Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Informants
- Abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- Preface
- Introduction: Persisting Pasts in the Margins of Europe
- Part 1 The Making of Estonian History
- Part 2 The Meaning of Closure
- Part 3 Closure and a Significant Other
- Conclusion: Guardians Of Living History
- List of Informants
- Full Reference List
- Index
5 - Committed to the Past: Memory Activists in Search of Dignity and Justice
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 November 2020
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Informants
- Abbreviations
- Acknowledgements
- Preface
- Introduction: Persisting Pasts in the Margins of Europe
- Part 1 The Making of Estonian History
- Part 2 The Meaning of Closure
- Part 3 Closure and a Significant Other
- Conclusion: Guardians Of Living History
- List of Informants
- Full Reference List
- Index
Summary
Abstract
Chapter 5 questions why the ‘memory activists’ are so committed to the past and what the emotional rupture narrative means to them. Their friendship ties with former nationalists and martyrs and their fears for modernity, make them long for a politically strong yet emotional history. They perceive a pluralist or settled, constructive narrative to create citizens who become unreceptive to danger. Citizens need to be prepared to fight for their nation, guarantee democracy, and ensure that history will not be repeated. Despite their seemingly radical worldview, the memory activists occupy a rather legitimized and credible position in society, due to their historical roots in human rights activism, their political ties, and the moderates among them who function as a bridge.
Keywords: Memory activism, committed to the past, human rights activism, radical and nationalistic worldview, memory and democracy
It is 2 February 2011 and a snow-white day. I find myself on a small square behind the Tartu University Library. Today is exactly ninety-one years after the signing of the Tartu Peace Treaty, which brought an end to the War of Independence (1918-1920). The conflict led to the recognition of Estonia's independence and the determination of its borders. The signing of the treaty by Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaan Poska and Soviet politician and diplomat Adolf Joffe took place in the building adjacent to the square behind the library. A plaque on the wall stands as a kind of ‘birth certificate’ of the Estonian Republic. Today passers-by cannot ignore this lieux de mémoire, since many, primarily older, people have gathered there. The square is decorated with Estonian and union flags, and with picket signs erected in heaps of snow. A microphone has been made available for members of the public to voice their opinions and share ideas. One of the recurring themes of the day is the violation of the peace treaty that was the foundation for Estonian sovereignty. People recall the Soviet incursions of 1939 and 1944, and complain about contemporary Estonian politicians who are failing to uphold the prewar borders.
The Tartu Peace Treaty commemoration clearly illustrates the activism and mentality of a particular group of Estonian citizens.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Guardians of Living HistoryAn Ethnography of Post-Soviet Memory Making in Estonia, pp. 241 - 286Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2020