Do woes unite foes? Interplay of narratives, memory, emotions and attitudes in the Karabakh conflict
Ph.D, Communication, 1988, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
M.Ed., Counseling, 1980, University of Puget Sound
April 30, 2013 2:00PM through 4:00PM
Rauf R. Garagozov has a PhD in Psychology, and is a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Strategic Studies (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Paper title: "Do woes unite foes? Interplay of narratives, memory, emotions and attitudes in the Karabakh conflict"
Center for the Study of Narrative and Conflict Resolution
Tuesday April 30th,
2:00PM - 4:00PM
Arlington, Truland Building 555
Lunch provided!
Rauf Garagozov is a senior research fellow at the Center for Strategic Studies (Baku, Azerbaijan). He is currently working on such topics as collective memory and narrative intervention into the conflict. He is particularly interested in modeling the relationship between narratives, memories, emotions and attitudes towards reconciliation in the situation of conflict. His model of progressive narrative transformations is aimed to contribute to change of memories, emotions and attitudes towards reconciliation. This framework was applied to Armenia-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorno Karabakh (2011) and to the Russo-Georgian war in August 2008 (2008). His recent publications on collective memory, narrative and conflict include articles in the Journal of Russian and East European Psychology (1996, 2003, 2008), Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology (2010), The Caucasus & Globalization (2011), Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict: Pathways toward terrorism and genocide (2012). His books include Metamorphoses of collective memory in Russia and the South Caucasus (in Russian, 2005) which represents his comparative analysis of the historical narratives peculiar for Russian, Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian cultural traditions. In 2002-2003 and 2011-2012 he was a Fulbright visiting professor at Washington University in St. Louis.
Do woes unite foes? Towards a model of progressive narrative transformations in the Karabakh conflict
Abstract
In this presentation I am going to argue that effective dealing with a troubled past, especially in divided societies, cannot be achieved without certain transformations of historical narratives, particularly in school textbooks. Based on a sociocultural approach to collective memory as mediated by specific kinds of cultural tools, in particular “textual resources” in the form of narratives, I suggest a model of progressive narrative transformation as a tool for transforming memories and changing attitudes. This model was tested in an experiment examining the interplay of different narratives, emotions and attitudes among the Azerbaijani population. The results suggest that a narrative of common suffering can backfire to remind victims of their own suffering inflicted by the enemy.
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