In the past few decades; thousands of new memorials to executed witches; victims of terrorism; and dead astronauts; along with those that pay tribute to civil rights; organ donors; and the end of Communism have dotted the American landscape. Equally ubiquitous; though until now less the subject of serious inquiry; are temporary memorials: spontaneous offerings of flowers and candles that materialize at sites of tragic and traumatic death. In Memorial Mania; Erika Doss argues that these memorials underscore our obsession with issues of memory and history; and the urgent desire to expressmdash;and claimmdash;those issues in visibly public contexts.Doss shows how this desire to memorialize the past disposes itself to individual anniversaries and personal grievances; to stories of tragedy and trauma; and to the social and political agendas of diverse numbers of Americans. By offering a framework for understanding these sites; Doss engages the larger issues behind our culture of commemoration. Driven by heated struggles over identity and the politics of representation; Memorial Mania is a testament to the fevered pitch of public feelings in America today.
#4123667 in eBooks 2009-11-30 2009-11-30File Name: B0095G1XOM
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