Memorial Mania

Memorial Mania

Author: Erika Doss

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2012-09-07

Total Pages: 478

ISBN-13: 0226159396

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In the past few decades, thousands of new memorials to executed witches, victims of terrorism, and dead astronauts, along with those that pay tribute to civil rights, organ donors, and the end of Communism have dotted the American landscape. Equally ubiquitous, though until now less the subject of serious inquiry, are temporary memorials: spontaneous offerings of flowers and candles that materialize at sites of tragic and traumatic death. In Memorial Mania, Erika Doss argues that these memorials underscore our obsession with issues of memory and history, and the urgent desire to express—and claim—those issues in visibly public contexts. Doss shows how this desire to memorialize the past disposes itself to individual anniversaries and personal grievances, to stories of tragedy and trauma, and to the social and political agendas of diverse numbers of Americans. By offering a framework for understanding these sites, Doss engages the larger issues behind our culture of commemoration. Driven by heated struggles over identity and the politics of representation, Memorial Mania is a testament to the fevered pitch of public feelings in America today.


Book Synopsis Memorial Mania by : Erika Doss

Download or read book Memorial Mania written by Erika Doss and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2012-09-07 with total page 478 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the past few decades, thousands of new memorials to executed witches, victims of terrorism, and dead astronauts, along with those that pay tribute to civil rights, organ donors, and the end of Communism have dotted the American landscape. Equally ubiquitous, though until now less the subject of serious inquiry, are temporary memorials: spontaneous offerings of flowers and candles that materialize at sites of tragic and traumatic death. In Memorial Mania, Erika Doss argues that these memorials underscore our obsession with issues of memory and history, and the urgent desire to express—and claim—those issues in visibly public contexts. Doss shows how this desire to memorialize the past disposes itself to individual anniversaries and personal grievances, to stories of tragedy and trauma, and to the social and political agendas of diverse numbers of Americans. By offering a framework for understanding these sites, Doss engages the larger issues behind our culture of commemoration. Driven by heated struggles over identity and the politics of representation, Memorial Mania is a testament to the fevered pitch of public feelings in America today.

Monument Wars

Monument Wars

Author: Kirk Savage

Publisher: Univ of California Press

Published: 2011-07-11

Total Pages: 408

ISBN-13: 0520271335

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Traces the history of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., discussing its plan and structures, and considering how the concept of memorials and memorial space has changed since the nineteenth century.


Book Synopsis Monument Wars by : Kirk Savage

Download or read book Monument Wars written by Kirk Savage and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2011-07-11 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Traces the history of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., discussing its plan and structures, and considering how the concept of memorials and memorial space has changed since the nineteenth century.

Monumental Fury

Monumental Fury

Author: Matthew Fraser

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2022-11-15

Total Pages: 339

ISBN-13: 1633888118

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Recent years in America have seen Confederate monuments toppled, statues of colonizers vandalized, and public icons commemorating figures from a history of exploitation demolished. Some were alarmed by the destruction, claiming that pulling down public statues is a negation of an entire cultural heritage. For others, statue-smashing is justified vandalism against a legacy of injustice. Monumental Fury confronts the long-neglected questions of our relationship with statues, icons, and monuments in public spaces, providing a rich historical perspective on iconoclastic violence. Organized according to specific themes that provide insights into the erection and destruction of statues — from religion, war, and revolution to colonialism, ideology, art, and social justice — author Matthew Fraser examines the implications of our monuments from the Buddhas of Bamiyan to those of Napoleon Bonaparte, Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Vladimir Lenin, and many more. Above all, the book endeavors to frame moments of statue-toppling throughout history so we can better understand the eruptions of iconoclastic violence that we are witnessing today. Statues are erected as expressions of power, and the impulse to destroy them is motivated by a desire to defy, reject, and eradicate their authority. However, the symbolic power of statues can stubbornly persist even after their destruction. This enduring paradox — between destruction and resurrection – is at the heart of this book. Fraser concludes with reflections that propose new ways of thinking about our relationship with statues and monuments and, more practically, about how we can creatively integrate their legacy into our collective memory in a way that inclusively enriches shared historical experience.


