“There’s more to history than dark pages”

Commemoration nowadays evokes images of war and mass violence. Post-World War II monuments remember victims above all. But when we see history only as a series of horrible events, it can never become a resource for imagining alternatives. That is not only reductive, but also unwise, according to Ann Rigney, Professor Emeritus of Literary Studies: “There’s more to history than dark pages.”

The memory of struggles for a better world

There is a huge emphasis on victimhood in public commemoration. Think of the Dutch National Day of Remembrance on 4 May every year. Commemorating victims is very important, Rigney concurs. It is true that history, both in the past and ongoing, includes many dark episodes crying out for recognition and justice. Nevertheless, she argues, we should make more of an effort to remember some of the positive things, especially how people struggled to change the world for the better. 

It is becoming clear that the overwhelming emphasis on victimhood in public commemoration has a downside, Rigney says. It reduces the future to a ‘never again’ where past crimes will not recur. 

What do people want and what do they find important? 

“‘Never again’ emphasises the absence of bad things, rather than the presence of something good,” Rigney explains. “It sidelines people’s efforts to reinvent the world along new lines. For that you must not only be against something, but also in favour of an alternative.”

You must not only be against something, but also in favour of an alternative.

Research on collective memory

She has devoted her career as a literary scholar to the study of ‘collective memory’: how common understandings of the past emerge with the help of rituals and stories. In the last 10 years she has concentrated on stories about protest movements; on shared recollections of citizens’ struggles to change the world for the better. Although protest, Rigney insists, “is a key element of democracy, it is largely overlooked in public commemoration.” 

Her research shows that dissent is intensively recollected, albeit in unofficial channels. “History turns out to be a renewable source of political energy and of hope.” Protest movements are often short-lived, but the stories told about them have a mobilising power that can sometimes last for generations. 

The persistent memory of the Paris Commune

This is what happened, for example, with the Paris Commune (1871), Rigney explains. The Commune was a revolutionary movement which succeeded in governing Paris for 72 days, before the army of the Third French Republic brutally suppressed it. “The uprising became a source of inspiration for other movements in the century and half that followed, including most recently Occupy and climate activism.”

“The memory of the Commune was passed on with the help of images, slogans, songs, and rituals. These made it possible to renew the hope and promises vested in the uprising of 1871 and transmit them to new generations.”

Hope as a red thread

Many movements she studied were short-lived and ended in failure. Indeed, many of them were violently suppressed. The Commune was such a case. How could an uprising which ended with the slaughter of 15,000 citizens become such a source of inspiration? 

“The answer lies in storytelling,” Rigney explains. “Traditionally the outcome of a story determines its meaning. The characters lived happily ever after, or not. The End.” In the cases that she has examined, something different happens. The most memorable thing turns out to be the beginning rather than the ending. 

History turns out to be a renewable source of political energy and of hope.

History as a promise

“I noticed that protest is remembered in such a way that its beginning is highlighted more than its disappointing dissolution. Stories about protest capture history as a promise rather than as an irreversible series of events. There are dark pages here to be sure, but these are inseparable from the courageous and creative actions of active citizens. People fall victim to violence but are not remembered as victims.”

Make room for remembering protest

The memory of protest tends to be overlooked in official commemorations, the set-up of museums, and the construction of monuments, Rigney notes. Her research shows that the history of protest and its long-term impact deserves more attention in public commemoration. “Not necessarily by solemnly placing a wreath before a monument,” she adds. “Think of more interactive and more dynamic forms such as exhibitions and installations which connect to ongoing events and generate debate.”

“It would be beneficial for public commemoration if we were to pay more attention to the history of our democratic order. So that history can become a renewable resource for thinking about active citizenship. Commemorating the hope that inspired earlier movements can help throw new light on the choices we are making in the here and now.”