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In Praise of Forgetting : Historical Memory and Its Ironies by David Rieff (2016, Hardcover)

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About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherYale University Press

ISBN-100300182791

ISBN-139780300182798

eBay Product ID (ePID)217052474

Product Key Features

Book TitleIn Praise of Forgetting : Historical Memory and Its Ironies

Number of Pages160 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year2016

TopicMind & Body, Historiography, Ethics & Moral Philosophy, Cognitive Psychology & Cognition, Anthropology / Cultural & Social, Social Psychology, Essays

GenrePhilosophy, Social Science, Psychology, History

AuthorDavid Rieff

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height0.6 in

Item Weight12.3 Oz

Item Length8.2 in

Item Width5.5 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN2015-954282

Dewey Edition23

Reviews"Rieff's scathing critique of commemoration cuts uncomfortably close to home bones."--Christopher Kissane, Irish Times, "A journalist who has frequented global hotspots and an analyst of humanitarian policy, . . . Rieff advances his argument in spare prose, with implacable tenacity, and vast knowledge."--Samuel Moyn, The New Republic , 'Rieff is stimulating and annoying in just about equal proportion ... should be read by those in government and others who are bent on harnessing collective memory for the purposes of national commemoration.' - Hew Strachan, TLS, "David Rieff should be read by those in government and others who are bent on harnessing collective memory for the purposes of national commemoration."--Hew Strachan, Times Literary Supplement ". . . an astringent, eloquent and sometimes moving essay on the virtues of forgetting. . . . The prudence, caution and moderation of Rieff's argument is likable, as is his insistence on the need for political judgement in balancing the claims of remembering and forgetting."--Michael Ignatieff, Sunday Times "Rieff makes a powerful case for reconciliation and compromise, and exposes how politicized our nationalist histories are. Lucidly deploying historical examples and literary references, he himself seems to have forgotten nothing."--Gary J. Bass, New York Times Book Review "In this slender volume bristling with erudition, Rieff wrestles with one of the most explosive forces of modern times: mythologized historical 'memories' that encourage people to cultivate old grudges and settle historical scores."--Walter Russell Mead, Foreign Affairs "A journalist who has frequented global hotspots and an analyst of humanitarian policy, . . . Rieff advances his argument in spare prose, with implacable tenacity, and vast knowledge."--Samuel Moyn, The New Republic "This controversial book is a must-read for anyone concerned with ethics, politics and the human situation today. Drawing on his experience as a war correspondent and bringing to bear an impressive grasp of history, David Rieff explores the role of memory in the defining events of recent times, including the origins and aftermath of war and ethnic cleansing in former Yugoslavia, the malign inheritance of apartheid in South Africa, and the supreme crime of the Holocaust."--John Gray, author of Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia "For those who grew up with 'Never again' as the call to justice, David Rieff's sober and erudite essay shocks with its counterintuitive moral questioning: What exactly is gained--and lost--by remembering? His assessment that paths to peace can be found only if nations and groups find ways to forget the past may be disputed by many, but honest thinkers will agree that we are at the dangerous fulcrum of being both unforgiving and unforgiven."--Susan D. Moeller, author of Shooting War: Photography and the American Experience of Combat and Compassion Fatigue: How the Media Sell Disease, Famine, War and Death, "...an astringent, eloquent and sometimes moving essay on the virtues of forgetting... The prudence, caution and moderation of Rieff's argument is likable, as is his insistence on the need for political judgement in balancing the claims of remembering and forgetting."--Michael Ignatieff, Sunday Times, "David Rieff should be read by those in government and others who are bent on harnessing collective memory for the purposes of national commemoration."--Hew Strachan, Times Literary Supplement, "Rieff makes a powerful case for reconciliation and compromise, and exposes how politicized our nationalist histories are. Lucidly deploying historical examples and literary references, he himself seems to have forgotten nothing."--Gary J. Bass, New York Times Book Review, "In this slender volume bristling with erudition, Rieff wrestles with one of the most explosive forces of modern times: mythologized historical 'memories' that encourage people to cultivate old grudges and settle historical scores."--Walter Russell Mead, Foreign Affairs, "For those who grew up with 'Never again' as the call to justice, David Rieff's sober and erudite essay shocks with its counterintuitive moral questioning: What exactly is gained--and lost--by remembering? His assessment that paths to peace can be found only if nations and groups find ways to forget the past may be disputed by many, but honest thinkers will agree that we are at the dangerous fulcrum of being both unforgiving and unforgiven." - SUSAN D. MOELLER, author of Shooting War: Photography and the American Experience of Combat and Compassion Fatigue: How the Media Sell Disease, Famine, War and Death, "David Rieff should be read by those in government and others who are bent on harnessing collective memory for the purposes of national commemoration."--Hew Strachan, TLS, "This controversial book is a must-read for anyone concerned with ethics, politics and the human situation today. Drawing on his experience as a war correspondent and bringing to bear an impressive grasp of history, David Rieff explores the role of memory in the defining events of recent times, including the origins and aftermath of war and ethnic cleansing in former Yugoslavia, the malign inheritance of apartheid in South Africa, and the supreme crime of the Holocaust." - JOHN GRAY, author of Black Mass: Apocalyptic Religion and the Death of Utopia "For those who grew up with 'Never again' as the call to justice, David Rieff's sober and erudite essay shocks with its counterintuitive moral questioning: What exactly is gained--and lost--by remembering? His assessment that paths to peace can be found only if nations and groups find ways to forget the past may be disputed by many, but honest thinkers will agree that we are at the dangerous fulcrum of being both unforgiving and unforgiven." - SUSAN D. MOELLER, author of Shooting War: Photography and the American Experience of Combat and Compassion Fatigue: How the Media Sell Disease, Famine, War and Death

Dewey Decimal901

SynopsisA leading contrarian thinker explores the ethical paradox at the heart of history's wounds The conventional wisdom about historical memory is summed up in George Santayana's celebrated phrase, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Today, the consensus that it is moral to remember, immoral to forget, is nearly absolute. And yet is this right? David Rieff, an independent writer who has reported on bloody conflicts in Africa, the Balkans, and Central Asia, insists that things are not so simple. He poses hard questions about whether remembrance ever truly has, or indeed ever could, "inoculate" the present against repeating the crimes of the past. He argues that rubbing raw historical wounds--whether self-inflicted or imposed by outside forces--neither remedies injustice nor confers reconciliation. If he is right, then historical memory is not a moral imperative but rather a moral option--sometimes called for, sometimes not. Collective remembrance can be toxic. Sometimes, Rieff concludes, it may be more moral to forget. Ranging widely across some of the defining conflicts of modern times--the Irish Troubles and the Easter Uprising of 1916, the white settlement of Australia, the American Civil War, the Balkan wars, the Holocaust, and 9/11--Rieff presents a pellucid examination of the uses and abuses of historical memory. His contentious, brilliant, and elegant essay is an indispensable work of moral philosophy.

LC Classification NumberD16.8