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What is a memorial? By definition, a memorial is something (especially a structure) that is established to remind people of a person or an event. But the lines aren't very clear. Is a photograph a memorial as it encapsulates a moment in the past? Are my dirty clothes on the floor a memorial as a reminder of what happened that day? Are we as living humans a memorial because everyday we are forced to move on and leave the past behind?

This last week in class we discussed memorials. The material in class has been really thought-provoking.. I think for a lot of us, whenever we came across a memorial or monument of some sort we would not think much of it. Now having learned about the possible meanings behind even the most intricate and seemingly purposeless details, I feel like I can envision what the designer was feeling in the moment of creating the memorial. It has had me wondering what a memorial may constitute. To me, a memorial follows the definition provided by Merriam-Webster; something that keeps remembrance alive. After reading this definition, I imagined "memorial" and "remembrance" as two people, with "memorial" feeding and taking care of "remembrance". I have since been interested in the philosophical side of memorials, and more specifically, the concept of remembering. 

At first glance, "remembrance" may just be another obsolete word that we might see every once in a while. However, the role of remembrance is clear in everyone's lives, whether good or bad. It is behind the awesome birthday party you just had that you want to remember forever, or in other words, memorialize. It's behind that embarrassing moment in front of tons of people that you want to forget immediately. Additionally, the absence of remembrance also plays a role. I'm willing to bet you can't remember a thing from the first Tuesday of July two years ago. While only the things in which we remember are able to be memorialized, the things we don't are simply forgotten. I believe the timeline of life is simply an intertwinement of the presence and absence of remembrance. Like sound and silence, the presence and absence of remembrance complement each other and wouldn't exist otherwise. Like Sisyphus and his boulder, the presence and absence of remembrance (or anything for that matter) are indefinitely bound together. 



Comments

  1. Jaesung KimSeptember 10, 2023 at 6:25 PM

    I like your emphasis on the role of absence complementing presence to work together for them to both exist. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yungeun (Daniel) LeeSeptember 10, 2023 at 6:32 PM

    I also agree with your statement that the material we have learned thus far in class has been thought-provoking. I've learned to look for hidden meanings, not only in monuments/memorials but also in writing. I also liked your analogy to Sisyphus, a well-known character in Greek mythology, and how you reinforced the concepts of absence and presence, talking about their connection and synergy.

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