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Buyandelger: Chapter Summary And Analysis

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In chapter 2, Buyandelger discusses state-enforced forgetting and all of the aspects and consequences concerning this type of forgetting. The Mongolian socialists enforced state forgetting as a way to erase people’s histories and stories. The victims are often lost and lack the self-assurance in their own memories because their authentic memories are deleted and replaced with new ones. As a consequence, there are many stories and memories that remain unshared because they are forgotten. Typically, we think of forgetting in a medical sense such as old aging or diseases. However, in this context, forgetting is referred to a social construct that incorporates aspects of “power, agency, and resistance” (Buyandelger, 2013). There are three steps of forgetting. The first stage is the destruction and killing; the second stage is the state’s power to override their violent past; lastly, the third stage is the act of substituting of old memories with the formation of new memories. …show more content…

It got to the point where violence became a normal phase in the citizens’ lives. Since everyone was suffering, these were seen as collective actions. The state could direct people into believing that violence was necessary and efficient for protection They were able to spread their messages through “red corners”, which served as propaganda depictions. As these people were being more exposed to these messages, it became everyday life for them. Eventually, their daily habits and routines would change, and they would fall victim into state-enforced forgetting. The newer the generations, the more they would forget. The author notes that it is difficult to measure forgetting. It is an endless and immeasurable scale because of the context. There is no clear way to measure how much and what memories are being

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