Local and Community Responses to Conflict

Local and Community Responses to Conflict
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Local and Community Responses to Conflict
Bosnians have a complex relationship with violence. Bosnia-Herzegovina has experienced violence for a long time. Bosnians are only interested in remembering about the past only if those memories can be understood in a much more productive way. Many Bosnians have responded to post conflict memories with a lot of humor or what can be referred to as dark humor. Canonical theorists have made arguments about the relationship between humor and power and social interaction. Humor can be regarded as a public test of peoples` feelings and anxieties (Anna 2012).The widespread use of humor, as a means of cultural resistance, has inspired to a great extent the context prevailing after the conflict. During the period when Sarajevo was under siege, the media industry produced remarkable cultural resistance through festivals, artworks, books and the theatre. All these methods of response portray how the society views and responds to violence. There are so many post conflict efforts meant to encourage Bosnians to freely speak about past events. This is through institutional mechanisms in the form of truth commissions. The efforts are, however, struggling to make way through the society. Society has responded to post wartime events in a manner that, at one time, it sounds and appears remarkably different from what would be expected in normal situations (Elissa 2002).It should, however, be clearly noted that scholars who wish to show how speaking about the past can be used to amend the future of broken societies must focus and foresee beyond the common literal approaches to telling the truth. The tendency may be seen as being narrow and a betrayal to the society. It is particularly vital to look and understand clearly on issues such as humor and their role when making memories of post conflict studies. Women ...