Abstract
There is no harm in repeating the obvious: Since the late 1980s, memory has become a very popular and appealing topic of research in social sciences. The emergence and development of memory studies as a separate field of inquiry is both the proof and the product of this increasing interest in memory. And, with the constant flow of publications on memory, we are witnessing ongoing efforts to consolidate and define the parameters of this burgeoning area of study. In particular, there are heated debates about which theoretical perspectives and methodologies should be adopted to construct a fuller understanding of memory.
Cultural Memories: The Geographical Point of View contributes to such debates by bringing a geographical perspective into cultural studies of memory. It consists of 19 chapters that are arranged in five consecutive sections. The first section, ‘Theoretical Clarifications’, maps out the conceptual framework of the entire collection. In the introduction, the editors, Meusburger, Heffernan and Wunder, unveil the key parameters of their approach. Drawing on the French sociologist Maurice Halbwachs, they stress the spatiality of memory and they immediately add the critical role played by images, cultural artifacts and rituals. The following three chapters in this section complement the introduction: Assmann clarifies his distinction between cultural memory and communicative memory. Brown and Middleton provide a close reading of Halbwachs’s understanding of localization of memory. Finally, Meusburger focuses on the contested character and the political significance of memories.
There are ‘Three Case Studies’ in the second section of the volume. Here, each author presents a detailed analysis of a particular location in Europe: Kreis asks what role Rutli has played in the construction of Swiss national identity. Graham turns his gaze to post-conflict Northern Ireland and explores the political construction of the past in the present. Lastly, West investigates the link between cultural identity and memory in the case of the Cale (Gitanos) in Spain.
Europe continues to be the central point of interest for the eight chapters in the third section. Grouped under the title ‘World War II in European Cultural Memories’, these chapters discuss how the war has been remembered and represented, especially through cultural objects and images. Remarkably, these eight chapters cover a vast array of significant historical incidents as well as various sites of memory. For example, Leggewie discusses seven historical concentric circles in order to understand the cultural construction of ‘European memory’. Likewise, Eckert asks where the Second World War stands in the collective memory of Europe, and he looks at the different cultures of remembrance in 13 European countries. In his analysis of memory conflicts in Europe, Troebst adopts the model proposed by the US–Polish historian Oskar Halecki. Departing from this broader framework, Heffernan turns his attention to a specific site of memory, the US Naval Memorial in the French city of Brest. Petermann keeps the attention on France and he examines the link between space and rituals by looking at D-Day commemorations. Walzer turns to Germany and analyzes how the memories of the Holocaust are transmitted to the younger generation. Gregory’s interest lies in Germany, too. He asks how Germans have remembered or rather forgotten the catastrophic experience of the Allied bombings. And, finally, Rupnow explores the relationship between memory and justice by looking at the efforts to obliterate the Holocaust memories.
The two chapters in the fourth section delve into ‘Post-colonial Cultural Memories’. Legg explores how ‘violent memories’ such as the Partition, colonialism and the anti-colonial struggle have been remembered in India. In their article on post-colonial Kenya, Linehan and Sarmento scrutinize a particular site of cultural memory, Fort Jesus in Mombasa, and they look at the conflicting political interests revolving around it. When it comes to the last section, ‘Pre-modern Cultural Memories’, there are two chapters that are written by two anthropologists, Tonkinson and Wassman, respectively. While the previous chapters deal with modern cultural images and rituals, Tonkinson and Wassmann are interested in how memory is localized in ‘pre-modern’ space, of course, through a distinct set of practices and rituals.
As a whole, Cultural Memories aims to unpack the relationships among memory, culture and space. It offers an intriguing analysis of how memory is constructed in specific sites and how it is enacted through certain rituals such as public commemorations and remembering days. In addition, thanks to the wide portfolio of countries, locations, historical moments and objects it covers, the volume provides plentiful empirical data, especially about memory practices in Europe.
Despite these strengths, Cultural Memories is, unfortunately, far from providing a coherent and overarching theoretical framework. To delineate, there is no common theoretical thread that holds all the chapters together. There are, of course, some shared reference points such as Maurice Halbwachs, Jan Assmann and the French theorist Pierre Nora. However, interestingly enough, none of the contributors, including the editors, makes an attempt to initiate a dialogue among these figures. In particular, the engagement with Nora, from whom most of the contributors borrow the term ‘site of memory’ (Troebst, Graham, Kreis, Heffernan, Petermann, Legg, Linehan and Sarmento), does not go beyond some brief and isolated remarks. And, although Nora has such a prominent position throughout the rest of the book, the editors do not even cite him, let alone integrate his notion of ‘sites of memory’ into their introduction.
What is more, in their introductory chapter, the editors fail to clarify the theoretical underpinnings of the volume in a satisfactory manner. While the volume seeks to examine cultural memories from a geographical point of view, it remains vague how the editors conceptualize culture or how they construct this particularly geographical perspective. Rather, they present some dispersed notes on the spatiality of memory, the significance of images as codified memories and the political significance of memories, which as a whole, are insufficient to provide a full-fledged theoretical understanding. In a similar manner, the editors fail to identify how they organize the volume itself. They do not successfully identify the criteria according to which they group the chapters into five sections. They also forget to clarify how these five sections are thematically related to each other. While each section makes sense on its own, when all five sections are brought together, they do not form a meaningful whole. For instance, it remains unclear how the last section on ‘pre-modern cultural memories’ speaks to the rest of the volume.
Overall, Cultural Memories leaves the questions of memory, space and culture under-theorized and, as a result, it fails to make an original contribution to the existing literature. Yet, despite its weaknesses, much of what is contained in this volume is interesting and informative. As such, it will appeal to the students and scholars of sociology, memory studies, geography, and anthropology. It will be especially useful for those who are interested in contemporary memory debates in Europe.