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Introduction

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The Pedagogical Possibilities of Witnessing and Testimonies

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Abstract

The Pedagogical Possibilities of Witnessing and Testimonies—Through the Lens of Agamben by Marie Hållander offers an intriguing analysis of the phenomena of witnessing and testimony. In this introductory chapter the argument to be made on testimonies and the act of witnessing as a pedagogical possibility is framed within previous research and in relation to the examples of Collateral Murder (2010) and the Swedish The Living History Forum’s book Tell Ye Your Children (1998). The chapter also discusses the theoretical and methodological approach taken in the book, in relation to the work of Giorgio Agamben. More specifically, the chapter introduces the kinds of pedagogical possibilities in witnessing and testimony, in relation to school teaching as well as non-formal pedagogical contexts.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    My translation, in Swedish it says: “Att ta del av andra människors upplevelser kan väcka känslor och leda till insikter om tidigare händelser och skeenden i vår historia som inte får hända igen. När eleverna gemensamt får ta del av filmklipp innehållande personliga vittnesmål skapas en utgångspunkt för reflektion och diskussion” Forum för levande historia (n.d.), “Vittnesmål med klassrumsövningar”, visited 2020-03-24, https://www.levandehistoria.se/klassrummet/vittnesmal-med-klassrumsovningar.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Culture and Education, Södertörn University, Stockholm, Sweden

    Marie Hållander

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  1. Marie Hållander
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Correspondence to Marie Hållander .

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Hållander, M. (2020). Introduction. In: The Pedagogical Possibilities of Witnessing and Testimonies. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55525-2_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55525-2_1

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Pivot, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-55524-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-55525-2

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