Description
Book SynopsisThis book analyses the nature as well as the political and philosophical implications of the contemporary international memorial-building boom. Developing a distinctive theoretical and methodological approach, it explores the complex interplay between neoliberalism, postmodernism and nationalism in some of the most iconic national memorials and memorial-museums to have emerged in the US and Germany over the last 35 years. Situating and analysing the current renaissance in memorialisation in relation to the contemporary ideological conjuncture, the book interrogates the meaning and purpose of contemporary memorial forms and practices. In so doing it goes against the grain of the dominant literature on memorialisation, challenging the widely accepted premises which underpin this consensus. Commonly praised for their non-ideological and non-nationalistic stance, ambiguity and affective power, the book points rather to their role in reaffirming the nation and the neoliberal status quo.
Table of ContentsIntroduction
1: The Postmodern-Neoliberal Conjuncture
2: Memorialising in Postmodernity: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial
3: The Holocaust Representation Debate: From the “After-Auschwitz Aporia” to New Forms of “Knowing”
4: Memorialising in Postmodernity: The Holocaust – from “Counter Monuments” to “Trauma Architecture”
5: The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the “End of History” and the “Holocaust Sublime”
6: The National September 11 Memorial & Museum: Trauma, Commerce and Patriotism at the new World Trade Center
Conclusion: The Authority of the Sublime and the Future of the Monument
Bibliography
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