The Nile on eBay FREE SHIPPING UK WIDE Memorials to Shattered Myths by Harriet F. Senie
Memorials to the Vietnam War veterans, Oklahoma City bombing, Columbine school shooting, and 9/11 terrorist attacks commemorate events that shattered myths of national identity. Conflating memorials with cemeteries, they celebrate victims as if they were heroes. This new paradigm prompts an endless loop of mourning camouflaging history in a triumphal narrative.
FORMATPaperback LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description
Memorials to Shattered Myths: Vietnam to 9/11 traces the evolution and consequences of a new hybrid paradigm, which grants a heroic status to victims of national tragedies, and by extension to their families, thereby creating a class of privileged participants in the permanent memorial process. Harriet F. Senie suggests that instead the victims' families be able to determine the nature of an interim memorial, one that addresses their needs in the criticaltime between the murder of their loved ones and the completion of the permanent memorial. She also observes that the memorials discussed herein are inadvertently based on strategies of diversion and denial thatdirect our attention away from actual events, and reframe tragedy as secular or religious triumph. In doing so, they camouflage history, and seen as an aggregate, they define a nation of victims, exactly the concept they and their accompanying celebratory narratives were apparently created to obscure.
Author Biography
Harriet F. Senie is Director of the M.A. Program in Art History and Art Museum Studies at City College, City University of New York, and also teaches at the CUNY Graduate Center. She is the author of several books and numerous articles on public art, and is co-founder of the international organization Public Art Dialogue and co-editor of its journal, Public Art Dialogue.
Table of Contents
IntroductionChapter 1: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial: A Symbolic Cemetery on the National MallChapter 2: Immediate Memorials: Mourning in ProtestChapter 3: Oklahoma City: Reframing Tragedy as TriumphChapter 4: Columbine and the Power of DenialChapter 5: Commemorating 9/11: From the Tribute in Light to Reflecting AbsenceConclusionBibliographyIndex
Review
"This richly informed account of recent memorials identifies a notable shift from honoring singular heroes to venerating the loss of civilian life. How this shift occurred and its national consequences are among the intriguing questions raised and answered in this landmark study." -- Sally Webster, author of The Nation's First Monument and the Origins of the American Memorial Tradition"What do we memorialize in America today, what-and who-is memorable? Harriet Senie's thoughtful and well researched book considers how many of the nation's contemporary memorials-from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to the September 11 National Memorial-conflate violence and tragic loss with imperatives of collective unity and survival, denying the fissures in the American Dream and diverting Americans from imagining new and different futures."-- Erika Doss,author of Memorial Mania: Public Feeling in America"In this landmark exploration of public art, politics, and cultural landscape, Senie...considers how the concept of "national memorial" has shifted from recognition of political/military leaders and victories in war to visualization of collective identity that recognizes victims, their families, and a shared sense of loss...Supplemented by ample notes and black-and-white images, this articulate, thorough analysis of memorials and national identity is requiredreading for those interested in public art, public history, memorials, memory studies, and other related fields in the fine arts, liberal arts, and humanities...Summing Up: Essential." -- CHOICE"There are many good things in Memorials to Shattered Myths especially Senie's insightful interpretation of the modern phenomenon of spontaneous vernacular memorials, which arise on the site of tragic incidents ranging from fatal traffic crashes to random shootings and are quickly festooned with flowers, balloons, candles, stuffed animals, and handwritten tributes." -- New York Review of Books
Long Description
Memorials to Shattered Myths: Vietnam to 9/11 traces the evolution and consequences of a new hybrid paradigm, which grants a heroic status to victims of national tragedies, and by extension to their families, thereby creating a class of privileged participants in the permanent memorial process. Harriet F. Senie suggests that instead the victims' families be able to determine the nature of an interim memorial, one that addresses their needs in the criticaltime between the murder of their loved ones and the completion of the permanent memorial. She also observes that the memorials discussed herein are inadvertently based on strategies of diversion and denial thatdirect our attention away from actual events, and reframe tragedy as secular or religious triumph. In doing so, they camouflage history, and seen as an aggregate, they define a nation of victims, exactly the concept they and their accompanying celebratory narratives were apparently created to obscure.
