Adnan Softić

A BETTER STORY

What architecture must a country boast in order to have a ‘legitimate’ history? The commemorative political model is part of the national historiography of central European states. Historical memory since the 19th century shows that sometimes brute force is required in order to reach a stage at which all citizens identify with a nation, and feel solidarity with it. Complexity is out, more than ever. The most successful algorithm is: state = nation = religion = language = history. The storytellers diligently get down to their handiwork. When it comes down to running politics of memory nothing is too expensive – it should help to found a homogenous, national identity, which is not multi-ethnic or in any way complex. The overwriting of a complex past with a ‘better history’ also means that a large proportion of the population becomes faceless – foreignera in their own country. They transform from natives to foreigners and become potential refugees, separatists and terrorists. At the same time, strangers make their way to the West in order to live in Europe – and to destroy the ruling view of history.