Commemorative artefacts purportedly speak – they communicate messages to their audience, even if no words are uttered. Sometimes, such artefacts purportedly communicate demeaning or pejorative messages about some members of society. The characteristics of such speech are, however, under-examined. I present an account of the paradigmatic characteristics of the speech of commemorative artefacts (or, “commemorative artefactual speech”), as a distinct form of political speech. According to my account, commemorative artefactual speech paradigmatically involves the use of an artefact by an authorised (...) member of a group to declare the importance of remembering a subject, in virtue of some feature of the subject. Then, I outline a variety of ways that commemorative artefactual speech can go awry. Such speech can be unauthorised, involve unfair exclusion or incorrect identification, be aesthetically inadequate, invoke clandestine explanations, and be directed at inappropriate subjects. I conclude with a discussion of the implications of my account for resisting problematic commemorative artefactual speech. (shrink)

The term, "objectionable commemorations”, refers to a broad category of public artefacts – such as, and especially, memorials, monuments and statues – that are regarded as morally problematic in virtue of what or whom they honour. In this regard, they are a special class of public artefacts that are subject to public contestation. In this paper, we survey the general ethical and political issues on this topic. First, we categorise the arguments on offer in the literature, concerning the objectionable nature (...) of such commemorations. Second, we review common political responses to objectionable commemorations. Finally, we identify fruitful areas for further philosophical inquiry on this topic. (shrink)

The Northern Irish footballer James McClean chooses not to take part in the practice of wearing a plastic red poppy to commemorate those who have died fighting for the British Armed Forces. Each year he faces abuse, including occasional death threats, for his choice. This forms part of a wider trend towards ‘poppy enforcement’, the pressuring of people, particularly public figures, to wear the poppy. This enforcement seems wrong in part because, at least in some cases, it involves abuse. But (...) is there anything else wrong with it? We will consider the various ways the existing literature on the ethics of commemoration might help us understand what is wrong with poppy enforcement. We will argue that this cannot provide a complete account of what is wrong with poppy enforcement. We then argue that such pressure can constitute two distinct forms of affective injustice, which are wrongs done to people specifically in their capacity as affective beings. In McClean’s case, we argue first that poppy enforcement is a violation of affective rights and second that he faces a particular type of affective injustice that we call emotional imperialism. (shrink)

Many have argued that certain statues or monuments are objectionable, and thus ought to be removed. Even if their arguments are compelling, a major obstacle is the apparent historical value of those commemorations. Preservation in some form seems to be the best way to respect the value of commemorations as connections to the past or opportunities to learn important historical lessons. Against this, I argue that we have exaggerated the historical value of objectionable commemorations. Sometimes commemorations connect to biased or (...) distorted versions of history, if not mere myths. We can also learn historical lessons through what I call repudiatory honouring: the honouring of certain victims or resistors that can only make sense if the oppressor(s) or target(s) of resistance are deemed unjust, where no part of the original objectionable commemorations is preserved. This type of commemorative practice can even help to overcome some of the obstacles objectionable commemorations pose against properly connecting to the past. (shrink)

This article examines genocide commemoration as symbolic reparation within Rwanda’s transitional justice process. It portrays Rwanda as a society between the moral collapse of its violent past and the ongoing pursuit of a just and reconciled future. Based on qualitative desk research, the study argues that while formal justice cannot restore lost lives, commemoration creates a liminal space where acknowledgment, truth-telling, repentance, and memorialization advance a holistic, multidimensional reconciliation process, repairing interpersonal, spiritual, and ecological relationships.

This piece seeks to explore notions of commemoration and autobiography with particular reference to the life and work of Laura Marcus. Special attention is given to her Auto/Biographical Discourses, Virginia Woolf and Autobiography, as well as Paul de Man’s essay ‘Autobiography as De-Facement’, the work of Jacques Derrida, and Woolf’s ‘biography’, Orlando.

