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Skulle jag grilla lamm med dig? Försoning och oförsonlighet i före detta lägerfångars berättelser

Basic, Goran LU (2007) In Research reports / Network for Research in Criminology and Deviant Behaviour at Lund University
Abstract
Is it possible for civilians, who have been targets of war action, to reconcile with their former enemies? In this study I am analyzing the stories told by former camp-prisoners who were imprisoned at the beginning of the Bosnia-Herzegovina war in the early 1990’s. These prisoners were detained in the concentration-camps of Omarska, Keraterm and Manjača. The former prisoners took refuge in the Nordic countries after the war.



The aim of the study is partly to analyze traces of reconciliation and implacability, and partly to detect and describe the rituals of interaction that emerged during the war, which have been revised and reinterpreted after the war.



The report is based on 13 interviews with former... (More)
Is it possible for civilians, who have been targets of war action, to reconcile with their former enemies? In this study I am analyzing the stories told by former camp-prisoners who were imprisoned at the beginning of the Bosnia-Herzegovina war in the early 1990’s. These prisoners were detained in the concentration-camps of Omarska, Keraterm and Manjača. The former prisoners took refuge in the Nordic countries after the war.



The aim of the study is partly to analyze traces of reconciliation and implacability, and partly to detect and describe the rituals of interaction that emerged during the war, which have been revised and reinterpreted after the war.



The report is based on 13 interviews with former camp-prisoners and their close relatives who now live in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Added to the study is a document analysis of verdicts by the Hague-tribunal and UN reports.



Rather than the one-sided view of the former camp-prisoners, as traumatised, an action-oriented picture emerged. The stories of the camp-prisoners are nuanced fields where the narrator divides guilt and responsibility, reconciliation and implacability, the roles of heroes and victims.



The study shows that the ethnic cleansing, in the Bosnian Northwest, caused not only series of atrocities but also dramatic changes in terms of different symbols and life-stories. The camps in the Bosnian Northwest were characterized by crimes and excesses against people. Individuality was heavily restricted by different power-rituals and abuse-processes.



The interactive dynamics that evolved during the ethnic cleansing have a strong impact on the process of reconciliation after the war. The stories of reconciliation, implacability and victimization are constructed not only in relation to the war as a whole but also in relation to the narrators own actions and others personal actions during the war.



It seems like the interviewees are trying to put their experiences behind them to escape being tormented by the past. The most outstanding in their stories is implacability, but forgiveness and reconciliation seem to be achievable if certain conditions are met, for example the display of shame. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Kan civila som blivit måltavla för krigshandlingar försonas med sina före detta fiender? Denna studie analyserar muntligt gestaltade erfarenheter hos före detta lägerfångar som frihetsberövades i början av kriget i Bosnien-Hercegovina under 1990-talet och placerades i koncentrationslägerna Omarska, Keraterm och Manjaca. Efter kriget har fångarna tagit sin tillflykt till de nordiska länderna.



Studien syftar till att dels analysera markeringar för försoning och oförsonlighet, dels upptäcka och beskriva de interaktionsritualer och konflikter som uppstod under kriget och som bearbetas och omtolkas efter kriget.



Rapporten bygger på 13 intervjuer med före detta lägerfångar och nära anhöriga som numera bor... (More)
Kan civila som blivit måltavla för krigshandlingar försonas med sina före detta fiender? Denna studie analyserar muntligt gestaltade erfarenheter hos före detta lägerfångar som frihetsberövades i början av kriget i Bosnien-Hercegovina under 1990-talet och placerades i koncentrationslägerna Omarska, Keraterm och Manjaca. Efter kriget har fångarna tagit sin tillflykt till de nordiska länderna.



Studien syftar till att dels analysera markeringar för försoning och oförsonlighet, dels upptäcka och beskriva de interaktionsritualer och konflikter som uppstod under kriget och som bearbetas och omtolkas efter kriget.



Rapporten bygger på 13 intervjuer med före detta lägerfångar och nära anhöriga som numera bor i Sverige, Danmark och Norge. Till det kommer en dokumentanalys av domar från Haag-tribunalen samt FN-rapporter.