Review Text
"This richly informed account of recent memorials identifies a notable shift from honoring singular heroes to venerating the loss of civilian life. How this shift occurred and its national consequences are among the intriguing questions raised and answered in this landmark study." -- Sally Webster, author of The Nation's First Monument and the Origins of the American Memorial Tradition"What do we memorialize in America today, what-and who-is memorable? Harriet Senie's thoughtful and well researched book considers how many of the nation's contemporary memorials-from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to the September 11 National Memorial-conflate violence and tragic loss with imperatives of collective unity and survival, denying the fissures in the American Dream and diverting Americans from imagining new and different futures."-- Erika Doss,author of Memorial Mania: Public Feeling in America
Review Quote
"This richly informed account of recent memorials identifies a notable shift from honoring singular heroes to venerating the loss of civilian life. How this shift occurred and its national consequences are among the intriguing questions raised and answered in this landmark study." -- Sally Webster, author of The Nation's First Monument and the Origins of the American Memorial Tradition "What do we memorialize in America today, what-and who-is memorable? Harriet Senie's thoughtful and well researched book considers how many of the nation's contemporary memorials-from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to the September 11 National Memorial-conflate violence and tragic loss with imperatives of collective unity and survival, denying the fissures in the American Dream and diverting Americans from imagining new and different futures."-- Erika Doss, author of Memorial Mania: Public Feeling in America "In this landmark exploration of public art, politics, and cultural landscape, Senie...considers how the concept of "national memorial" has shifted from recognition of political/military leaders and victories in war to visualization of collective identity that recognizes victims, their families, and a shared sense of loss...Supplemented by ample notes and black-and-white images, this articulate, thorough analysis of memorials and national identity is required reading for those interested in public art, public history, memorials, memory studies, and other related fields in the fine arts, liberal arts, and humanities...Summing Up: Essential." -- CHOICE "There are many good things in Memorials to Shattered Myths especially Senie's insightful interpretation of the modern phenomenon of spontaneous vernacular memorials, which arise on the site of tragic incidents ranging from fatal traffic crashes to random shootings and are quickly festooned with flowers, balloons, candles, stuffed animals, and handwritten tributes." -- New York Review of Books
Feature
Conferences: ASTA, AHA, OAH, CAA, BAAS (British Association of American Studies)Relevant Journals: American Quarterly, Journal of American History, American Historical Review, Art Journal, Journal of American Studies (UK), Public Art Dialogue (Senie edits this one)Selling point: Defines and traces the evolution of a new memorial paradigm: a conflation of memorials and cemeteries used to commemorate significant events that challenge myths of national identitySelling point: Identifies specific strategies of diversion and denial that shift the focus away from nationally destabilizing events in order to focus on the valorization of victimsSelling point: Analyzes anniversary rituals to document evolving interpretations of these national traumasSelling point: Introduces the concept of visual reenactment as a significant strategy of memorialization rooted in repetition rather than reflection
Details ISBN0190248408 Short Title MEMORIALS TO SHATTERED MYTHS Pages 272 Language English ISBN-10 0190248408 ISBN-13 9780190248406 Media Book Format Paperback Year 2016 Subtitle Vietnam to 9/11 Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States NZ Release Date 2016-01-28 US Release Date 2016-01-28 UK Release Date 2016-01-28 Publication Date 2016-01-28 Illustrations 78 halftones Illustrator Qu Lan Edited by Marc-Olivier Hinzelin Birth 1927 Death 1851 Affiliation Senior Lecturer, University of Sydney Position Senior Lecturer Qualifications PhD Author Harriet F. Senie Publisher Oxford University Press Inc Imprint Oxford University Press Inc Alternative 9780190248390 DEWEY 973.92 Audience Undergraduate AU Release Date 2016-03-09 We've got this
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