Difficulty and Distance in Educational Encounters with Historical Violence

This article reviews recent literature that addresses historical violence, difficult history, and the production of historical distance in teaching and learning about past violence. The author argues that based on the literature, the processes by which certain violent histories become “difficult” while others are aestheticized deserve greater attention. As violent histories become more or less difficult, the production of nuanced, contextually contingent historical distances may have serious implications for teachers’ pedagogical decisions as well as students’ reactions and understanding. The author argues further that historical violence not considered difficult or traumatic in a given moment and context deserves greater attention from scholars and researchers