Book Synopsis Monumental Fury by : Matthew Fraser

Download or read book Monumental Fury written by Matthew Fraser and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2022-11-15 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent years in America have seen Confederate monuments toppled, statues of colonizers vandalized, and public icons commemorating figures from a history of exploitation demolished. Some were alarmed by the destruction, claiming that pulling down public statues is a negation of an entire cultural heritage. For others, statue-smashing is justified vandalism against a legacy of injustice. Monumental Fury confronts the long-neglected questions of our relationship with statues, icons, and monuments in public spaces, providing a rich historical perspective on iconoclastic violence. Organized according to specific themes that provide insights into the erection and destruction of statues — from religion, war, and revolution to colonialism, ideology, art, and social justice — author Matthew Fraser examines the implications of our monuments from the Buddhas of Bamiyan to those of Napoleon Bonaparte, Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Vladimir Lenin, and many more. Above all, the book endeavors to frame moments of statue-toppling throughout history so we can better understand the eruptions of iconoclastic violence that we are witnessing today. Statues are erected as expressions of power, and the impulse to destroy them is motivated by a desire to defy, reject, and eradicate their authority. However, the symbolic power of statues can stubbornly persist even after their destruction. This enduring paradox — between destruction and resurrection – is at the heart of this book. Fraser concludes with reflections that propose new ways of thinking about our relationship with statues and monuments and, more practically, about how we can creatively integrate their legacy into our collective memory in a way that inclusively enriches shared historical experience.

From Memory to Memorial

From Memory to Memorial

Author: J. William Thompson

Publisher: Penn State Press

Published: 2017-02-08

Total Pages: 199

ISBN-13: 0271078995

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On September 11, 2001, Shanksville, Pennsylvania, became a center of national attention when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a former strip mine in sleepy Somerset County, killing all forty passengers and crew aboard. This is the story of the memorialization that followed, from immediate, unofficial personal memorials to the ten-year effort to plan and build a permanent national monument to honor those who died. It is also the story of the unlikely community that developed through those efforts. As the country struggled to process the events of September 11, temporary memorials—from wreaths of flowers to personalized T-shirts and flags—appeared along the chain-link fences that lined the perimeter of the crash site. They served as evidence of the residents’ need to pay tribute to the tragedy and of the demand for an official monument. Weaving oral accounts from Shanksville residents and family members of those who died with contemporaneous news reports and records, J. William Thompson traces the creation of the monument and explores the larger narrative of memorialization in America. He recounts the crash and its sobering immediate impact on area residents and the nation, discusses the history of and controversies surrounding efforts to permanently commemorate the event, and relates how locals and grief-stricken family members ultimately bonded with movers and shakers at the federal level to build the Flight 93 National Memorial. A heartfelt examination of memory, place, and the effects of tragedy on small-town America, this fact-driven account of how the Flight 93 National Memorial came to be is a captivating look at the many ways we strive as communities to forever remember the events that change us.