This essay attempts to answer the question of how one commemorates the event of thinking by raising it in relation to some commemorative texts. Derrida’s Demeure, Athènes provides an exemplary point of departure, but the seminars concerned with the death penalty raise the stakes in readings that deeply trouble an inheritance fixated on the determination of death, with Socrates and Oedipus as ancient figures of an enduring culture. The essay touches on Freud and Heidegger as dissenting figures and concludes by (...) commemorating three distinctive thinkers: Lauren Berlant, Jean-Luc Nancy and Bernard Stiegler. (shrink)

In analysing the problems with commemorative artefacts, philosophers have tended to focus on objectionable monuments that honour inappropriate subjects. The problems with such monuments, however, do not exhaust problems with a society’s _public commemorative landscape_ – the totality of public commemorative artefacts in general, and the institutions involved in their creation and maintenance. I argue that a public commemorative landscape can implicate authoritative ideas, including stereotypes about people in virtue of their group membership. This contributes to what I term hermeneutical (...) constriction – a situation in which people are given reason to rely on an authoritative subset of the totality of hermeneutical resources that they actually have access to. Critiquing and resisting these problems with a public commemorative landscape that contributes to hermeneutical constriction is fraught with difficulties. Attempts to do so render activists vulnerable to a range of serious criticisms. (shrink)

ABSTRACT In recent years, progressive activists around the world have fought to remove ‘problematic’ commemorations – typically, monuments commemorating and honoring individuals responsible for injustice, or even unjust events. Many of these problematic commemorations are vandalized before they are eventually removed. In this essay, I consider how the vandalism of problematic commemoration can transform the public honoring of a target, to a public repudiation or humiliation of that target. I discuss four obstacles to realizing the transformative potential of vandalism, (...) and how they may be mitigated or overcome. (shrink)

Recent years have seen various forms of honorific public art – statues, monuments, and the like – brought under renewed moral scrutiny. This scrutiny has resulted in some high-profile removals, some defacement and additional contextualization to augment existing objects, and some cases of the status quo prevailing. Scholarly treatment of the issues has similarly resulted in arguments that articulate competing values that support removal, modification or preservation. I bring the insights of these arguments to bear on specifically military commemorations, where (...) I argue that they have ample application, but where they do not exhaust the moral complexity to be confronted. This is true first because military commemoration introduces a novel moral concern of militarism, and second because military commemoration frequently has a distinctively normative function of expressing gratitude. Both these points are most powerfully observed in collections of commemorations, rather than individual monuments, a distinction that deepens ongoing discussions about problematic commemorations. (shrink)

Forgiveness of wrongdoing in response to public apology and amends making seems, on the face of it, to leave little room for the continued commemoration of wrongdoing. This rests on a misunderstanding of forgiveness, however, and we can explain why there need be no incompatibility between them. To do this, I emphasize the role of what I call nonangry negative moral emotions in constituting memories of wrongdoing. Memories so constituted can persist after forgiveness and have important moral functions, and (...) commemorations can elicit these emotions to preserve memories of this sort. Moreover, commemorations can be a restorative justice practice that promotes reconciliation, but only on condition that the memories they preserve are constituted by nonangry negative, not retributive, emotions. (shrink)

In this article, I discuss the commemoration of public figures such as Nelson Mandela and Yitzhak Rabin. In many cases, our commemoration of such figures is based on the admiration we feel for them. However, closer inspection reveals that most (if not all) of those we currently honour do not qualify as fitting objects of admiration. Yet, we may still have the strong intuition that we ought to continue commemorating them in this way. I highlight two problems that (...) arise here: the problem that the expressed admiration does not seem appropriate with respect to the object and the problem that continued commemorative practices lead to rationality issues. In response to these issues, I suggest taking a fictionalist position with respect to commemoration. This crucially involves sharply distinguishing between commemorative and other discourses, as well as understanding the objects of our commemorative practices as fictional objects. (shrink)

Drawing on the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, this contribution will examine commemorative practices alongside critical modes of historical engagement. In Untimely Meditations, Friedrich Nietzsche documents three historical methodologies—the monumental, antiquarian and critical—which purposely use history in non-objective ways. In particular, critical history desires to judge and reject historical figures rather than repeat the past or venerate the dead. For instance, in recent protests against racism there have also been calls to decolonize public space through the defacement, destruction, and removal of (...) monuments. There is thus much potential in critical history being used to address ongoing harms. (shrink)

