Women and Violence: “La Bête Humaine” Klara Pförtsch

Abstract

The term Vergangenheitsbewältigung refers to specific ethical tasks in historical memory that are different from objective historiography. It endows cultural memory work with ethical and redemptive meaning. The term is peculiarly German and has been imported into the English language because there is no equivalent translation. As the literature on transitional justice has exploded, the German term Vergangenheitsbewältigung has become paradigmatic for the management and mastery of legacies of perpetration.