Geschichtsaufarbeitung

English translation: (Critical) (re)examination of the past / dealing with / coming to terms with

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

German term or phrase:	Geschichtsaufarbeitung
English translation:	(Critical) (re)examination of the past / dealing with / coming to terms with
Entered by:	Craig Meulen

16:26 Apr 4, 2022

German to English translations [PRO]
Social Sciences - History

German term or phrase: Geschichtsaufarbeitung

Context is the 30th anniversary of the Bosnian War, and the lack of Geschichtsaufarbeitung that has taken place there.

Interestingly, the English Wikipedia has a page on the related German term Vergangenheitsbewältigung as if this is exclusive to Germany. Surely other countries have gone through similar processes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vergangenheitsbewältigung

I would hesitate to use "truth and reconciliation" directly, but that was a similar process in South Africa. Has it been adopted 'generically'?

Craig Meulen KudoZ activity Questions: 134 (none open) (10 closed without grading) Answers: 274 United Kingdom
Local time: 13:49

(Critical) (re)examination of the past

Explanation:
This should work well for many contexts and avoids the unwieldiness associated with the German term.

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Note added at 6 hrs (2022-04-04 23:12:50 GMT)
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Hi Craig. See one example below. But hey - there's no need to rely on my findings. With a little research, anybody can see that most scenarios emerging under (a search of) "critical reexamination" would provide fitting contexts for the German "geschichtliche Aufarbeitung".

"The end of apartheid in South Africa and the advent of black rule in the country has provoked a critical reexamination of the past..."
https://www.academia.edu/56550007/The_Battlefields_of_KwaZul...

Selected response from:

Michael Martin, MA
United States
Local time: 08:49

Grading comment

Thanks - this is definitely a possibility that I hadn't thought of when posting the question, so you get the points.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +5

process of coming to terms with the past // working through the past

Barbara Schmidt, M.A. (X)

4 +1

reappraisal of history

Cillie Swart

dealing with the past

Gordon Matthews

(Critical) (re)examination of the past

Michael Martin, MA

confronting the past

Adrian MM.

acknowledging and processing collective trauma

Ramey Rieger (X)

Discussion entries: 6

Klaus Beyer

United States

Coping with the past

13:51 Apr 6, 2022

or Re-assessment of history

are other posssibilities

Craig Meulen

United Kingdom

ASKER

add suggestions as a proposed translation

20:50 Apr 4, 2022

@Björn - You are one of the few to actually post links to English usage - if you add your suggestion as a proposed translation I might even choose you as most useful ;-)

Craig Meulen

United Kingdom

ASKER

context

20:48 Apr 4, 2022

@Phil
Of course context would be useful - I can't add the German here since it's a document you'd be able to find by searching if I did and I have to think of confidentiality. It's a text reflecting on the 3 decades in Bosnia and Herzogovina since the war started, and the lack of attention paid to the country afterwards (until Ms Baerbock recently visited). And the likelihood of tensions in the country flaring up again as a result of the war on Ukraine.

Björn Vrooman

@Craig

18:58 Apr 4, 2022

I like Kim's reference but agree with Phil that it's pretty difficult to know what to suggest without further context.

As for Geschichtsaufarbeitung and Vergangenheitsbewältigung, I hope you can read pp. 101-104 of "Geschichtspolitik in der 'Berliner Republik': Konzeptionen und Kontroversen" (Google Book preview). The former is more about what impact the past has on the present. That kind of approach seems to have originated with Theodor Adorno, who--despite the title of his work--"rejected the contemporary catchphrase 'working through the past' as misleading, observing that 'its intention is to close the books on the past and, if possible, even remove it from memory.'"
("Presenting Difficult Pasts Through Architecture" by Manuel Becker)

Also, I believe the following article is a worthwhile read:
https://taz.de/Geschichtsaufarbeitung-in-Deutschland/!568147...

Made me think of "confronting the past":
https://www.si.edu/sidedoor/confronting-past

Similar usage examples at
https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/events/then-they-star...

and
https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/02/04/serbia-srebrenica-confr...

Best wishes

Kim Metzger

Mexico

working through

17:07 Apr 4, 2022

Modern German has characteristically long words such as Geschichtsaufarbeitung and Vergangenheitsbewältigung to describe this complex process of dealing with, working through and even (the latter implies) "overcoming" the past. Using skills and methods developed to deal with the Nazi legacy, and honed on the Stasi one, no one has done it better. Just as there are the famous DIN standards – German industrial norms for many manufactured products – so there are DIN standards for past-beating. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/mar/16/german...

philgoddard

United States

16:48 Apr 4, 2022

Could we have a few sentences of German context, please.

Answers

5 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

reappraisal of history

Explanation:
looking back to see what really happened.

https://www.linguee.com/english-german/search?query=Geschichtsaufarbeitung

Cillie Swart
South Africa
Local time: 14:49
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 4

Notes to answerer

Asker: Did you click through and read that Latvian link? Is the English a good source to refer to?

28 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +5

process of coming to terms with the past // working through the past

Explanation:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vergangenheitsbewältigung

Barbara Schmidt, M.A. (X)
Germany
Local time: 14:49
Native speaker of: German

Notes to answerer

Asker: You'll see that I actually included that Wikipedia link in my original post ;-) But thanks for highlighting what you consider the most likely terms from it.

4 hrs confidence:

dealing with the past

Explanation:
I'm familiar with the literature on this subject. "dealing with the past" seems to be the most commonly used expression. One of the merits is that it is succinct. I also think "dealing with" carries the connotations of "-aufarbeitung" better than "coming to terms with". "coming to terms with the past" is a good translation. "dealing with the past" is better in my opinion.

Gordon Matthews
Germany
Local time: 14:49
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 12

1 hr confidence:

acknowledging and processing collective trauma

Explanation:
I'm just going to throw this out there, since it is highly topical and receiving much international attention. Nothing against Barbara's suggestion.

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Note added at 4 hrs (2022-04-04 21:25:39 GMT)
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Here you go, from the basics to the activities:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_trauma#:~:text=The ...
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/lifting-the-veil-tra...
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-020-00981-x
https://www.betterup.com/blog/collective-trauma
and the collective trauma guru:
https://www.google.com/search?q=collective trauma thomas hüb...

Ramey Rieger (X)
Germany
Local time: 14:49
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 41

Notes to answerer

Asker: Have you got a couple of examples of the "much international attention" for me, please?

2 hrs confidence:

(Critical) (re)examination of the past

Michael Martin, MA
United States
Local time: 08:49
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

German,

English
PRO pts in category: 74

Grading comment

Thanks - this is definitely a possibility that I hadn't thought of when posting the question, so you get the points.

Notes to answerer

Asker: Interesting idea. Any examples of it in use?

7 hrs confidence:

confronting the past

Explanation:
- also getting to grips with the past, as opposed to Vergangenheitsbewältigung as (a mechanism for) 'coping with the past'.

Example sentence(s):

Coming to Grips With the Past: Effect of Repeated Simulation on the Perceived Plausibility of Episodic Counterfactual Thoughts
Mit der 'Lex Gross' will Polens nationalpopulistische PiS-Regierung nun jede kritische Geschichtsaufarbeitung verhindern. With the 'Lex Gross', Poland's national populist PiS government now wants to prevent any critical confrontation with the past.

Reference: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0956797612468163
Reference: http://context.reverso.net/übersetzung/deutsch-englisch/Gesc...

Adrian MM.
Austria
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 20

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Geschichtsaufarbeitung

English translation: (Critical) (re)examination of the past / dealing with / coming to terms with

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English translation: (Critical) (re)examination of the past / dealing with / coming to terms with

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