The book tells the story of monuments in Strasbourg and Poznan. It focuses on its material shape, the problem of affect, the work of memory and its political uses. The research shows how memorials reflect the social understanding of basic questions such as perception of nature, gender issue, commemoration or the image of those who are in power.
This book tells the story of monuments in two cities that share a parallel and turbulent history: Strasbourg and Poznan. With the Franco-Prussian War begins the well-known story of the destruction and erection of memorials. This book not only explains the mechanisms related to how memorials have functioned in the past, but also contributes to our understanding of current modes of their perception. It analyzes their material shape, the problem of affect, and their meaning, not only in relation to the political context and the work of memory. This book shows how the form of monuments reflects the social understanding of such basic questions as the perception of nature, gender issues and the image of those who are in power, and how, and in which aspects, those kind of objects actually change the city space we live in.
Introduction
The Shape of Monuments
Space and Place
Monument as a Thing
Monuments from a Gender Perspective
A Bio-graphical Attempt
Monuments and Politics
Politics of Memory
Identity: From Regional Politics to National Politics
Monuments and Affect
Veneration
Demolition
Supplements
Conclusion
List of Figures
Bibliography
Index
Malgorzata Praczyk is a historian. She works at the Faculty of History, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan (Poland). She is the author and editor of books concerning monuments, environmental memory and local history. Her interests focus mainly on memory studies, public spaces, environmental history and posthumanism.
