Memory in Stone. Second Life of War Memorials
Author:
Vojtěch Kessler
Year of publication:
2017
Publisher:
Historický ústav
ISBN:
978-80-7286-308-2
Each monument somehow represents a bit of interpretation of the historical reality – it is a testimony to the past. The submitted book will describe four groups of memorials representing four different battlefields in Bohemia and Moravia.As if the stories that had stood at the beginning of the memorial's needs were loosing their authenticity becoming vacant. However, it is not absolute. New stories and traditions are emerging. Annual gathering at uniformed events with fighting demonstrations, refreshment and social presentations co-create new stories, new memory of the battles and the war events. Though peculiar, it is a way of reception and usage of the memorial, which modifies its second life just like the political re-establishments of changes. This is because the second life is not ending. As long as the memorial is standing, the people look at it, think and try to read it correctly. If they are trying to understand it.