Istället för att ensidigt utgå från bilden av före detta lägerfångar som traumatiserade framkommer en aktörsorienterad bild. Lägerfångars berättelser fungerar som nyansrika arenor i vilken berättaren fördelar skuld och ansvar, försonlighet och oförsonlighet, hjälte- och offerroller.



Studien visar att den etniska rensningen i nordvästra Bosnien inte bara medförde en serie illgärningar utan också dramatiska förändringar av symbolers betydelse och människors livsberättelser. Lägren i nordvästra Bosnien utmärktes av förbrytelser och övergrepp. Utrymmet för individualitet var starkt begränsat på grund av olika maktritualer och kränkningsprocesser.



Den interaktiva dynamiken under den etniska rensningen konstruerar försoningsprocessen efter kriget som förbunden med denna krigstid. Berättelser om försoning, oförsonlighet och offerskap utformas här inte enbart i relation till kriget i sin helhet utan också i relation till egna och andras personliga handlingar under kriget.



De intervjuade tycks försöka lägga sina upplevelser bakom sig för att slippa plågas av det förflutna. I deras berättelser är oförsonligheten det mest framträdande men förlåtelse och försoning verkar kunna åstadkommas om vissa villkor uppfylls, till exempel uppvisning av skam. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
alternative title
Would I Grill Lamb with You? Reconciliation and Implacability in Stories of Former Prison-Camp Detainees
publishing date
type
Book/Report
publication status
published
subject
keywords
sociology, krig, etnicitet, koncentrationsläger, oförsonlighet, ritualer, försoning, sociologi, förnedring
in
Research reports / Network for Research in Criminology and Deviant Behaviour at Lund University
pages
66 pages
publisher
[Publisher information missing]
report number
2007:2
ISBN
91-7267-230-0
language
Swedish
LU publication?
yes
id
2b3b1de0-c83a-4fa0-a72b-95f585f2b2ee (old id 539030)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 13:20:32
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:13:21
@techreport{2b3b1de0-c83a-4fa0-a72b-95f585f2b2ee,
  abstract     = {{Is it possible for civilians, who have been targets of war action, to reconcile with their former enemies? In this study I am analyzing the stories told by former camp-prisoners who were imprisoned at the beginning of the Bosnia-Herzegovina war in the early 1990’s. These prisoners were detained in the concentration-camps of Omarska, Keraterm and Manjača. The former prisoners took refuge in the Nordic countries after the war.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The aim of the study is partly to analyze traces of reconciliation and implacability, and partly to detect and describe the rituals of interaction that emerged during the war, which have been revised and reinterpreted after the war.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The report is based on 13 interviews with former camp-prisoners and their close relatives who now live in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Added to the study is a document analysis of verdicts by the Hague-tribunal and UN reports.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
Rather than the one-sided view of the former camp-prisoners, as traumatised, an action-oriented picture emerged. The stories of the camp-prisoners are nuanced fields where the narrator divides guilt and responsibility, reconciliation and implacability, the roles of heroes and victims.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The study shows that the ethnic cleansing, in the Bosnian Northwest, caused not only series of atrocities but also dramatic changes in terms of different symbols and life-stories. The camps in the Bosnian Northwest were characterized by crimes and excesses against people. Individuality was heavily restricted by different power-rituals and abuse-processes.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The interactive dynamics that evolved during the ethnic cleansing have a strong impact on the process of reconciliation after the war. The stories of reconciliation, implacability and victimization are constructed not only in relation to the war as a whole but also in relation to the narrators own actions and others personal actions during the war.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
It seems like the interviewees are trying to put their experiences behind them to escape being tormented by the past. The most outstanding in their stories is implacability, but forgiveness and reconciliation seem to be achievable if certain conditions are met, for example the display of shame.}},
  author       = {{Basic, Goran}},
  institution  = {{[Publisher information missing]}},
  isbn         = {{91-7267-230-0}},
  keywords     = {{sociology; krig; etnicitet; koncentrationsläger; oförsonlighet; ritualer; försoning; sociologi; förnedring}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  number       = {{2007:2}},
  series       = {{Research reports / Network for Research in Criminology and Deviant Behaviour at Lund University}},
  title        = {{Skulle jag grilla lamm med dig? Försoning och oförsonlighet i före detta lägerfångars berättelser}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/6096302/617535.pdf}},
  year         = {{2007}},
}