Paper short abstract:

Exploring former child soldier’s memory work in social media, this paper investigates how digital connectivity, creativity, transcultural memory and the cultural and political contexts of media usage can both solidify hegemonic memory narratives and transform traumatic memories into hope and peace.

Paper long abstract:

Digital technologies are playing increasingly important roles in memory processes, including the way we remember past violence and war. The way this relationship unfolds, that is how violent conflict is remembered on digital platforms, can be critical for the prevention of future violence. This paper looks at memory work in a video posted in social media, featuring former child soldiers in Indonesia and their story from mutual hatred and war to friendship and peace. The video post opened up space for a lively debate. By analyzing and comparing the video and the English and Indonesian commentaries, this paper explores how violence in Indonesia is remembered, how that memory travels, and how it is translated and received by different audiences. It explores how connectivity and creativity open up new memoryscapes and how, within these digital spaces, transcultural memory tropes and political and cultural contexts of social media users can both solidify hegemonic memory narratives and transform traumatic memories into hope and peace.