This is not a time for heroes. About multidirectional collective memory and honoring the victims

Abstract

This article develops five core arguments around a central idea: this is not the time to glorify heroic figures, invent supermen, elevate embodied gods, or exalt messianic leaders of the kind that postwar contexts frequently produce (whether military officers, presidents, religious leaders, or commanders, regardless of their label). The task before us is different: to remember the dead and the innocent, to preserve the memory of the vulnerable, and to acknowledge the sacrifice of victims who endured past atrocities. We are, ultimately, in the era of collective memory, one that does not glorify victors but dignifies the legacy of the victims. The first section examines why it remains essential to reflect on the value of memory, distinguishing it from mere recollection and stressing that its discussion is never trivial. The second analyzes the dynamic nature of collective memory, as a lived experience that, over time, becomes a social norm. The third explores the tension between history and memory, highlighting their complementary rather than substitutive roles. The fourth emphasizes the multidirectional dimension of memory, shaped by diverse voices that must be negotiated but never imposed or reduced to militancy. Finally, a specific challenge is addressed: remembering violence against women without a gender perspective, a gap that risks the (cruel) irony of revictimization when sexual violence is memorialized solely as a weapon of war.