The Inadequacy of Communist Memory: Censorship, Captivity and Confiscation

Abstract

The present study recommends itself as an endeavor focusing upon Ricœur`s assertions regarding three approaches towards the uses and abuses of memory: the hindered memory – the manipulated memory – the abusively commended memory. These three particular attributes, defining the memory of communism, are reinvested with specific inflections which are already found within the division of concepts – censorship, captivity and confiscation. The focus of this study is upon of communist memory, which stands in need of being examined by recourse to the above-mentioned analytic approach, which consists in looking beyond its defensive wall. We will certainly not avoid the triple occurrence of the letter “C”: captivity, with reference to captive [thought] (C. Milosz); censorship [of memory/recollection (Revel)] or confiscation [of a particular, personal destiny]. Our novel contribution, with an acutely subjective-affective tone, can be seen most clearly in the last registry of our research, where it analyzes, clarifies and resonates, with a Ricœurian – Freudian mixture, the fragile balance of too much vs. too little memory, by establishing an appropriate frame for the reception of passive experiences in relation to the active exercise of memory.

Keywords

• Memory of Communism
• Recollections of Communism
• Censorship
• Captivity
• Confiscation