Chapter 5: The “Realness” of History: Ambivalence, Social Norms, and the Continuous Movement of Society

Human relationships and intrapersonal interactions are influenced, created, and molded by accepted societal norms as outlined in Zittoun and Gillespie’s three-part model. We elaborate on this model here in two ways. Zittoun & Gillespie discuss societal contexts as reasonably stable configurations of social relationships and meanings. From a developmental standpoint, however, little is stable about any society. A society’s cultural norms change as individuals attempt to overcome the ambivalence they feel when two competing interpretations of themselves and their environment are at stake. Ambivalence can fluctuate for many reasons. Ambivalence may generally remain lower during times of peace and as such, these periods may increase the visibility of social instability and movement. This chapter offers an examination of the psycho-social history of Great Britain during the “interwar period” from 1918 to 1939. This more peaceful episode offers an opportunity to view movement and dynamics at a societal level. Zittoun & Gillespie also suggest the process of sociogenesis can be disrupted by major social ruptures, like war. So too, and somewhat paradoxically, war can also be a unifying and calming factor in some respects. Societies are often semiotically prepared for the impact of war before it begins. Likewise, during war, as ambivalence may increase, social institutions provide much propaganda that can be used as part of circumvention strategies designed to lower tension and ease meaning-making. For instance, the reality of death, and tragedy of killing must be circumvented during times of war as individuals are sent off to kill “enemy” soldiers. During war, people may not try to see those being killed in a multitude of ways; rather, they may all cluster around more singular notions, such as the “inhumanness” of the opposing side.