Divided Memory

Abstract

Italian memories have often been divided. Events have been interpreted in contrasting ways, and the facts themselves are often contested. It has proved extremely difficult, if not impossible, for any group—public or private—to create a consensus around the past, or around ways of remembering that past. Various groups—be they regional, ethnic, political—have demanded that their memories be acknowledged. Individual events as well as history itself have been understood in a bewildering variety of ways. The state and other public bodies have rarely been able to build durable and commonly agreed practices of commemoration. There has been no closure, no “truth,” and little reconciliation.

Memory is a battlefield, where nothing is neutral and where everything is continually contested.

—Luisa Passerini, “Memories of Resistance”