History as a narrative
History is a narrative which is an
interpretation of the time-space in a certain perspective. In general a prevalent
or powerful group in the society may have sentiments associated to this
narrative. The narrative gains currency and is passed over generations through
its amalgamation into everyday activities in forms of music, arts, literature,
rituals, myths etc. Such histories are tend to erase the cultural symbols which
may represent another cultural strain which might have co-existed during the
development.
Need for re-reading, re-creation and
deconstruction of History
The predominant historic narrative
after a period may be challenged by a group who come up to the power position.
As in case of the colonised world this phenomenon occurred when the natives
came into power overthrowing the coloniser. This power shift also began the
urge to re-interpret the history of these nations. Nazi regimes which
controlled Germany too had faced a defeat leading to such mass
re-interpretations of written history. The re-interpreted version of history
was immediately locked down as new historic narrative
through literatures, arts and creation of cultural symbols which soon began to
emerge.
In the case of Nazi regime
which was overthrown by The Allies' Potsdam Conference in August 1945, it had created arrangements for the Allied
occupation and denazification of the country, as well as war reparations
involving the removal of war-related factories. This included capturing of
former Nazi soldiers, people who were employed under them and put in front of
the newly encoded legal system. In South Africa the colonial powers had taken
immense interest in destroying indigenous cultures so an emergency was seen
under the new government to create a historic space where there divisions of
tribal cultures could be easily accommodated.
Reconciliation as a mode of healing the
past
In the case of both South Africa and
Germany the range of destruction was extensive and physical. From the
very earliest speeches and writings of Hitler it was clear that the Jewish
community in Germany were an object of hatred, together with gypsies, the
mentally disadvantaged or the handicapped. The Nazi ideology laid down strict
rules about who was or was not a 'pure German' and actions were set into motion
to 'purify' the 'German race' soon after the Nazi takeover. This regime after
its abolishment was confronted with hatred and the newly formed government
decided to channel this through the legal system they had established. Rage was
the after-effect of South African independence too. With Apartheid abolished
and equality restored the former persecutors were physically confronted in
streets. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was the choice of South
Africa to deal with the rage. Witnesses who were identified as victims of gross
human rights violations were invited to give statements about their
experiences, and some were selected for public hearings. Perpetrators of
violence could also give testimony and request
amnesty from both civil and criminal prosecution.
In both the cases the urge
for the human beings to establish a new historic narrative and erase the
symbols of the previous one is well visible. Also rage had to be controlled
through amnesty or punishment. Germany took
the path of punishment while South Africa included a clause of
amnesty.
History as an attempt to achieve
‘Liveness’
Writing of history itself is an attempt to attain liveness. As memory is
non-standardised and dynamic, written histories which resembled stories or
narratives soon took up the position of authorised historical accounts. This
was mainly due to the technological handicap of the times and as photography
came into existence, pictures had a hand in historic narrations. Soon it was
found, a picture can tell a hundred stories not one. Audio recorder came into
existence and transcription was considered an authentic capture of history. Now
with all the same limitations the previous mediums shared filming is also a
part of historical narration.
Once the history is created then it is open for further interpretations
Thus the urge for liveness expands from ‘Ubu and the Truth Commission’ in 1997
interpreting the attempt of reconciliation in South Africa to ‘The Reader’ in
2008 about the lawsuits on Nazi soldiers.
Media and Memory in Interpretation of
History
Media and Memory are two interpreters of Historic accounts which are
considered as acceptable versions. Memory plays a major role in the new born
histories of South Africa as the victims and others gave first-hand accounts of
the incidents, which was recorded or transcribed mechanically. But Germany uses
a legal system which has pre-defined notions of wrong and right to generate
history. As we are taking into account the representation of the historic
accounts through Ubu and the Truth Commission by Jane Taylor who used the
transcripts as a major source. The transcripts or the audio recordings were the
first-hand accounts of the incidents which occurred. Memory is thus the source
for jane Taylor. Bernhard Schlink who wrote the book ‘The Reader’ is a german
but born only a year before the end of Nazi rule familiarized with the
oppressions through Media representations. Thus media driven interpretation of
history becomes the basis for the film “The Reader”.
Reconciliation or revenge
Both Ubu and Reader shows the sad ending of real persecutors escaping
the law or achieving amnesty through unfair means.
