Desacralization of collective memory of the Holocaust: case of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum

Authors

  • Ilya S. Sulzhytski Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliežnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

Keywords:

collective memory, sacred, cultural sociology, Holocaust, Auschwitz, site of memory, cultural trauma

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the processes of desacralization and fragmentation of the collective memory of the Holocaust in the collective representations of visitors to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. The study of these processes is based on a theoretical model developed in cultural sociology, which is the most sensitive with addressing issues related to the sacralization and desacralization of the sites of memory. The article explores the possibility of explicating the main provisions of cultural sociology in the theoretical framework of Memory Studies and conceptualization of such concepts as the opposition clean sacred / unclean sacred, collective memory and cultural trauma. Further in the course of the study, the main strategies of classifying the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum as a sacred and profane site of memory are disclosed. The trend of the desacralization of this place and its description in categories of profane is described.

Author Biography

  • Ilya S. Sulzhytski, Belarusian State University, 4 Niezaliežnasci Avenue, Minsk 220030, Belarus

    postgraduate student at the department of sociology, faculty of philosophy and social sciences

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Published

2019-03-14

Issue

No. 2 (2018): Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology

Section

Articles and Reports

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How to Cite

[1]
Sulzhytski, I.S. 2019. Desacralization of collective memory of the Holocaust: case of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum. Journal of the Belarusian State University. Sociology. 2 (Mar. 2019), 48–66.