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Neoliberalism, Postmodernity, and the Contemporary Memorial-Building Boom
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2022
Summary
The book develops a new approach to, and a distinct reading of, the contemporary memorial-building boom which began in the 1980s.
Locating the origins of this boom in the crises associated with postmodernity and the rise of neoliberalism, it analyses the complex interplay between neoliberalism, postmodernism and nationalism in some of the most well-known memorials and memorial-museums to have emerged in the USA and Germany over the last four decades.
Rather than offering a survey of contemporary memorials, it traces a specific trajectory (and certainly not the only one ripe for analysis): from the postmodern memorials of the 1980s to the increasingly monumental and authoritative memorials and memorial-museums being constructed today.
Developing a distinct interdisciplinary approach, the book offers a critical analysis of the relationship between the memorials’ form, the “visitor experience” they’re intended to offer. and the understanding of history and our relation to it which underpins their philosophical, ethical and political stance. Questioning the notion that contemporary memorials are ambiguous, non-ideological and non-nationalistic, the book argues that they are engaged in rearticulating nationalism in line with the contradictory demands of the current conjuncture.
As well as critically analysing the political function of national memorials, the book is equally concerned with interrogating the aesthetic means they employ, with a specific focus on the way in which they mobilise the power of the sublime to generate particular affective responses. The book argues that contemporary national memorials reflect one of the most significant convergences between postmodern thought and neoliberal ideology – both project a permanent present, urging us to recreate ourselves in the light of existing conditions, for “there is no alternative”.
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Bibliographic data
Copyright year
2022
ISBN-Print
978-1-78661-299-1
ISBN-Online
978-1-78661-300-4
Publisher
Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language
English
Pages
214
Product type
Book Titles
Table of contents
ChapterPages
Contents No access
Illustrations No access
Acknowledgements No access
Introduction No access Pages 1 - 12
Chapter One. The Postmodern-Neoliberal Conjuncture No access Pages 13 - 32
Chapter Two. Memorialising in Postmodernity: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial No access Pages 33 - 60
Chapter Three. Representing the Holocaust: From the ‘After-Auschwitz’ Aporia through the ‘Holocaust Sublime’ to New Forms of ‘Knowing’ No access Pages 61 - 86
Chapter Four. Memorialising in Postmodernity: The German Counter-Monuments No access Pages 87 - 106
Chapter Five. The Memorial-Museum, Trauma Architecture and the Sublime Authority of Affect No access Pages 107 - 124
Chapter Six. The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the ‘End of History’ and the Holocaust Sublime No access Pages 125 - 152
Chapter Seven. The National September 11 Memorial & Museum: Trauma, Commerce and Patriotism at the New World Trade Center No access Pages 153 - 180
