Commemorations: The Politics of National Identity.

Myerly, Scott Hughes

Edited by John R. Gillis (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1994. xii plus 290pp.).

This fine collection of essays focuses on the history of memory and identity, traditionally neglected subjects; the themes are concerned with the promotion to the public of particular interpretations of the past, as well as the broader process of shaping memory. This welcome book thus further bridges that artificial gap between history, and the relevance of museums, architecture and historic sites and monuments, art and "historic traditions," and their link with memory and identity. The essays make abundantly clear the essentially political nature of these subjects, which are no less intrinsically controversial than more traditional approaches to history.

John R. Gillis' introduction essay, "Memory and Identity: The History of a Relationship," sounds the subject's depths: "Identities and memories are not things we think about, but things we think with," (p. 5). Richard Handler's "Is `Identity' a Useful Cross-Cultural Concept.?" points out the complexities and dangers of oversimplification: "the concept of identity is peculiar to the modern Western world" (p. 27). David Lowenthal, "Identity, Heritage, and History" tells readers that "heritage distills the past into icons of identity" (p. 43). These three essays together outline the parameters of this subject and do an admirable job in treating its complexities, containing many useful insights that lead into the essays that follow.

In the process of attempting to shape public perceptions of the past, governments have played the major role; this is shown in David Cressy's "National Memory in Early Modem England," the earliest period treated in the book. Closely related to this topic is the fine essay by Yael Zerubavel, "The Historic, The Legendary, and the Incredible: Invented Tradition and Collective Memory in Israel" on the intersection between history and legend as a particular genre of memory, and the role of "historical legend" in the early phase of shaping an Israeli national self-image.

A major theme concerns how the war dead are commemorated; Thomas W. Laqueur, "Memory and Naming in the Great War," and G. Kurt Piehler, "The War Dead and the Gold Star: American Commemoration of the First World War" are concerned with how British and American soldiers' graves were planned and arranged. A closely related topic concerns the character and politics of war monuments and what this process reveals, which is described in Kirk Savage, "The Politics of Memory: Black Emancipation and the Civil War Monument," and Daniel J. Sherman, "Art, Commerce and the Production of Memory in France after World War I."

A subject which has been particularly neglected, the importance of historically significant geographical space, is treated in: Claudia Koonz, "Between Memory and Oblivion: Concentration Camps in German Memory." This subject frequently intersects with the importance of monuments and public space, an example of which is treated in John Bodnar's insightful essay: "Public Memory in an American City: Commemoration in Cleveland." The important role of architecture and art in national identity is skillfully treated in: Rudy J. Koshar, "Building Pasts: Historic Preservation and Identity in Twentieth Century Germany," and Herman Lebovics: "Creating the Authentic France: Struggles over French Identity in the First Half of the Twentieth Century."

The essentially political nature of museum interpretation and its relevance in the creation of public historic images and identity in the Third World is treated in: Eric Davis, "The Museum and the Politics of Social Control in Modem Iraq." Focusing on a land with one of the oldest histories in the world, this essay traces the transformations in constructing the past from the British takeover in 1917 to the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Commemorations points the way to a great potential for additional research, and it is difficult to think of any country where these themes would not be significant for understanding a people's past and present. As isolation and alienation--both destructive to traditional concepts of "identity"--have increased since the industrial revolution, the importance of these issues has thus been enhanced, especially recently; Gillis asserts that the current search for modern identity is "not just another intellectual fad, but a deep cultural shift" (p. 18). Such questions are especially relevant for the Third World, where people are struggling against the wrenching transformations of neocolonialism, while seeking a modem cultural identity rooted in justice.

An especially significant factor in all of these essays is the role of the state in the construction of identity and memory. As the lodestar for power in the modern world, the state's role in shaping memory might therefore have received more attention, and would have itself merited being a focal point for a discussion. The state is of fundamental importance in the creation and control of museums, monuments, the grave sites of fallen soldiers, the regulation of the mass media, schoolbook contents and curriculums, the celebration of official national holidays, etc. Indeed, it is a secular religion, and the modern notions of memory and self which serve it, likewise share this characteristic: "Heritage thus defies empirical analysis; it features fantasy, invention, mystery, error" (Lowenthal, p. 49) and "Identity has taken on the status of a sacred object, an `ultimate concern,' worth fighting and even dying for" (Gillis, p. 4).

The emotionally-charged concepts of identity and heritage thus sanctify and mystify the notion of the people together with the state that dominates them, culminating politically in nationalism. The connection between the state, nationalism and the shaping of modern memory are at the very heart of this subject. Indeed, the centralization of power that has enhanced the state's role in the past couple of centuries is thus linked as well to the transformation--or perhaps a better word is "loss"--of traditional forms of memory.

However, this observation on the state is not a criticism as much as a suggestion for more research. The essays by Gillis, Handler and Lowenthal in particular raise a number of such issues, and further illuminations about the nature of these commemorations await future scholars.