‘I can’t remember how many I killed’. . .: Child soldiers and memory work in YouTube

Abstract

The way conflicts are remembered is crucial for the prevention of future violence, and digital technologies play increasing roles in processes of remembering. This article looks at memory work conducted in a YouTube video featuring two former child soldiers in Maluku, Eastern Indonesia, and their story from mutual hatred and war to friendship and peace. Analysing and comparing the video and the related English and Indonesian video commentaries, this article asks how the Moluccan violence is remembered, how that memory travels and how it is translated and received among different audiences. It investigates how connectivity and creativity open up new memory spaces and how, within these digital spaces, transcultural memory tropes and political and cultural contexts of social media users can both solidify hegemonic memory narratives and transform traumatic memories into hope and peace.