This article examines historical transformations of Japanese collective memory of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima by utilizing a theoretical framework that combines a model of reiterated problem solving and a theory of cultural trauma. I illustrate how the event of the nuclear fallout in March 1954 allowed actors to consolidate previously fragmented commemorative practices into a master frame to define the postwar Japanese identity in terms of transnational commemoration of "Hiroshima." I also show that nationalization of trauma of "Hiroshima" (...) involved a shift from pity to sympathy in structures of feeling about the event. This historical study suggests that a reiterated problem-solving approach can be efficacious in analyzing how construction of national memory of a traumatic event connects with the recurrent reworking of national identity, on the one hand, and how a theory of cultural trauma can be helpful in exploring a synthesis of psychological and sociological approaches to commemoration of a traumatic event, on the other. (shrink)

This article analyses the discursive construction of collective and individual memories and the functions of commemorative events for the discursive construction of national identities through the example of Austrian post-war commemorative events. Thus, the various attempts to come to terms with the Nazi past in post-war Austria are illustrated in detail. The article will first summarize the socio-political contexts relating to the relevant post-war commemorative years in Austria. Then we will consider sequences of a political speech by the then Austrian (...) chancellor, Dr Wolfgang Schüssel, as one of many possible examples in 2005 which establishes a hegemonic stance towards the Nazi past. Finally, we will discuss our results and illustrate that, in addition to hegemonic discourses, competing narratives aim to provide different answers to the basic question `how should one come to terms with traumatic pasts?' Our results are such that in the hegemonic narrative of Austrian history after 1945, the political event of the Declaration of Independence is represented metaphorically as a `rebirth'; a metaphorical scenario which constructs a `creation myth', and by this anthropomorphization suggests that `newborn' Austria is to be perceived as innocent as a newborn child. On the other hand, the historical events before and after are placed in the cognitive frame of natural disasters or fateful events and a community of victims is discursively constructed comprising the victims of the Nazi terror as well as the soldiers waging the war of aggression. Discursive patterns apparent in this case study can, of course, be generalized to similar communicative events in many nation-states. The specific systematic and explicit linguistic/pragmatic and discourse-analytic methodology presented in this article lends itself to deconstruct official discourses which influence collective beliefs, opinions and ideologies. (shrink)

What should we do about “tainted” public commemorations? Recent events have highlighted the urgency of reaching a consensus on this question. However, existing discussions appear to be dominated by two naïve opposing views – to remove or preserve them. My aims in this essay are two-fold. First, I argue that the two views are not naïve, but undergirded by concerns with securing self-respect and with the character of our engagement with the past. Second, I offer a qualified defence of vandalising (...) tainted commemorations. The defence comprises two parts. I consider two prominent suggestions – to install counter-commemorations and to add contextualising plaques – and argue that they are typically beset with difficulties. I then argue that in some circumstances, constrained vandalism is a response to tainted commemorations which effectively adjudicates the demands of the two opposing views. (shrink)

It is an honor to participate in this commemoration of the centenary of the death of Josiah Royce. The commemoration provides an occasion for revisiting and reinterpreting Royce to find his continued significance. Once relegated to the margins of American philosophy, a growing group of scholars has been turning to Royce in recent years. The centenary provides an opportunity to reflect on the nature of the interest in Royce.1The first celebration of the body of Royce’s work took place (...) on the occasion of the philosopher’s 60th birthday.2 The American Philosophical Association devoted its 50th annual meeting in December 1915, in Philadelphia to a review of Royce’s life and work. Royce had served as the... (shrink)

