The contested memorialization of the Armenian genocide (1915-1923) : Memorial museums as political actors: Narratives at Iğdir and Tsitsernakaberd

Sammanfattning

The Armenian genocide of 1915-1923 is a major traumatic event in the collective memory of the contemporary nation states of Turkey and Armenia. Being at the heart of their respective national identities. Making it so that the memory of the genocide has been strongly contested between both nation states for the last 100 years. A contestation centered on the creation of national ‘strategic’ narratives of competitive victimhood for the purpose of memory securitization. Both sides seeking to strengthen their internal and external legitimacy. The focus of this study are the Turkish Iğdir and Armenian Tsitsernakaberd memorial museums, places of memorialization that are one way in which these narratives are created. Aiming to understand what narratives are created at both sites, how they are practically created, how they fit into both country’ssociopolitical relationship, and how they connect to concepts of memory politics and wider genocidal discourse. To achieve this, on-site data collection was conducted at both memorial museums. Leading to an interpretive narrative analysis approach, supported by multimodality.The findings showed that both narratives stand at the heart of the sociopolitical relationship between both states. Aiming to persuade both national and foreign audiences in their own ways.Iğdir employing defensive strategies of denial and deflection to overcome its inherent contradictory narrative. Whilst the Tsitsernakaberd focused on Western aligned practices of genocide prevention and the need to proof. Showing how unique state ontological security issues can impact narratives on similar events. Confirming the political and memory securitization purposes of memorial museums.