Citation

Zombory M. Holocaust Stud. 2017; 23(1-2): 176-198.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Informa - Taylor and Francis)

DOI

10.1080/17504902.2016.1209844

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

To contribute to a critical sociological understanding of the political struggles centering around the canonized memory of the Holocaust, this article proposes an extended comparative study of early postwar discursive constructions of the recent past. Focusing empirically on pre-Cold War Hungary, it analyzes three major institutional discourses, each conceptualizing the recent past as catastrophe: the jurisdiction on political crimes, official religious statements, and public interpretations of intellectuals. The article argues that before the rise of Holocaust memory, there existed a discursive regime dealing with the historical period of the Second World War. Though this regime around the concept of catastrophe did not apply the Jewish identification, it allowed for former acts of Nazi persecution to be confronted.

Language: en

Keywords

catastrophe; Critical historical sociology; early postwar period; Hungary