Dr Sara Jones has been awarded an AHRC networking grant, for the project ‘Culture and its Uses as Testimony’.

Dr Jones will be working closely with Professor Roger Woods from University of Nottingham for this project, which examines the role of culture in societies that are seeking to come to terms with traumatic pasts, particularly those marked by war, genocide and authoritarian rule. In such societies culture is a medium through which individuals and groups present their experiences to a broad public as a form of testimony; these forms include autobiographical accounts, novels, diaries, letters, films, theatre and art.

The network, supported by a £34,666 award, will explore how cultural testimony can enrich public debate about past and present injustice, but also how it can used for narrow political purposes. Bringing together researchers from history, political science, international relations, law, sociology, and cultural studies, as well as representatives from the National Holocaust Centre and members of expert commissions, this two-year network project will start in July 2016.