The culture of memory is the interaction that an individual or society as a whole has with its own past and history. It is also considered the sociocultural and historical variant of collective memory.[1].
Definition
In a strict sense, the culture of remembrance consists of all expressions of socially approved or acquired behavior and manners of a society or group to keep parts of the past in its consciousness and thus make it present in a patent and deliberate way. The main issue of the culture of remembrance is not the display of historical and objective knowledge, but mainly to manifest the collective and subjective perceptions of historical connections with the past from a current perspective. A distinction can be made between the private and public culture of memory, as well as their respective regular elements based on events and facts of different kinds. Works that represent some type of public interest within the culture of remembrance may be designated by competent authorities as cultural artifacts or as some type of monument.
Examples
Private culture of remembrance
As elements of the private culture of remembrance, family photo albums and other types of family audiovisual records, genealogical research, the celebration of wedding anniversaries and the different expressions of worshiping the ancestors of deceased loved ones are common, which includes the construction of funerary architecture, physical manifestations referring to mourning (such as wearing black), as well as the commemoration of a birthday or the date of death of a loved one, which can be of an intimate nature as well as more social, with the celebration of masses or other rites in honor of the deceased.[2].
Public culture of remembrance
Regarding the culture of public remembrance, the erection of commemorative monuments, commemorative plaques, declaration of "sites of remembrance", construction of museums and other publicly accessible establishments in order to commemorate events of a political, religious nature or some social event of relevance to a group of people or a particular society stand out. During the second half of the century, Germany was one of the pioneering countries in developing a public policy of culture of remembrance, as a way of taking responsibility for the crimes committed by the totalitarian regimes that governed the nation: Nazi Germany and its policies of genocide such as the Holocaust, as well as the actions of repression and human rights violations committed in the German Democratic Republic (GDR).[3].
Architecture as social memory
Introduction
The culture of memory is the interaction that an individual or society as a whole has with its own past and history. It is also considered the sociocultural and historical variant of collective memory.[1].
Definition
In a strict sense, the culture of remembrance consists of all expressions of socially approved or acquired behavior and manners of a society or group to keep parts of the past in its consciousness and thus make it present in a patent and deliberate way. The main issue of the culture of remembrance is not the display of historical and objective knowledge, but mainly to manifest the collective and subjective perceptions of historical connections with the past from a current perspective. A distinction can be made between the private and public culture of memory, as well as their respective regular elements based on events and facts of different kinds. Works that represent some type of public interest within the culture of remembrance may be designated by competent authorities as cultural artifacts or as some type of monument.
Examples
Private culture of remembrance
As elements of the private culture of remembrance, family photo albums and other types of family audiovisual records, genealogical research, the celebration of wedding anniversaries and the different expressions of worshiping the ancestors of deceased loved ones are common, which includes the construction of funerary architecture, physical manifestations referring to mourning (such as wearing black), as well as the commemoration of a birthday or the date of death of a loved one, which can be of an intimate nature as well as more social, with the celebration of masses or other rites in honor of the deceased.[2].
Public culture of remembrance
The commemoration of martyrs and those killed in combat are objects of the culture of remembrance in different countries. Remembrance Day is an event celebrated in the Commonwealth to remember soldiers killed from the First World War. Similarly, Germany commemorates its National Day of Mourning (Volkstrauertag) in November of each year, in order to remember its fallen.[4] In the United States, Memorial Day "Memorial Day (United States)") is commemorated annually in May to remember all Americans who died in an armed conflict.[5].
[5] ↑ Clark Howard, Brian (24 de mayo de 2022). «The facts behind Memorial Day's controversial history». Nationalgeographic.com (en inglés). National Geographic. Consultado el 19 de febrero de 2023.: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/memorial-day-1
Regarding the culture of public remembrance, the erection of commemorative monuments, commemorative plaques, declaration of "sites of remembrance", construction of museums and other publicly accessible establishments in order to commemorate events of a political, religious nature or some social event of relevance to a group of people or a particular society stand out. During the second half of the century, Germany was one of the pioneering countries in developing a public policy of culture of remembrance, as a way of taking responsibility for the crimes committed by the totalitarian regimes that governed the nation: Nazi Germany and its policies of genocide such as the Holocaust, as well as the actions of repression and human rights violations committed in the German Democratic Republic (GDR).[3].
The commemoration of martyrs and those killed in combat are objects of the culture of remembrance in different countries. Remembrance Day is an event celebrated in the Commonwealth to remember soldiers killed from the First World War. Similarly, Germany commemorates its National Day of Mourning (Volkstrauertag) in November of each year, in order to remember its fallen.[4] In the United States, Memorial Day "Memorial Day (United States)") is commemorated annually in May to remember all Americans who died in an armed conflict.[5].
[5] ↑ Clark Howard, Brian (24 de mayo de 2022). «The facts behind Memorial Day's controversial history». Nationalgeographic.com (en inglés). National Geographic. Consultado el 19 de febrero de 2023.: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/memorial-day-1