The meanings of monuments and memorials: toward a semiotic approach

Abstract

This paper aims at delineating the basic principles for a semiotic approach to monuments and memorials. Monuments are built forms erected to confer dominant meanings on space. They present an aesthetic value as well as a political function. Often, political elites erect monuments to promote selective historical narratives that focus on convenient events and individuals while obliterating what is discomforting. While representing selective historical narratives, monuments can inculcate specific conceptions of the present and encourage future possibilities. As such, monuments become essential for the articulation of the national politics of memory and identity through which political elites set political agendas and legitimate political power. However, once erected, monuments become social properties and users can reinterpret them in ways that are different or contrary to the intentions of the designers. Previous research has explored monuments as either aesthetic objects presenting historical and artistic values or as political tools in the hand of those in power. Hence, this research has wittingly or unwittingly created a gap between the material-symbolic and the political dimensions of monuments. Moreover, it has variously given more emphasis either to the intentions of the designers or to the interpretations of the users. The semiotic approach to monuments can address these issues providing a holistic approach that overcomes the rigid distinctions predominant in previous research on monuments. Although useful analytical categories, the distinction between material-symbolic and political dimensions cannot be extended to the ontological state of monuments. Semiotics can be useful in investigating the meanings of monuments as actively created by the interplay of the material, the symbolic and the political dimensions. It provides a methodological basis to consider designers and users as equally contributing to the meaning-making of monuments. KEYWORDS monuments and memorials, semiotics of culture, national identity, memory, meanings.

Memorias perdidas: La transformación del monumento en la ciudad mexicana contemporánea

“…En esa misma línea, James Stirling mencionó no entender una ciudad sin monumentos, y afirmó que es un deber disciplinar el realizarlos (Baker 2011). Dadas estas características, es común que los gobernantes utilicen los monumentos como elementos de propaganda, beneficiando ideologías y personajes que les son afines (Bellentani y Panico 2016). En el contexto mexicano, se presenta un fenómeno peculiar, consistente en la construcción de monumentos que representan una crisis de identidad al querer conmemorar un pasado mejor -y rectificar el curso histórico-y crear artificialmente un presente mejor -visible-.…”

Esplosioni di icone. Street art e iconoclastia performativa sui monumenti socialisti dell’Europa orientale

“…Un monumento al centro di una città, ad esempio, oltre a rappresentare un personaggio storico, una battaglia o un evento della tradizione, cioè oltre ad essere un luogo della memoria (Nora 1984), una presentificazione dell'assenza (Marin 1993) e un medium of power (Hay, Hughes e Tutton 2004) si presta ad essere spazio informale (Cervelli, Pezzini 2006), in cui le soggettività che lo esperiscono mettono in narrazione le loro emozioni culturali (Bellentani, Panico 2016).…”

The Semiotic Value of Archive Photography in the Negotiation of Meaning over Recent Past. Analysis of a Photographic Piece by Amnesty International on the Desaparecidos

“…Durante los últimos años, investigadores afiliados a la semiótica han mostrado interés por los procesos vinculados con la memoria cultural y el trauma colectivo (Violi, 2014a;Demaria, 2006Demaria, , 2012Tamm, 2015;Bellentani y Panico, 2016). En especial, han estudiado sus materializaciones concretas, como la destrucción de patrimonio tangible (Mazzucchelli, 2010), la construcción de museos y sitios de memoria (Nora, 1997;Violi, 2014a;Sozzi, 2017) o sus manifestaciones artísticas (Demaria y Violi, 2017), entre otras.…”