Monuments are sites of collective memory – and increasingly, the subject of controversy. Their existence is questioned, individual monuments are being remodelled or toppled, and the meaning attributed to them often changes along with the context. This volume combines different methodological approaches and disciplinary perspectives to analyse the complex dynamics of monument settings, critique and transformations. It examines the setting and toppling of monuments as symbolic acts reflecting power relations, and analyses the scope of iconological, semiotic or metaphor-theoretical perspectives. Historical developments are addressed, such as the instrumentalisation of monuments in the creation of national identity, as are current debates on monuments, e.g. those critical of colonialism.
- New research on the setting, criticism and transformation of monuments
- Interdisciplinary perspective on monuments as places of memory.