Memorialization of the First World War in the Landscape of the Julian Alps

Abstract

This article addresses issues of past and ongoing memorialization processes and heritage construction of the First World War, integrated into the landscapes of the Julian Alps in Slovenia. According to Nicholas Saunders, military histories usually consider landscapes to be inert, static, empty, and self-evident backdrops to military action as well as subsequent practices of memorialization. However, many anthropologists, geographers, and archaeologists have noted that landscapes cannot be separated from human experiences, but are part of a world of relationships, memories, and histories. This article explores connections between the military and post-military landscape and memorialization of the First World War, established through landscape features, experiences of the landscape, and commemorations by institutions that engage in interpretation and heritage production. Various landscape attributes, such as paths, monuments, and memorial places, are being (re)constructed as tourist and hiking destinations, and the narratives attached to these places are integrated into national and local political discourses and commemorations. Drawing on recent anthropological discussions on the perception of landscape, this article focuses on the Isonzo Front and particularly its background as palimpsest of overlapping spatial changes as well as memorialization and appropriations of heritage in the Alpine landscape.

Skrb za krhke krajine: krajina, skupnost in (ne)spremenljivost na Solčavskem

“…oblikovanja lokalnosti (oziroma lokalne identifikacije in lokalne skupnosti), krajine, turizma, dediščine in varovanih območij (npr. Bajuk Senčar, 2005Bajuk Senčar idr., 2019;Vranješ, 2005Vranješ, , 2008Simonič, 2006;Kozorog, 2009Kozorog, , 2015Fikfak idr., 2013Fikfak idr., , 2014Kozorog, Poljak Istenič, 2014;Repič, 2018Repič, , 2021Repič, , 2023, je primarni cilj prispevka identifikacija estetike skrbi in krhkosti. Skrb za krajino razumem kot vrednotenjski in zaznavni odnos, zato govorim o estetiki skrbi, za njeno hrbtno stran -torej tisto, brez česar tega vrednotenja in zaznavanja ne bi bilo -pa predlagam estetsko kategorijo krhkosti.…”

Collections, Walks, and Cultural Landscapes: Slovenian–Italian Cross-Border Heritage Initiatives

“…This article is based on long-term observation of activities, two interviews with Maša Klavora (on March 26 and July 14, 2021), and, due to pandemic circumstances, questionnaires completed by Željko Cimprič (April 5, 2020), Zdravko Likar (March 31, 2020), andPetra Svoljšak (March 26, 2020), to whom we are grateful for sharing their information and perspectives with us. Parts of the text are complemented by information from articles (Likar, Klavora, 2015;Klavora, 2016;Testen, Koren, 2015;Repič 2018Repič , 2021Kozorog, 2019;Kravanja, 2021). 10 In fact, the first memorials in the region date back to the period of fascism after the First World War, when the Italian authorities transferred the remains of soldiers to the ossuaries in Kobarid, Redipuglia, and Oslavia (Sln.…”