History and Memory in the Epoch of Dominating Identities: An Interview with Pierre Nora, Historian and Member of the French Academy

Abstract

The conversation between Elena Filippova and Pierre Nora takes on the issues of the relationship between history and collective memory, and the emergence of alternative versions of history that are written on behalf of minorities and contradict the “offi cial” version approved by the authority of the ruling power. The interlocutors discuss the historical conditions that are conducive to changes in the ways the society understands its own past, as well as the part played by various persons such as historians, politicians, teachers, and civil activists in debates over national identity. They point to parallels between the situation in France and that in Russia at the turn of the centuries.