Manchester University Press
3 The politics of memory after the Restoration
Abstract
This chapter outlines how we can understand why men and women risked themselves by expressing seditious memories. It does so by establishing the Restoration’s ‘politics of memory’; that is, the efforts by certain parties, including former Parliamentarians and Royalists, to gain control of how the events of the 1640s and 1650s were remembered publicly (‘mnemonic hegemony’). It is put forward that, following an attempt to cast the divisions of the wars into oblivion, Royalists seized the authority to speak for the past, legitimising thereby the censure and censorship of Parliamentarians and republicans. The chapter finishes by measuring the impact of censorship and censure on their targets.
Abstract
This chapter outlines how we can understand why men and women risked themselves by expressing seditious memories. It does so by establishing the Restoration’s ‘politics of memory’; that is, the efforts by certain parties, including former Parliamentarians and Royalists, to gain control of how the events of the 1640s and 1650s were remembered publicly (‘mnemonic hegemony’). It is put forward that, following an attempt to cast the divisions of the wars into oblivion, Royalists seized the authority to speak for the past, legitimising thereby the censure and censorship of Parliamentarians and republicans. The chapter finishes by measuring the impact of censorship and censure on their targets.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Dedication iv
- Contents vii
- Acknowledgements viii
- Abbreviations ix
- 1 Introduction 1
- 2 Locating seditious memories in England and Wales 17
- 3 The politics of memory after the Restoration 46
- 4 Seditious memories 67
- 5 Sharing seditious memories 87
- 6 Seditious memories in Scotland and Ireland 110
- 7 Mis-commemoration after the Restoration 142
- 8 Seditious memories across generations 172
- Conclusion 199
- Select bibliography 207
- Index 229
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Dedication iv
- Contents vii
- Acknowledgements viii
- Abbreviations ix
- 1 Introduction 1
- 2 Locating seditious memories in England and Wales 17
- 3 The politics of memory after the Restoration 46
- 4 Seditious memories 67
- 5 Sharing seditious memories 87
- 6 Seditious memories in Scotland and Ireland 110
- 7 Mis-commemoration after the Restoration 142
- 8 Seditious memories across generations 172
- Conclusion 199
- Select bibliography 207
- Index 229
