Introduction. Les nouvelles après-guerres

Forum: Theoretical Concepts of Shaping the Memory, edited by Sabina Ferhadbegović and Katerina Králová

“…61 Commonly, dominant victim groups act as gatekeepers of past experiences, effectively protecting a standardised version of the past, which can also resemble national myths and hegemonic narratives. 62 In Southeast Europe, memories of World War II and the 1990s have been dominated by notions of national collective suffering and heroic sacrifice whilst marginalising and belittling the suffering of victims of the 'other' group(s). Assertions of exclusive victimhood have in fact become one of the most potent methods of ethnonational political mobilisation.…”

Explaining Compensation in Post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina: The Case of Victims of Torture and Sexual Violence

“…Both underwent comparable and irreparable suffering, which cannot be undone and can thus only be compensated. Compensation in the form of pursuit of legal recognition and material assistance, also referred to as 'status' in Bosnia, has stood at the forefront of their claims since the establishment of their associations in the early post-war years (Helms 2013;Delpla 2014). As a scholar of Bosnia put it, obtaining a 'status' has become an 'obsession' for many victims and their associations (Delpla 2014, p. 246).…”