Book Synopsis From Memory to Memorial by : J. William Thompson

Download or read book From Memory to Memorial written by J. William Thompson and published by Penn State Press. This book was released on 2017-02-08 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On September 11, 2001, Shanksville, Pennsylvania, became a center of national attention when United Airlines Flight 93 crashed into a former strip mine in sleepy Somerset County, killing all forty passengers and crew aboard. This is the story of the memorialization that followed, from immediate, unofficial personal memorials to the ten-year effort to plan and build a permanent national monument to honor those who died. It is also the story of the unlikely community that developed through those efforts. As the country struggled to process the events of September 11, temporary memorials—from wreaths of flowers to personalized T-shirts and flags—appeared along the chain-link fences that lined the perimeter of the crash site. They served as evidence of the residents’ need to pay tribute to the tragedy and of the demand for an official monument. Weaving oral accounts from Shanksville residents and family members of those who died with contemporaneous news reports and records, J. William Thompson traces the creation of the monument and explores the larger narrative of memorialization in America. He recounts the crash and its sobering immediate impact on area residents and the nation, discusses the history of and controversies surrounding efforts to permanently commemorate the event, and relates how locals and grief-stricken family members ultimately bonded with movers and shakers at the federal level to build the Flight 93 National Memorial. A heartfelt examination of memory, place, and the effects of tragedy on small-town America, this fact-driven account of how the Flight 93 National Memorial came to be is a captivating look at the many ways we strive as communities to forever remember the events that change us.

Memorials Matter

Memorials Matter

Author: Jennifer K Ladino

Publisher: University of Nevada Press

Published: 2019-02-06

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 1943859981

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From the sculptured peaks of Mount Rushmore to the Coloradan prairie lands at Sand Creek to the idyllic islands of the Pacific, the West’s signature environments add a new dimension to the study of memorials. In such diverse and often dramatic landscapes, how do the natural and built environments shape our emotions? In Memorials Matter, author Jennifer Ladino investigates the natural and physical environments of seven diverse National Park Service (NPS) sites in the American West and how they influence emotions about historical conflict and national identity. Chapters center around the region’s diverse inhabitants (Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, African, and Native Americans) and the variously traumatic histories these groups endured—histories of oppression, exploitation, incarceration, slavery, and genocide. Drawing on material ecocritical theory, Ladino emphasizes the ideological and political importance of memorials and how they evoke visceral responses that are not always explicitly “storied,” but nevertheless matter in powerful ways. In this unique blend of narrative scholarship and critical theory, Ladino demonstrates how these memorial sites and their surrounding landscapes, combined with written texts, generate emotion and shape our collective memory of traumatic events. She urges us to consider our everyday environments and to become attuned to features and feelings we might have otherwise overlooked.


Book Synopsis Memorials Matter by : Jennifer K Ladino

Download or read book Memorials Matter written by Jennifer K Ladino and published by University of Nevada Press. This book was released on 2019-02-06 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the sculptured peaks of Mount Rushmore to the Coloradan prairie lands at Sand Creek to the idyllic islands of the Pacific, the West’s signature environments add a new dimension to the study of memorials. In such diverse and often dramatic landscapes, how do the natural and built environments shape our emotions? In Memorials Matter, author Jennifer Ladino investigates the natural and physical environments of seven diverse National Park Service (NPS) sites in the American West and how they influence emotions about historical conflict and national identity. Chapters center around the region’s diverse inhabitants (Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, African, and Native Americans) and the variously traumatic histories these groups endured—histories of oppression, exploitation, incarceration, slavery, and genocide. Drawing on material ecocritical theory, Ladino emphasizes the ideological and political importance of memorials and how they evoke visceral responses that are not always explicitly “storied,” but nevertheless matter in powerful ways. In this unique blend of narrative scholarship and critical theory, Ladino demonstrates how these memorial sites and their surrounding landscapes, combined with written texts, generate emotion and shape our collective memory of traumatic events. She urges us to consider our everyday environments and to become attuned to features and feelings we might have otherwise overlooked.

Grassroots Memorials

Grassroots Memorials

Author: Peter Jan Margry

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2011-08-01

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 0857451901

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Grassroots memorials have become major areas of focus during times of trauma, danger, and social unrest. These improvised memorial assemblages continue to display new and more dynamic ways of representing collective and individual identities and in doing so reveal the steps that shape the national memories of those who struggle to come to terms with traumatic loss. This volume focuses on the hybrid quality of these temporary memorials as both monuments of mourning and as focal points for protest and expression of discontent. The broad range of case studies in this volume include anti-mafia shrines, Theo van Gogh’s memorial, September 11th memorials, March 11th shrines in Madrid, and Carlo Giuliani memorials in Genoa.


