For a proposed special session at the 2001 MLA:
Acts of Commemoration
In *The Past is a Foreign Country*, David Lowenthal argues that "interaction with a heritage continually alters its nature and context, whether by choice or by chance." Lowenthal's assertion emphasizes how the practices of memorializing the past play an active part in its construction, an especially significant insight given the ways in which contemporary culture has become "commemoratively obsessed."
I am interested in papers which examine acts and processes of commemoration for the ways in which they represent, modify and transmit the cultural artifacts (especially literary ones) they claim to preserve. How are such acts themselves affected by processes of public opinion and reception? Such commemorative practices might include museums and monuments, literary tours/tourism, and biography/documentary. I am particularly interested in commemorative acts which make use of public places/spaces.
Send 1-2 page abstracts via email or snail mail (preferably email) by 15 March 2001 to:
John McIntyre
jmcint1@po-box.mcgill.ca
Department of English
McGill University
853 Sherbrooke Street West
Montreal, PQ
H3A 2T6