War Memorials as Political Landscape: The American Experience and Beyond

by James M. Mayo

Overview

War Memorials as Political Landscape critiques the social meaning of war memorials and their role in political and historical landscapes. Mayo argues that war memorials not only reflect the political history of a nation, but also that these memorials are mechanisms to symbolize and justify history. He posits that the presence or absence of commemoration for America's wars is largely explained by the war's importance in establishing the nation's symbolic identity as a political state and by the number of those who died in that war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275928124
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/12/1988
Pages:	326
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

JAMES M. MAYO is a professor in the School of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Kansas.

Table of Contents

War Memorials as Symbolic Messages
War Memorials in the Landscape: Evocations of History
Monuments to Victory as Justice
Monuments to Victory as Manifest Destiny
Monuments to Defeat
Memories of Horror
Remembrance as Political Critique