Numerous volumes of lyric poetry were printed in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Italy on a range of themes. Anthologies of poetry were frequently produced for a particular occasion, in response to social and cultural expectations among the elite. These anthologies provide interesting insights into both literary culture and society, as my study of occasional poetry in the Italian Academies has shown. A particular type of such anthologies comprised poems written for a recently deceased person. My discussion here will focus on the (...) elaborate and enthusiastic commemorative volumes of two Italian Academies compiled in order to celebrate recently deceased women members: Il Pennello lacrimato (Bologna 1665) commemorating Elisabetta Sirani; and Le Pompe funebri (Padua 1686) commemorating Elena Lucrezia Cornaro Piscopia. These celebratory volumes, produced after the death of the individuals, thus function as a means of recognising and exalting the merits of these women as producers of culture and as members of the academies, without threatening the male preserve of the Academies. They also, and perhaps more pertinently, function as a means of promoting the Academies themselves among the elite and the political establishment. Paradoxically therefore in spite of what may seem a gloomy topic, these volumes act as celebrations of literature, learning and culture in Italy in the mid- to later seventeenth century. (shrink)

Traditional games in Indonesia are one of the cultural heritages the existence of which should be protected and preserved. The purpose of this study was to preserve the cultural diversity by recalling the traditional games through the commemoration of Indonesia Independence Day that is conducted annually. The Online Ethnography method was used in this research by administering text analysis and interview. The result of the study showed that traditional games held during the commemoration of Indonesia Independence Day could (...) help recall the form and the rules of traditional games that are annually conducted during the commemoration in different regions. The result also showed that the traditional games held in the commemoration of Indonesia Independence Day indirectly built a bonding of the people through the value of togetherness, cooperation, and solidarity among the member of the society. Furthermore, the games reflected the cultural diversity of Indonesia, where every region has different names and rules of the traditional games. (shrink)

In this article, following an indication of Meijer C. Smit, I make a basic distinction between the first and the second history. By the first history I mean history as we experience it from within on the basis of personal interest and active involvement in our historical past. The second history is history as academics construct it on the basis of critical research into historical facts. The central question that arises is that of how these two paradigms of history are (...) related. I discuss commemoration as one of the most telling expressions of our involvement in the first history. I analyze it as a hermeneutic, dialogical, and anamnetic experience contrasting anamnetic and academic history as experienced versus constructed history: is the latter value-free? I conclude with the question whether we must regard commemoration as serviceable to the project of academic history or the latter as serviceable to commemoration. (shrink)

Except under extraordinary circumstances, most of us do not look forward with any eagerness to our own deaths. That said, one of the few positive thoughts that can accompany the prospect of dying is the possibility of being remembered with affection or respect. Those of us living ordinary lives out of the public eye would expect to be lamented by our loved ones and commemorated in their living memories and perhaps by some modest headstone or plaque in a place that (...) had meant something to us or to those we leave behind. Few of us anticipate a future in which there are no memories of who we were and no record of at least our names. (shrink)

Summary This article analyses the Danish 1909 celebrations of the centenary of Charles Darwin's birth on 12 February 1809. I argue that the 1909 meetings, lectures and publications devoted to Darwin and his theory of evolution by natural selection can be characterised by ambivalence: on the one hand, tribute to a great man of science who established a new view of nature and, on the other hand, scepticism towards the Darwinian mechanism of natural selection and the wider religious and political (...) implications drawn from his theory. The article examines both professional and popular commemorative activities, focusing primarily on celebratory articles carried in widely circulated magazines and newspapers. I identify three types of interpretations of Darwin's ideas which I characterise as ‘radical’, ‘evangelical’ and ‘safe’ science. These different positions were closely linked to the political and cultural divisions of the periodical press. Moreover, my analysis of the popular press offers a solid basis for asserting that to most people Darwinism was associated with human evolution, primarily the relationship between man and apes, while more sophisticated discussions about the crisis of Darwinism prominent among naturalists played only a secondary role in the public arena. This article demonstrates the value of using newspapers as historical sources when looking for public images of Darwin, popular receptions of Darwinism and representations of science in general. (shrink)

