Minority Narratives & National Memory

The establishment of international human rights has resulted in a radical change in the relation between minority groups and states. Modern democracies are obliged to create political and social conditions that guarantee a common ground for the minority as well as the majority. However, it seems that history has left its mark on this common ground. This anthology shows how boundaries between minority and majority have, over time, created a remarkable asymmetric coexistence that appears to be continuing despite international legal norms. The idea that a singular national ethos belongs to a particular geographical region has been naturalised at great cost for many minorities. One such cost is the silencing of minority narratives as part of a nation's history. The different case studies in this collection of essays well illustrate nationalism's project to wipe out 'memories of plurality'.