Monumental art contributes to the affirmation of the totalitarian regime. Starting from this basis, this essay investigates the processes through which the people, freed from the dictator, try to eliminate the traces left by him on the territory. First of all, the demolition of a monument, which has the value of destroying the memory linked to it. When the process of damnatio memoriae is not imposed, the value of a monument as a historical document can be reversed. It can be made to become an anti-monument itself; the site of memory ends up being a warning to promote a negative memory of what has been. In order to avoid destroying all traces of the defeated regime, another effective means of making the monument lose its value is to decontextualize it, to break its connection with the territory. This is the moment when architecture transforms from a politically-hegemonic medium to a means of criticizing political misdeeds. To better focus on the topics covered, attention will be paid to some particular contexts: North Korea, post-socialist western Europe and the memory strategies adopted after the attack on the World Trade Centre (USA).
Monstrum and imperial power: the archetype of the Colossus
Del Sole, Francesco
2024-01-01
Abstract
Monumental art contributes to the affirmation of the totalitarian regime. Starting from this basis, this essay investigates the processes through which the people, freed from the dictator, try to eliminate the traces left by him on the territory. First of all, the demolition of a monument, which has the value of destroying the memory linked to it. When the process of damnatio memoriae is not imposed, the value of a monument as a historical document can be reversed. It can be made to become an anti-monument itself; the site of memory ends up being a warning to promote a negative memory of what has been. In order to avoid destroying all traces of the defeated regime, another effective means of making the monument lose its value is to decontextualize it, to break its connection with the territory. This is the moment when architecture transforms from a politically-hegemonic medium to a means of criticizing political misdeeds. To better focus on the topics covered, attention will be paid to some particular contexts: North Korea, post-socialist western Europe and the memory strategies adopted after the attack on the World Trade Centre (USA).I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
