Negotiating Danish identity with(in) Copenhagen's postcolonial landscape of commemoration
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11907527 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Doron Eldar (0009-0006-3797-6543, Uppsala University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 84 |
| Pages | 37-48 |
| Publication date | 2024-04-24 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Historical Geography (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0305-7488 • E-ISSN: 1095-8614 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.jhg.2024.04.004 |
| OpenAlex | W4395067268 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
The paper investigates changes to Copenhagen's landscape of commemoration concerning its former colony, the Danish West Indies (DWI), prompted by the 2017 centennial anniversary of the Islands' sale to the US. It argues that Denmark, like other European nations, navigates a postcolonial identity crisis and that the landscape of commemoration plays a significant role within it. The paper advances our understanding of postcolonial Europe's identity crisis not only by shedding light on the under-explored case of Denmark, but also by emphasizing the role of the landscape of commemoration in this crisis. In addition to demonstrating how landscapes function as ‘arenas’ for negotiating expressions of hegemonic identity and territorial claims, it argues that the commemorative landscape is pivotal in tackling the construction of ‘Europe’ as a detached, self-made entity rather than a space (re)produced through connections with other (ed) places and people. It underscores that Europe's allegedly monochromatic historical fabric is woven from diverse global threads. Re-membering Europe with the people and regions vital to its (re)production re-writes them into European history and re-locates detached Europe (with)in the world. • Denmark can be situated within (post)colonial Europe's identity crisis. • Memories of the Danish West Indies are leveraged to negotiate Danish identity. • Copenhagen's commemorative landscape is instrumental in navigating the crisis. • Copenhagen's commemorative landscape redefines ‘the Dane’ and ‘Denmark.’
Aesthetics · Art · Danish · Genealogy · Geography · Identity (music · Linguistics · Negotiation · Social science · Sociology · Anthropology · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · Gender Studies · History · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration · Oral History, Memory, Narrative Analysis · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Highly cited | No |