West Indian military service in the First World War is recalled in many settings. During the war, race and class boundaries of colonial society were temporarily eroded by visions of imperial unity, but quickly restated through post-war assertions of imperial authority. However, recollections of wartime sacrifices were kept alive by Pan-African, ex-service and emerging nationalist groups before being incorporated into independent Caribbean national identity and migrant West Indian communities. During the centenary commemorations, West Indian participation has increasingly been mediated through (...) literature, theatre and broadcasting. Spheres of conflict which provided more heroic visions, such as the Middle East or the Taranto mutiny, have acquired particular symbolic importance, contrasting with the more tragic representations of the war as a whole. (shrink)

This discussion originally took place as part of the Sounding the Land exhibition curated by Simon Gush, Helena Pohlandt-McCormick, Craig Paterson and Gary Minkley at the virtual National Arts Festival that ran from 25 June 5 July 2020. Sounding the Land intended to use the bicentennial of the so called 1820 settlers' arrival as a critical platform from which to discuss the legacies of the settler colonial project, the ways in which it is commemorated, and to reassess the historical understandings (...) of the 1820 settler moment in South African history. In the following discussion, which took place via Zoom Video Communication and was originally recorded on 2 June 2020, between Leslie Witz in Cape Town and Helena Pohlandt-McCormick in San Francisco they talk about the cyclical and accumulative power of anniversary and commemoration, the ways they set in place temporal certainties that align past, present and future, and how configurations of memorial space through visual technologies are authoritative mechanisms in establishing the time and times of history. They discuss strategies of resisting such memorial power and whether the simple inversion of historical figures and events may inadvertently serve to reinforce anniversary histories of founding. By linking the contemporary moments of the interview the COVID-19 pandemic, the postponement of settler commemorations, the virtual National Festival, and the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis they consider dystopian futures as inaugurating the possibilities of disruptive memorial time that constantly exposes the fractures of racial violence and colonial dispossession rather than masking it through either the commemoration or the inversion of the anniversary. (shrink)

This article explores evangelical perceptions of the Reformation, with particular reference to the commemoration in 1835 of the tercentenary of the publication of Coverdales English Bible. The first half of the nineteenth century saw a growth in evangelical interest in the Reformation, although historical understanding of the sixteenth century was initially unsophisticated and simplistic equations between past and present were widespread. The 1835 commemoration exposed a tendency to use history as a tool in contemporary controversies between Anglicans and (...) Protestants Dissenters, as well as in the polemics of both against Roman Catholics. It also, however, helped to stimulate the growth of serious scholarly inquiry and publication about the Reformation, notably in the formation of the Parker Society. The commemorations of the tercentenaries of the accession of Elizabeth I and of the Scottish Reformation provide concluding vantage points from which to view the development of historical understanding of the Reformation during the preceding quarter century. (shrink)

This article examines the role of commemorative processes as a form of symbolic reparation and their potential use in deeply divided societies. After discussing definitions and contexts of symbolic reparation, it will then explore the tensions inherent in this process as it speedily encounters hybridisation, the construction of narratives of ethnic identity and the political contestation of memory in deeply divided societies. An overarching question will be how symbolic reparation might meaningfully allow for the seeding of human rights norms and (...) values in divided societies, and thus aid the recasting of both inter-communal relations and engagement between citizen and state. (shrink)

The book is a commemorative souvenir volume published by D.K. Printworld in 2024. The book serves as a tribute to the centenary celebration of the Narayana Gurukula, an institution founded by Nataraja Guru in the lineage of the social reformer and spiritual leader Narayana Guru. It condenses the history and wisdom shared during 100 years of the Narayana Gurukula's existence. The text provides glimpses into the philosophical teachings of Narayana Guru and his successors, focusing on universal brotherhood and spiritual integration. (...) It is categorized under Philosophy and reflects the "unitive" vision typical of the Gurukula's teachings. (shrink)

