La guerre civile: Entre Histoire et Mémoire

In 1995, civil war was bloodying the former Yugoslavia. Other European nations had lived through this drama: France in 1789-1799, 1848, 1871, 1940-1944; Spain between 1936-1939; Italy from 1942-1944. Because it is urgent to recognize the characteristics of civil war--this confrontation so badly described up to the present--it is necessary to remember these grave historical moments, to seek understanding of the mechanisms that created them. Next we must uncover the processes that determine how we remember these events--our attitudes, our convictions--so many indelible traces that our museums bear witness to. This work contains the proceedings of a colloquium entitled "Civil war between History and Memory," which took place in October 1994 at La Roche-sur-Yon (Vendée), attended by top specialists from Spain, Great Britain, Italy, and France. The goal of this international meeting was to explore this tragic dark zone that is civil war, in proposing a comparative reading in this part of southern Europe where ideologies, passions, and hateful memories have durably divided societies. This volume forms part of the necessary collective reflection needed surrounding the violence of war which is the reality of our age. [Translation of book jacket.]