Using myths, or as cultural anthropologist Geertz describes "the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves," to understand our world is universal across place and time. However, these myths become evermore complicated in the case of deeply divided societies where they perpetuate hatreds and act to divide "us" from "them;" often in direct contradiction to one another.
In an attempt to reconcile divisions, particularly in post-conflict or transitional societies, there is a pluralist approach invoked to accept a multitude of "truths", despite their contradiction. However, the Freudian return of the repressed leads to a cycle of competing mythologies that oftentimes interfere with this attempt to accept difference through pluralism.
Noel Malcolm beautifully articulates this idea in the case of Bosnia in the early 1990's where he points to the destruction and ruination of the Oriental Institute, Sarajevo Library and architectural heritage of the Ottoman Empire. He writes,
"The people who have planned and ordered these actions like to say that history is on their side. What they show by their deeds is that they are waging a war against the history of their country" (Malcolm; xxiv).How true this idea of people waging war against their own history, perhaps because it is painful to remember or perhaps because the history is contradictory to their myths. Understanding and combating this war against history is essential for building a shared narrative for the future.
The Survivor's Commission in Northern Ireland is exploring the potentials of a pluralist storytelling approach whereby listening to the stories of one another will yield a diversity of understanding, connecting people on a level of empathy and shared experience of trauma. This is an idea that inspires me in much of the work I do, particularly in the case of storytelling, which has an ethical imperative to promote diversity of experience and thought in order to foster critical self-reflection. By this I mean we endeavor to facilitate a situation whereby destructive myths (eg: that defend violence or perpetuate feelings of victimhood) are put into question by the experiences of others.
Interestingly Malcolm spoke to this point saying,
"The fact that there is an almost symmetrical pattern of conflicting claims and justifications does not mean that one can reach an accurate conclusion by treating all claims as equal and merely averaging them out" (Malcolm; xxiii).Oftentimes in Northern Ireland the dynamic and complex issue seems to get boiled down into a two primary claims - which are unfortunately "averaged out" in an attempt to promote "equality". This speaks to the importance of listening to varied and multi-dimensional stories, which go beyond a two sided blame game.
The Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation and Social Justice (ISCTSJ) at Queen’s University Belfast hosted a Symposium at the Lyric Theatre entitled Location of Narratives: Storytelling and Archives. Alison Jeffers of the University of Manchester discussed points from her paper, Giving Audience: Storytelling and Storylistening in Post-conflict Narrative. She spoke to the potentials of storytelling and storylistening but also qualified that listening and showing empathy could limit action. Here again we face difficulties with writing history. Furthermore, a condition for the Ethical Storytelling, as promoted by the Towards Understanding and Healing project, operates on a no judgement principle.This principle safeguards the stories of individuals, however, it does not mean we should accept the validity of myths.
Ultimately strength will come from the ability to stay open to others, particularly when one's stories may one's deep seated beliefs in the truthfulness of their own myths. It will be essential to remain critical and reflective of one's self and surroundings while holding true to certain ethical principles that guide positive human interactions.
Finally, it will be imperative to differentiate between passing judgement on the story of an individual as opposed to the myth of a group. Whereas it is possible to participate in storylistening without judging the storyteller or assessing truthfulness of their story - it is essential we differentiate that person's story from the oftentimes destructive ideology of their myths. Just as Malcolm is able to claim that he has "no doubt" one side has more "burden of responsibility for the destruction in Bosnia" so too may history books pass judgment in the case of wrongdoings, on both sides.
It will be important to critically analyse myths, particularly in deeply divided societies moving into times of peace, in order to build a narrative that allows for a diversity of memories while respecting the events of history.
