Death, art and memory in the public sphere: The visual and material culture of grief in contemporary America

Abstract

This paper explores the commemorative dimensions of death, dying and bereavement in contemporary America as embodied in material and visual culture. Focusing in particular on the Oklahoma City National Memorial (dedicated in 2000 and now managed by the US National Park Service) and on temporary shrines constructed near Columbine High School in Littleton, CO (the site of a murderous rampage in 1999), it asks how and why such commemoration is organized - by whom and for whom? What do these practices and rituals - both seemingly spontaneous public practices and those managed by specific institutions - reveal about American attitudes toward death and grief? What do they tell us about who (and what) is deemed memorable in their absence, in US history, and in terms of an imagined national future? Indeed, what is the role of memory in the material and visual culture of death, dying and bereavement in contemporary America?