Abstract
Collective memory often leads parties in conflict to strictly adhere to their own narrative and concentrate on their own pain, while ignoring that of the other, thus hampering the chances for reconciliation. This chapter suggests a novel conceptualization/definition of the ethics of memory that may overcome the above impasse by enabling the conflicted groups to remember with and not against. It is based on two pillars: the first is inspired by Levinas’ overarching philosophy of unlimited responsibility for the other and by the African Ubuntu view that one’s dignity relies on that of the other. The second leans on psychoanalytical theories that involve the healing role of a “live third” that generates a livable meaning for the individual’s horrible experience. The chapter reifies the above conceptualization by looking at the work of two Palestinian-Israeli organizations which have successfully applied the ethics of memory in this chapter’s definition.
The threats of the future may then move beyond our imagination as our memories elude our knowledge
—Samuel Gerson 2009, 1342
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Notes
- 1.
Ubuntu is a Zulu term that was first used in Zimbabwe and means that “I am a person because you are a person” (Eickelman 2018).
- 2.
There are other causes of massive trauma, such as natural or technological disasters. In this chapter, I focus on the trauma of war.
- 3.
“Le Même”. Levinas claims that Western philosophy conceptualizes any alterity based on sameness and identicality, and thus reduces the “other” to the “same” (Amiel Houser 2013).
- 4.
Robi Damelin joined the PCFF because she wanted to work through her personal pain for the sake of reconciliation rather than revenge. She oversees the PCFF’s public relations (Charter for Compassion, https://charterforcompassion.org/robi-damelin).
- 5.
The quotes and Bushra Awad’s story are available at the PCFF website, http://theparentscircle.org/en/stories/bushra-awad_eng/
- 6.
In Levinas’ theory, the third concerns the limits of one’s responsibility to the other, since the “third” is also “my other”. For a full explanation of the third and its implications in Levinas’ philosophy, See Levy 1993.
- 7.
For an extended exploration of their work see Keynan 2019.
- 8.
For more information see the organization’s website: http://theparentscircle.org/en/about_eng/
- 9.
For more information about the group, see the organization’s website http://cfpeace.org/
- 10.
Gerson (2009) uses the concept of witness in the sense of a “live third”, which he interprets as an an-other, who—by her/his engaged recognition and concerned responsiveness—generates a livable meaning for the individual’s horrible experience; an an-other upon whom the individual relies, in whom she puts her trust and who creates a sense of continuity and meaning.
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Keynan, I. (2020). Ethics of Memory, Trauma and Reconciliation. In: Wale, K., Gobodo-Madikizela, P., Prager, J. (eds) Post-Conflict Hauntings. Palgrave Studies in Compromise after Conflict. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-39077-8_3
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