Unwilling or Incapable? Understanding How People Remember Informal Exchanges during Communism

Abstract

The history of everyday life during the communist period continues to fascinate us. However, such research always poses methodological challenges. This is especially true when one tries to explore the issue of informal exchanges. In this paper, I aim at identifying several challenges with some proposed approaches which can aid research. Firstly, we presented the reactions of witnesses when interviewed and how we can analyze them. Secondly, I tried explaining the three aspects of memory that we consider essential: remembering, nostalgia, and taboo‑ization. The goal is to introduce a psychological explanation into historical research to improve on existing methodology.