Le poids du passé : une étude parallèle sur le travail de mémoire en Allemagne et en Espagne

Dana Martin (1) , Olivia Salmon-Monviola (1)

1 LABCS - Laboratoire Communication et Solidarité

The democratization processes of former authoritarian or totalitarian states are at the heart of many debates in the 21st century. Society and researchers have examined both the transition process from one regime to another as well as the measures implemented and tools to be preferred or discarded in order to make the short- or long-term transition phases easier. Post-Nazi / post-Communist Germany and post-Franco Spain are countries whose leaders and people have had to confront a particularly difficult and painful past. The attitudes adopted concerning crimes committed, conflicts experienced and individual and collective memories represent a major challenge and have triggered a keen and growing interest among the media as well as national and international observers. To address this issue, other nations can serve either as references or as counter-examples in order to come to terms with scars from the past and if appropriate, to develop warmer relations or even a reconciliation process between former leaders and victims, between supporters and opponents. However, systematic comparisons grounded in the study of equivalent corpora made up of primary and secondary sources and a common framework of interpretation are few and far between within the field of civilization studies. Thus, the aim of our research is to sketch out a parallel overview of the current situation drawing on knowledge of these two traumatic pasts within contemporary Europe in order to bring to light specificities, differences and areas of convergence.

Les processus de démocratisation d'États auparavant autoritaires ou totalitaires sont au coeur de nombreux débats du 21 ème siècle. Société et recherche s'interrogent non seulement sur le passage d'un régime à l'autre, mais aussi sur les dispositifs et outils à privilégier – ou à proscrire – pour faciliter la phase de transition qui peut être de courte ou de longue durée. L'Allemagne postnazie / postcommuniste et l'Espagne postfranquiste représentent deux pays dont les dirigeants et les populations ont dû faire face à un passé particulièrement difficile et douloureux. La gestion des crimes commis, des conflits vécus et des souvenirs individuels et collectifs constitue un défi de taille qui suscite un vif intérêt de la part des médias et des observateurs nationaux et internationaux. A ce propos, l'exemple d'autres nations peut servir soit de référence, soit de contre-modèle pour aborder le travail de mémoire et, le cas échéant, de rapprochement, voire de réconciliation entre anciens responsables et victimes, sympathisants et opposants. Or, les comparaisons systématiques sur la base de corpus équivalents de sources primaires et secondaires et d'une grille de lecture commune se font plutôt rares en civilisations étrangères. Nous proposons donc de dresser un état des lieux parallèle, à partir de deux exemples de passés traumatiques dans l'espace européen contemporain, afin d'en dégager les spécificités, les divergences et les convergences. The democratization processes of former authoritarian or totalitarian states are at the heart of many debates in the 21 st century. Society and researchers have examined both the transition process from one regime to another as well as the measures implemented and tools to be preferred or discarded in order to make the short-or long-term transition phases easier. Post-Nazi / post-Communist Germany and post-Franco Spain are countries whose leaders and people have had to confront a particularly difficult and painful past. The attitudes adopted concerning crimes committed, conflicts experienced and individual and collective memories represent a major challenge and have triggered a keen and growing interest among the media as well as national and international observers. To address this issue, other nations can serve either as references or as counterexamples in order to come to terms with scars from the past and if appropriate, to develop warmer relations or even a reconciliation process between former leaders and victims, between supporters and opponents. However, systematic comparisons grounded in the study of equivalent corpora made up of primary and secondary sources and a common framework of interpretation are few and far between within the field of civilization studies. Thus, the aim of our research is to sketch out a parallel overview of the current situation drawing on

Mots clés: dictature; démocratie; Allemagne; Espagne; passé; mémoire

Domaines: Histoire

Dana Martin, Olivia Salmon-Monviola. Le poids du passé : une étude parallèle sur le travail de mémoire en Allemagne et en Espagne. Textes & Contextes, 2015, Le Temps guérit toutes les blessures : La Résistance à l'autorité de l'Histoire dans les concepts de nation et de nationalisme, 9, https://preo.u-bourgogne.fr/textesetcontextes/index.php?id=1133. ⟨halshs-01240057⟩