Book Synopsis Grassroots Memorials by : Peter Jan Margry

Download or read book Grassroots Memorials written by Peter Jan Margry and published by Berghahn Books. This book was released on 2011-08-01 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Grassroots memorials have become major areas of focus during times of trauma, danger, and social unrest. These improvised memorial assemblages continue to display new and more dynamic ways of representing collective and individual identities and in doing so reveal the steps that shape the national memories of those who struggle to come to terms with traumatic loss. This volume focuses on the hybrid quality of these temporary memorials as both monuments of mourning and as focal points for protest and expression of discontent. The broad range of case studies in this volume include anti-mafia shrines, Theo van Gogh’s memorial, September 11th memorials, March 11th shrines in Madrid, and Carlo Giuliani memorials in Genoa.

Neoliberalism, Postmodernity, and the Contemporary Memorial-Building Boom

Neoliberalism, Postmodernity, and the Contemporary Memorial-Building Boom

Author: Nicola Clewer

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2022-06-06

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 178661300X

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The book develops a new approach to, and a distinct reading of, the contemporary memorial-building boom which began in the 1980s. Locating the origins of this boom in the crises associated with postmodernity and the rise of neoliberalism, it analyses the complex interplay between neoliberalism, postmodernism and nationalism in some of the most well-known memorials and memorial-museums to have emerged in the USA and Germany over the last four decades. Rather than offering a survey of contemporary memorials, it traces a specific trajectory (and certainly not the only one ripe for analysis): from the postmodern memorials of the 1980s to the increasingly monumental and authoritative memorials and memorial-museums being constructed today. Developing a distinct interdisciplinary approach, the book offers a critical analysis of the relationship between the memorials’ form, the “visitor experience” they’re intended to offer. and the understanding of history and our relation to it which underpins their philosophical, ethical and political stance. Questioning the notion that contemporary memorials are ambiguous, non-ideological and non-nationalistic, the book argues that they are engaged in rearticulating nationalism in line with the contradictory demands of the current conjuncture. As well as critically analysing the political function of national memorials, the book is equally concerned with interrogating the aesthetic means they employ, with a specific focus on the way in which they mobilise the power of the sublime to generate particular affective responses. The book argues that contemporary national memorials reflect one of the most significant convergences between postmodern thought and neoliberal ideology – both project a permanent present, urging us to recreate ourselves in the light of existing conditions, for “there is no alternative”.


Book Synopsis Neoliberalism, Postmodernity, and the Contemporary Memorial-Building Boom by : Nicola Clewer

Download or read book Neoliberalism, Postmodernity, and the Contemporary Memorial-Building Boom written by Nicola Clewer and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2022-06-06 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book develops a new approach to, and a distinct reading of, the contemporary memorial-building boom which began in the 1980s. Locating the origins of this boom in the crises associated with postmodernity and the rise of neoliberalism, it analyses the complex interplay between neoliberalism, postmodernism and nationalism in some of the most well-known memorials and memorial-museums to have emerged in the USA and Germany over the last four decades. Rather than offering a survey of contemporary memorials, it traces a specific trajectory (and certainly not the only one ripe for analysis): from the postmodern memorials of the 1980s to the increasingly monumental and authoritative memorials and memorial-museums being constructed today. Developing a distinct interdisciplinary approach, the book offers a critical analysis of the relationship between the memorials’ form, the “visitor experience” they’re intended to offer. and the understanding of history and our relation to it which underpins their philosophical, ethical and political stance. Questioning the notion that contemporary memorials are ambiguous, non-ideological and non-nationalistic, the book argues that they are engaged in rearticulating nationalism in line with the contradictory demands of the current conjuncture. As well as critically analysing the political function of national memorials, the book is equally concerned with interrogating the aesthetic means they employ, with a specific focus on the way in which they mobilise the power of the sublime to generate particular affective responses. The book argues that contemporary national memorials reflect one of the most significant convergences between postmodern thought and neoliberal ideology – both project a permanent present, urging us to recreate ourselves in the light of existing conditions, for “there is no alternative”.

