Paul Hanly Furfey Lecture * Sacred Space and Collective Memory
Memorializing Genocide at Sites of Terror
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2246236 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jennifer Jacobs (0000-0002-2300-4771, University of Colorado System, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 72 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 154-165 |
| Publication date | 2011-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sociology of Religion (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1069-4404 • E-ISSN: 1759-8818 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/socrel/srr023 |
| OpenAlex | W2055501626 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 2 |
In the aftermath of genocide and mass trauma, nations as well as victimized communities have sought ways to remember the past through the preservation of monuments and memorials that recall the catastrophes of modern society. Among the most provocative of these memorials are those that have been established at former sites of terror where the memory of suffering, torture, and extermination is encoded in the buildings, grounds, and grave sites that mark these memoryscapes as sacred spaces. It is here where visitors come to remember, to mourn, and to bear witness to a human cruelty that might otherwise be unimaginable. Although the act of genocide may vary across culture, time, and place, the pain and tragedy of genocide is a universal theme that defines these monuments to death, even as they serve as warnings to the future. Over the last two decades, the study of mass trauma and memorial culture has grown in importance, particularly as sites of terror have increasingly become public spaces of national memory. With the proliferation of Holocaust memorials in eastern and western Europe and the burgeoning of monuments to Tutsi genocide in Rwanda, studies of collective memory have sought to understand the ways in which both victim and perpetrator cultures commemorate crimes against humanity and histories of atrocity and persecution (Stier and Landres 2006; Young 1993). My own work in this field began over 10 years ago in Eastern Europe and has since expanded to the killing fields of Rwanda. Drawing on my fieldwork in Europe and my current analysis of memorial sites in Africa, this essay addresses the relationship between the sacred and collective memory at three sites of memorialization: the women's concentration camp at Ravensbrück, Germany, and the church memorials at Nyamata and Ntarama in Rwanda. Beginning with a discussion of Ravensbrück, each of these sites will be explored as they reveal the politics of memorial culture and the social construction of memory over time and a vast expanse of global geography.
Collective memory · Collective responsibility · Crimes against humanity · Criminology · Cruelty · Genocide · Human rights · Humanity · International law · Persecution · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · The Holocaust · Torture · Tragedy (event) · War crime · Witness · Anthropological Studies and Insights · History · Law · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,25 |
| Citation span | 2014 - 2023 (10) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |