Concluding remarks
Conceptualizing transna�onal memory as a dynamic, mul�layered concept that transcends na�onal borders, this essay has a�empted to explore one instance of transna�onal memory crea�on outside of the well-studied Holocaust paradigm. Drawing on Assmann and Conrad’s (2010) argument that it is currently impossible to study memory without taking the global into account, the essay has explored various non-state actors – former vic�ms, the Lithuanian diaspora, individuals – and interna�onal organiza�ons that have par�cipated in the construc�on of a trauma�c Lithuanian memory that transcends na�onal borders. Similar conceptualiza�ons of memory as a mobile phenomenon have emerged in reac�on to sta�c memory models based on Nora’s (1992) lieux de mémoire imagery and a rejec�on of ‘the crystalliza�on of memory within strictly na�onalized contexts’ (Rapson 2012: 132). Among the various carriers of transna�onal memory examined in this essay, the role of the Lithuanian diaspora deserves special men�on. As shown in the case study, not only was the Lithuanian diaspora in the West able to insert its own version of Lithuanian trauma�c memory into a broader framework of transna�onal an�-communist memory, but it also played an important role in crea�ng a na�onal meta-narra�ve during the period of Lithuanian democra�c transi�on in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The second genera�on of the Lithuanian diaspora, which includes novelist Ruta Sepetys and filmmaker Valdas Sruoginis, has created new transna�onal memories in the post-memory period – the �me when there are fewer and fewer survivors of trauma le�, and the role of books and films increases. The case study presented in this paper points to numerous intersec�ons between the poli�cal and cultural dimensions of transna�onal memory. The poli�cal dimension of transna�onal memory helps us to imagine transna�onal memory as a ba�lefield in which various narra�ves with varying degrees of emo�onal appeal – the ones created by states and non-state actors – collide. The intersec�ons of transna�onal memories about the Holocaust and the Lithuanian Soviet ‘genocide’ are a case in point. As theorized by Levy and Sznaider (2006), the introduc�on of transna�onal memory does affect the shaping of memories in local contexts. In the Lithuanian case, the collision of the Holocaust paradigm and the Soviet genocide discourse resulted in memory wars and compe�ng
91 march 5-6, 2020 | Vilnius