Memorials to Shattered Myths

Memorials to Shattered Myths

Author: Harriet Senie

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 0190248394

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Although radically different, the Vietnam War, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Columbine High School shootings, and the attacks of 9/11 all shattered myths of national identity. Vietnam was a war the United States didn't win; Oklahoma City revealed domestic terrorism in the heartland; Columbine debunked legends of high school as an idyllic time; and 9/11 demonstrated U.S. vulnerability to international terrorism.


Book Synopsis Memorials to Shattered Myths by : Harriet Senie

Download or read book Memorials to Shattered Myths written by Harriet Senie and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Although radically different, the Vietnam War, the Oklahoma City bombing, the Columbine High School shootings, and the attacks of 9/11 all shattered myths of national identity. Vietnam was a war the United States didn't win; Oklahoma City revealed domestic terrorism in the heartland; Columbine debunked legends of high school as an idyllic time; and 9/11 demonstrated U.S. vulnerability to international terrorism.

Sculpting Doughboys

Sculpting Doughboys

Author: Jennifer Wingate

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-07-05

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 1351549758

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Redressing the neglect of World War I memorials in art history scholarship and memory studies, Sculpting Doughboys considers the hundreds of sculptures of American soldiers that dominated the nation's sculptural commemorative landscape after World War I. To better understand these 'doughboys', the name given to both members of the American Expeditionary Forces and the memorials erected in their image, this volume also considers their sculptural alternatives, including depictions of motherhood, nude male allegories, and expressions of anti-militarism. It addresses why doughboy sculptures came to occupy such a significant presence in interwar commemoration, even though art critics objected to their unrefined realism, by considering the social upheavals of the Red Scare, America's burgeoning consumer and popular culture, and the ambitions and idiosyncrasies of artists and communities across the country. In doing so, this study also highlights the social and cultural tensions of the period as debates grew over art's changing role in society and as more women and immigrant sculptors vied for a place and a voice in America's public sphere. Finally, Sculpting Doughboys addresses the fate of these memorials nearly a century after they were dedicated and poses questions for reframing our relationship with war memorials today.


Book Synopsis Sculpting Doughboys by : Jennifer Wingate

Download or read book Sculpting Doughboys written by Jennifer Wingate and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Redressing the neglect of World War I memorials in art history scholarship and memory studies, Sculpting Doughboys considers the hundreds of sculptures of American soldiers that dominated the nation's sculptural commemorative landscape after World War I. To better understand these 'doughboys', the name given to both members of the American Expeditionary Forces and the memorials erected in their image, this volume also considers their sculptural alternatives, including depictions of motherhood, nude male allegories, and expressions of anti-militarism. It addresses why doughboy sculptures came to occupy such a significant presence in interwar commemoration, even though art critics objected to their unrefined realism, by considering the social upheavals of the Red Scare, America's burgeoning consumer and popular culture, and the ambitions and idiosyncrasies of artists and communities across the country. In doing so, this study also highlights the social and cultural tensions of the period as debates grew over art's changing role in society and as more women and immigrant sculptors vied for a place and a voice in America's public sphere. Finally, Sculpting Doughboys addresses the fate of these memorials nearly a century after they were dedicated and poses questions for reframing our relationship with war memorials today.

In Memory of

In Memory of

Author: Spencer Bailey

Publisher: Phaidon Press

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781838661441

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An extraordinary book that explores the art, architecture, and design of memorials around the world from the late twentieth century to today - an important book for our time


Book Synopsis In Memory of by : Spencer Bailey

Download or read book In Memory of written by Spencer Bailey and published by Phaidon Press. This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An extraordinary book that explores the art, architecture, and design of memorials around the world from the late twentieth century to today - an important book for our time