Futures of Memory in Post-Migrant Society
Conflicts, Continuities, Competitions
How are the histories of migration and the related experiences of exclusion, marginalization and violence being remembered in our society?
What forms of conflicts, continuities and competitions emerge in these contexts?
What role do literature, music and pedagogy play in sustainably shaping memory cultures of the future?
In this project we analyse and reflect current conflicts, continuities and competitions in contemporary memory discourses in the post-migrant German society. We examine literature, music and pedagogical spaces such as schools as central arenas, in which ongoing processes of pluralization of German memory discourses are expressed and negotiated.
Through different events at Leuphana University and in Lüneburg, and with the participation of students and actors from memory research and practice, these arenas are explored and examined in depth: How do they address continuities of racism, antisemitism and other forms of violence? What is their contribution to pluralizing memory discourses? The aim is to develop interdisciplinary approaches for a transformative memory culture in post-migrant societies.
Remembrance in post-migrant Societies
The self-understanding of a society in the present is shaped by its narratives about the past, as well as by how these different pasts are then linked to perceptions of future forms of coexistence. In post-migrant societies and institutions, this discursive context is proving to be dynamic and conflict-ridden as mnemonic perspectives pluralize due to globalisation, transnational migration and digitisation: conflicts over memory emerge not only in the broad public sphere but also take place among its different sub-groups. They revolve around questions of visibility and recognition for different social groups and their historical experiences. Post-migrant structures thus shape memory discourses across the entire society.
This creates a need to expand (federal German) post-war history by incorporating (post-)migrant and transnational memories and to critically examine established notions of memory culture.
The Project as a Discourse on the Future
As a „discourse on the future“ the project examines contemporary developments in German memory discourses and reflects them academically as well as practice-oriented: in three academic sub-projects, the state of research in music, literature and pedagogy is being discussed. At the same time, literary, musical and pedagogical concepts for future forms of remembrance culture in post-migrant societies are developed. Through various events that encourage exchange and reflection at Leuphana University and in Lüneburg, the different perspectives from the sub-projects are brought together and open up a space for diverse voices in academia, culture and society.
Project duration: 15.08.2025 - 14.11.2026
Event Overview
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