Today is 9/11. On this day, September 11, 2001, the Islamic State’s allied force, Al-Qaeda Militant Command, carried out coordinated air attacks on several important places in the United States. They were fully successful in their attacks on the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers in New York City. The 9/11 plane attacks became one of the most significant battles in the modern history of warfare. This attack was a deeply tragic event in the history of the United States of America. (...) On the other hand, however, the 9/11 air attack is regarded in some perspectives as a glorious event in Islamic history, comparable to the celebrated battles of the Muslim-Christian crusades in the past, which are remembered as part of the golden era of Islamic religious mission. When President George W. Bush received information about the attack, he immediately addressed the situation. In the midst of America’s shaken state, President Bush declared that those who are not with us are with the terrorists. The 9/11 attacks were a one way short but deadly battle that caused mass casualties, widespread destruction, and global consequences. The Islamic forces had a foolproof plan, believing they would succeed and initiate an Islamic mission in America—envisioning a nation in ruins, overcome by darkness, ignorance, and barbarism. In response, the United States declared a global military campaign, known as the Global War on Terrorism, and launched several armed missions. After many years of war, terrorism was ultimately weakened, and the forces of injustice lost their war game. In the aftermath of 9/11, America’s response was not limited to armed campaigns alone. The true lesson of 9/11 is that American society does not succumb to the injustice of crime and terrorism. The state of humanity cannot be compromised by injustice, crimes, or acts of terror. (shrink)

The purpose of this paper is to describe the basic legal solutions that can be used to finance initiatives to commemorate the patron of a local or regional community. As a result of the study, it was found that the financing for such initiatives could come from public sources. Such activities can be fi-nanced from budgets of units of local or regional government (at the commune, district, or province level). However, these expenditures must be allocated to the following categories of (...) tasks: own tasks, tasks accepted for performance by way of a contract or agreement, or tasks implemented jointly with other units of local or regional government. Such initiatives can also be financed with targeted subsidies granted by units of local or regional government from the so-called par-ticipatory budget. The paper also shows that once funding is obtained for initia-tives to commemorate a local patron from public funds available in the budget of units of local or regional government, care must be taken to ensure that these funds are properly spent. In making these expenditures the following principles are of key importance: advisability and economy, efficiency, effectiveness, and timeliness, and these principles should be complied with together. Violation of these principles may entail legal liability under, among other things, the Act on liability for violating the discipline of public finance. (shrink)

Purpose. The article is aimed to analyse the phenomenon of bodily memory in the context of commemorative practices. The commemorative practices are a social instrument known since archaic times, which had different ways of use in different epochs. In totalitarian societies, officially organized commemorative practices are frequently used for propaganda and manipulation. For most people, their mechanism remains unconscious, as bodily memory plays a leading role there. The density of a modern social world actualises the ability to observe own changes (...) and regulate the processes of their flow. This updates an exploration of the bodily memory phenomenon. Theoretical basis. The classification of forms of bodily memory is carried out in the article: genetic, psychophysical, psychoenergetic, mental. It has been revealed that the systemic openness of bodily memory is the fundamental basis of commemorative practices. Originality. The term "conscious commemoration" is proposed to denote the anthropological process associated with self-knowledge, self-construction and co-creation, which requires a distinction between forms of bodily memory, understanding of its structural features and functional capabilities. Conclusions. The phenomenon of bodily memory reveals the anthropological potential of commemorative practices. It can manifest itself as an independently organized body-spiritual practice of self-construction on the basis of self-knowledge and self-observation. The latter is the foundation of conscious co-creation. The phenomenon of bodily memory reveals the secret of spiritualization in the process of approaching a person to his body. (shrink)

Report on the commemoration of the 130th anniversary of Dmytro Chyzhevsky in Oleksandria on April 4, 2024 and the activity of the "Maysternya Chyzhevskyh" (Chizhevsky Workshop) project.

Based on an international conference in Chicago commemorating the hundredth anniversary of Martin Heidegger's birth, this volume includes essays by many of the most distinguished interpreters of Heidegger's philosophy from North America, Europe, and Asia. Taking account of the numerous texts by Heidegger that have been published for the first time in the past decade, these essays discuss and extend Heidegger's thought as it bears on a broad range of fundamental philosophical questions.

