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SUMMARY:‘It is a shame that it is so modernised\, but there should be ai
 r conditioning.’: Seeking Authenticity in Memorial Sites\, 1990-2024 - B
 eatrice Leeming\, University of Cambridge
DTSTART:20251111T130000Z
DTEND:20251111T140000Z
UID:TALK239482@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:William Wright
DESCRIPTION:Van der Laarse proposed the concept of a ‘terrorscape’ to 
 examine the spatialisation of memories of war in contemporary Europe\, exp
 loring ‘narrative’\, and the way memory is ‘told’ through space. T
 hat ‘spaces with traces’ are simultaneously relics of past time and co
 ntemporarily valuable is supported by Nora’s interpretation of mnemonic 
 sites\, lying always entre histoire et memoire. Importantly\, it is the co
 nstructivist approach of a heritage site – a terrorscape\, or traumascap
 e – that allows us to understand the materiality of memory and interpret
 ations of its evolving meaning. \n\nAs a transnational\, and transdiscipli
 nary\, study\, I consider three sites associated with the violent regime o
 f National Socialism: Dachau Memorial\, Mauthausen Memorial\, and the Anne
  Frank House\, all of which claim an ‘authenticity’ in their historic 
 experience but have variously ‘recreated it’ in their curatorial\, mat
 erial and digital realms. Since the 1990s\, there has been a concerted eff
 ort to ‘make visible’ (Sichtbarmachungen) the tensions between presenc
 e and absence in the construction of historical meaning within memorial sp
 aces. However\, incorporating notions of performance central to memory stu
 dies\, as well as participation in relation to heritage and tourism\, I am
  interested in how visitors – in their millions – have appreciated\, o
 r disputed – the materiality they are faced with. As a result\, in addit
 ion to the material monuments of the sites\, the dialogue between the guar
 dians and visitors between 1990 and 2024 – whether in travel websites\, 
 social media ‘posts’\, on-site visitor books\, school projects\, or ch
 oreographed workshops – forms the material of this paper. Beyond these s
 trategies – which Violi understands as the memorial-museum’s efforts t
 o transform the visitor ‘from someone who sees and learns\, to somebody 
 who feels and experiences’ – and the mediatised\, anti-mimetic methods
  of the museum\, I am interested in how visitors record and engage in spac
 e\, affected by and in their encounter with its material dimension.\n\nJoi
 n this talk on Teams at this link: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/377639
 4547071?p=FBa3xt5GtYdQpvfRZP
LOCATION:Hybrid/McDonald Seminar Room 
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