Sarajevo’s Ambivalent Memoryscape: Spatial stories of peace and conflict

Kappler, Stefanie

doi:10.1177/1750698016650484

Sarajevo’s Ambivalent Memoryscape: Spatial stories of peace and conflict

Kappler, Stefanie

Authors

Professor Stefanie Kappler stefanie.kappler@durham.ac.uk
Professor

Abstract

This article focuses on Sarajevo’s memoryscape to investigate the ambiguous nature of artefacts of commemoration. Suggesting that memorials impact the ways in which people relate to the past and future, the article suggests that they represent important platforms on which different versions of peace and social justice are implicitly narrated and discussed. Depending on the artist/designer, the location, the shape, the audience and the surrounding socio-political discourses, memorials inspire and transform stories of war and peace. The controversies around the Sarajevo roses or monuments dedicated to the international community in Sarajevo mirror controversial societal debates around the nature and politics of peace(building). Conflict and contestation can thus be read through closer investigation of the maps of meaning underpinning the commemoration of certain events. Due to their ambiguous nature, monuments can be used as a platform for the constant transformation of discourses of peace into conflict, and vice versa.

Citation

Kappler, S. (2017). Sarajevo’s Ambivalent Memoryscape: Spatial stories of peace and conflict. Memory Studies, 10(2), 130-143. https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698016650484

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jan 26, 2016
Online Publication Date	May 18, 2016
Publication Date	Apr 1, 2017
Deposit Date	Jan 26, 2016
Publicly Available Date	Jan 28, 2016
Journal	Memory Studies
Print ISSN	1750-6980
Electronic ISSN	1750-6999
Publisher	SAGE Publications
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	10
Issue	2
Pages	130-143
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1177/1750698016650484

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Copyright Statement
Kappler, Stefanie (2017) 'Sarajevo’s ambivalent memoryscape : spatial stories of peace and conflict.', Memory studies., 10 (2). pp. 130-143. Copyright © 2016 The Author(s). Reprinted by permission of SAGE Publications.