Articulating Change and Responsibility: Identity, Memory, and the Use of Historical Narratives in German Parliamentary Debates on Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
German Politics, vol. 34, pp. 183–206
Abstract
Conceptually contributing to the literature on culture/identity, ontological security, and narrative, this article explores Germany's articulation of historical memory in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. We argue that this is done through (re)interpretation and contestation, combing biographical continuity and narrative adjustment. Based on an analysis of 107 speeches in the German parliament, we claim that German foreign policy discourse is marked by a tension between different principles which are rooted in a normative dispute among Germans seeking to draw the ‘right lessons’ from the country's history. This dispute is exemplified by ongoing German attempts to contextualise and situate their own past within the present through political narratives.
Authors 2
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Leiden University · University of Cambridge
Affiliation as printed
Leiden University
University of Cambridge
Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
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Affiliation as printed
King’s College London
Department of European & International Studies, King's College London, London, UK
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