This article is a tribute to Dieter Henrich, the outstanding German philosopher, who died in December 2022. It begins by reviewing his life, academic career and general approach to philosophy. It then tracks the development of his theory of subjectivity, beginning with his classic article of the 1960s on ‘Fichte’s Original Insight’. Subsequent sections of the article consider critiques of Henrich’s position by prominent contemporaries and his response to them, his defence of the possibility of a metaphysics grounded in modern (...) subjectivity, and his philosophy of religion. (shrink)

This book proposes a new Ethics of Political Commemoration adapted from the Just War tradition, reflecting that remembrance is often conducted with political – and even coercive – intent. With its Ius ad Memoriam (what to commemorate) and Ius in Memoria (how to commemorate) criteria, the framework looks to guide debates that are currently inchoate so that remembrance of the past can transform relationships in the present and build a shared future. Offering a moral argument with memorable illustrations, Gutbrod (...) and Wood draw on experiences from Armenia, Georgia, Ireland, Lebanon, and Libya, while connecting to mainstream debates in Western Europe and the United States. Bringing together an ethical tradition with the practice of conflict transformation, the framework fuses two perspectives that enrich each other. The book, in providing a first systematic presentation of the ethics, seeks to engage citizens and scholars, and help those who work to transform conflicts. (shrink)

Dealing with memories of catastrophes is undoubtedly important for education. Yet, how is such an education possible? On which theoretical basis can we describe it? In this article, I build a bridg...

A Brief History of Buddhist Studies in Europe and America. J. W. de Jong. Bharat-Bharati, Varanasi, 94pp. Rs. 35.00.

The article is dedicated to a comprehensive analysis of military parades as a particular type of political and commemorative rituals from both historical and contemporary perspectives. The main subject of the research is the transformation of the functions and meanings of military parades from the earliest forms of military reviews to complex symbolic practices that construct the legitimacy of state power and national identity. Based primarily on the materials of Soviet/Russian and Chinese parades, the author examines how, through meticulously designed (...) temporal and spatial strategies, a system of symbols, and ceremonial actions, these events become tools for producing collective memory, emotional cohesion, and demonstrating political power. Special attention is given to the 2015 Chinese military parade, dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the victory over Japan, as a key example of the synthesis of historical memory and contemporary political narratives. The research is grounded in an interdisciplinary approach that combines methods of historical analysis, political anthropology (concepts of ritual, memory, "invented tradition"), and semiotics to decode the symbolic language of parades. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the systemic application of the theoretical framework of memory and ritual studies to the analysis of contemporary military parades as "invented traditions," as well as in the comparative examination of Soviet/Russian and Chinese practices to identify common mechanisms and national peculiarities. The author concludes that modern military parades represent powerful syncretic rituals ("戎祀一体"), where military demonstration, historical commemoration, and political theater converge. Their key function is the creation and reproduction of legitimacy through the sacralization of time (linking to historical dates) and space (transforming the square into a "national shrine"), as well as through the inclusion of individuals into a symbolic "national body." The 2015 parade in China is presented as a stage in evolution when the commemorative function became dominant, allowing for a connection between historical triumph and contemporary goals of national cohesion and positioning on the global stage. (shrink)

The abolition of slavery after the Revolution of 1789 has always been hailed by the French secular State as proof of the progressivist nature of the Republic. Nevertheless, there has never been any attempt to seriously confront the French involvement in the trade of slaves, which lasted for two centuries. France, a colonial power until the 1960s, which still retains several overseas possessions with an Afro-Caribbean population, has a large resident black population in the mainland which feels it has been (...) deprived of its memory and history and seeks official recognition of the role of the State in the trade of slaves. This article tries to show how a black collective identity and consciousness emerged around the fight for the recognition of slavery as a crime against humanity and the claim for financial compensation. This black collective identity competes with the Jewish community, which was granted financial compensation for the Shoah and which successfully lobbied the State to recognize that it was partly responsible for the genocide in World War II. While some radical black activists seek an alliance with part of the Islamic movement, they are also competing over the recognition of their collective identity by the State with the growing Muslim community whose memory is that of colonization and second-class citizenship. (shrink)

Contributed papers presented at International Conference on The Contribution of Advaita Vedanta to Humanity organized by Chinmaya International Foundation Shodha Sansthan in 2015.