A memory in ruins?
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22993145 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Marion E Stone (corresponding author), Marion Stone |
| Year | 2004 |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 131-144 |
| Publication date | 2004-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Public Archaeology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1465-5187 • E-ISSN: 1753-5530 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1179/pua.2004.3.3.131 |
| OpenAlex | W2129312662 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 7 |
This paper considers the contemporary fascination with memory and focuses on the phenomenon of the memorial-museum in France. The impact and reception of one such museum, the Centre de la Mémoire, at Oradour-sur-Glane, is analysed. The Centre opened in 1999, next to the ruins of Oradour, a village whose population was massacred by a Nazi SS unit in 1944. Shortly after the war the site was declared a symbol of French suffering at the hands of the occupier. The ruins alone have drawn thousands of pilgrims since 1944. However, both the physical remains of the village and living memory of the massacre are now disappearing. My research, undertaken in 2002, revealed the great complexity of this site. Economic and political interests vie with local ownership of the commemorative narrative; conservation issues and the presentation of the ruins were found to be similarly burdened. This paper also explores the limitations of memorial-museums and the possibilities for remembrance and forgetting that the Centre has brought to the new town in Oradour.
Archaeology · Art · Art history · Forgetting · German · Literature · Narrative · Nazism · Phenomenon · Political science · Politics · Politics of memory · Population · Presentation (obstetrics) · Sociology · Symbol (formal) · World War II · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · Cultural Identity and Heritage · History · Law · Museums and Cultural Heritage · Psychology
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,29 |
| Citation span | 2009 - 2020 (12) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |