Faktizität, Identität und Emotionalität: Kulturelle Strategien zum Umgang mit Genozid-Leugnung im Fall Srebrenica (Südosteuropa Mitteilungen 05/2021)

Facticity, Identity, and Emotionality: Cultural Strategies addressing Genocide Denial in the Case of Srebrenica
Twenty-six years after the Srebrenica genocide, the topic remains a discursive minefield. On the one hand, there are the facts and a self-confident commemorative culture of the genocidal events of July 1995. On the other hand, revisionism, negation and counter-memorialization. This essay is grounded in three sources: first, the findings of the “Srebrenica Genocide Denial Report 2021” by the Memorial Center Srebrenica; secondly, the proposals for breaking the narrative of genocide denial by Jasmila Žbanić, director of the film “Quo Vadis, Aida?”; and finally, the results of the anti-revisionist, cross national projects “Ko/Tko je prvi počeo?” (Who started first?) and “Histoire pour la liberté” (History for freedom) complete this contribution. The aim of the essay is not merely to identify reasons, backgrounds, and interests in the revisionist discourse. Rather, it suggests possible solutions to this polarized situation which could be relevant beyond the regional framework.