Both Wolfgram and Straus are concerned with how societies might best emerge from a period of extreme violence and set themselves on the path for more peaceful and also hopefully democratic development. First, briefly describe Straus’s concept of founding narratives. Second, use Wolfgram’s book to describe the founding narratives of the six cases (treat East and West Germany separately). What is the founding narrative for each case? Lastly, Straus claims that the founding narrative provides a guide to what we can expect to happen in a country in the future, of how likely future violence and genocide might be. Based on the six cases from Antigone’s Ghosts, which cases fit Straus’s expectations and which do not?
