Inherited traumas in diaspora: postmemory, past-presencing and mobilisation of second-generation Kurds in Europe

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines the way in which conflict-generated diasporas pass on collective memories of a violent past onto the next generation. It contributes to uncovering the intergenerational memory transmission patterns in the diaspora by examining how new generations inherit the experiences of a violent past from their parents and mobilise and demobilise around issues concerning such past. By focusing on the Kurdish diaspora as a case study, the authors suggest that diasporas gradually form collective memories that may align with or differ from the narratives of those who stayed in their home countries. The collective memory of diasporic communities is also shaped by various factors related to their new countries of residence. This diasporic memory is ever evolving, influenced by each new generation that not only inherits but also reinterprets the shared memories, asserting their own agency in this ongoing process.