Remembering and Forgetting Bogyoke Aung San: Constructing Memory in Burma/Myanmar

The memory of Aung San has played an outsized role in the construction of Burma/ Myanmar national identity. This article compares the memory of Aung San in four periods: 1947–62, 1962–88, 1988–2011 and 2011–21. Based on this comparison, the study argues that the memory of Aung San has been used strategically in each period by different actors vying for political power. Those in state power – or vying for it – constructed a memory by carefully selecting elements of Aung San’s biography that correlated to their interests. The different interpretations of Aung San’s memory help build particular conceptions of national identity in efforts to garner popular support and award legitimacy. This analysis shows the ways in which Aung San’s legacy maintains influence over contemporary Burma/Myanmar identity and contributes to the growing body of research on nostalgia and memory in Asia.