Resistance Narrative - an obstacle for transnational cooperation?

The research project is based on the assumption that resistance and heroic narratives within the Danish and Norwegian society have triggered transnational memory conflicts after 1945. Over decades, their national culture of remembrance were determined by the traumatic experience of occupation. In contrast to previous historical European memory studies that have been mostly confined to discourse approach and abstract models of consensus narratives, this project is based on an actor-centred approach. It focuses on the associations of former political prisoners who have greatly influenced the remembrance discourse in their role as guardians and defenders of mythological charged and politically exploited resistance narratives in the two Scandinavian countries. By choosing a transnational comparative approach, the paper examines the contribution of these organisations to bilateral respective multilateral cooperation and division within Europe. The goal is to present and explain the periodic progress as well as the consequences of dominance and weakness of resistance narratives and how these narratives have influenced the debate on European integration in the Scandinavian post-war societies.