From Hero to Victim: Commemorative Practices of Post-Heroic Society

Abstract

Introduction. In modern academic literature, interest in the phenomena of collective memory and commemoration has been growing. The mental experience of the past has a political dimension and can influence value orientations and life strategies of the present and future. The aim of this article is to examine the transformations in commemorative practices within Western societies that can be classified as post-heroic. Methodology and sources. The article employs a philosophical and interdisciplinary methodology (methodological principles of social constructivism, perspectivism, discourse analytical approach). The theoretical analysis engages with works related in the field of social and political philosophy and intellectual history. Results and discussion. The features of war commemoration in the narratives of the victors and the vanquished, which serve as sources of socio-political inclusion and exclusion, are examined. The distinctive feature of commemorative practices in Western post-heroic societies is the construction of a victim identity that encompasses both participants in military actions and victims of armed violence. In post-heroic societies, the memory of heroic self-sacrifice (sacrificium) is supplanted by the memory of passive victims (victimae), which is manifested in war narratives. The role of intellectuals in shaping the victim identity of German society is highlighted. Sequences of victim representations leading to the proliferation of victim identity are examined. Conclusion. It is argued that the figure of the military hero has a selective integrative potential, whereas the figure of the victim becomes a source of reconciliation between nations that once fought on opposing sides of the front. Heroic commemorative practices are an organic element of the memory of a victorious war. Self-victimization of the victors in World War II can be interpreted as a renunciation of the legacy victory, while the self-victimization of the vanquished signifies a renunciation of responsibility for the crimes of war