WHAT DOES SILENCE TELL? TRAUMAS AND MEMORIAL CONFLICTS IN THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH OF ISTRIAN EXODUS AND A NATIONAL "HERO".

The article reflects on the meanings of silence which was encountered in the ethnographic research of memories on the Istrian exodus and a WWII national "hero" in the Primorska (littoral) region of Slovenia. Different kinds of silence are discussed, from the one deriving from the conflict of memories and power relations, violence and fear, to Freudian ideas of repression and trauma, denial and others. From the methodological point of view the question is raised of how to detect silence when filled with words or embodied. A reflection is made on the impact of research on the silenced communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]