praise of forgetting : historical memory and its ironies
Title
In praise of forgetting
Title remainder
historical memory and its ironies
Statement of responsibility
David Rieff
Creator
Author
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
"The conventional wisdom about historical memory is summed up in George Santayana’s celebrated phrase, zThose who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.y Today, the consensus that it is moral to remember, immoral to forget, is nearly absolute. And yet is this right? David Rieff, an independent writer who has reported on bloody conflicts in Africa, the Balkans, and Central Asia, insists that things are not so simple. He poses hard questions about whether remembrance ever truly has, or indeed ever could, zinoculatey the present against repeating the crimes of the past. He argues that rubbing raw historical wounds—whether self-inflicted or imposed by outside forces—neither remedies injustice nor confers reconciliation. If he is right, then historical memory is not a moral imperative but rather a moral option—sometimes called for, sometimes not. Collective remembrance can be toxic. Sometimes, Rieff concludes, it may be more moral to forget. Ranging widely across some of the defining conflicts of modern times—the Irish Troubles and the Easter Uprising of 1916, the white settlement of Australia, the American Civil War, the Balkan wars, the Holocaust, and 9/11—Rieff presents a pellucid examination of the uses and abuses of historical memory. His contentious, brilliant, and elegant essay is an indispensable work of moral philosophy." -- publisher
Cataloging source
YDXCP
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Rieff, David,
Index
no index present
Literary form
non fiction
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Collective memory
  • History
  • Ethics
Label
In praise of forgetting : historical memory and its ironies, David Rieff
Instantiates
Publication
Copyright
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Footprints in the sands of time, and all that -- Must we deform the past in order to preserve it? -- What is collective memory actually good for? -- The victory of memory over history -- Forgiveness and forgetting -- The memory of wounds and other safe harbors -- Amor fati -- Against remembrance
Control code
920017514
Dimensions
22 cm
Extent
x, 145 pages
Isbn
9780300182798
Lccn
2015954282
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
System control number
(OCoLC)920017514
Label
In praise of forgetting : historical memory and its ironies, David Rieff
Publication
Copyright
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Footprints in the sands of time, and all that -- Must we deform the past in order to preserve it? -- What is collective memory actually good for? -- The victory of memory over history -- Forgiveness and forgetting -- The memory of wounds and other safe harbors -- Amor fati -- Against remembrance
Control code
920017514
Dimensions
22 cm
Extent
x, 145 pages
Isbn
9780300182798
Lccn
2015954282
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
System control number
(OCoLC)920017514

Subject

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