Abstract
The collective identity has, as main references, various ‘sites of memory’ that are not only mental constructions, but also physical places related to the collective common space, shared by a community – the city. The transformations occur at the level of cityscape, transformations that have as their object the sites of memory, and determine a series of modifications at the level of the collective narrative identity. This paper explores a range of political changes imposed at the cityscape level, approaching different aspects of the processes involved. Presenting some relevant concepts in order to sustain the theoretical frame of the research, in its second part the paper focuses on the complex relation between memory, narrative identity, city and political power, revealing the dynamics of this relation and of the representation of the sites of memory.
Highlights
The study correlates the characteristics of the individual and collective identity to assume stable identity references as elements of a coherent narrative with specific cultural and collective ‘sites of memory’
The cityscape and the cultural identity references are in direct relation; the change of political power is transposed at the level of new constructions and reinterpretation of the past historical events, their reinterpretation depending on the requirements of the political regime
Different processes or manifestations based on this reinterpretation of the past are relevant: the process of obliterating or neglecting the historical personalities who do not serve the interests of the political regime in power, the destruction of monuments and statues, as well as the repeated change of street names (MITROIU; ADAM, 2009) – the act of naming being used as “[...] a tool of control, a means of inscribing and Mitroiu reifying certain cultural and political ideologies [...]” (ALDERMAN, 2008, p. 204) – or the attempt to offer new icons (BOLTON; MUZOROVIĆ, 2010) who correspond to the political regime’s ideology
Summary
The study correlates the characteristics of the individual and collective identity to assume stable identity references as elements of a coherent narrative with specific cultural and collective ‘sites of memory’. The city is analyzed as a complex structure where the personal and collective identities define themselves using different sites of memory embodied with cultural meaning. The city is a clear representation of the collective identity of a community; it can be regarded as a map of cultural memory, a map where all the important sites of memory, which play a role in the process of defining the identity, can be found: streets, corners, buildings, crossroads, all invested with cultural and emotional meaning. The value and the interpretation offered to different places transform them into sites of collective and cultural identity. The representations of different sites of memory are constantly changing, depending on the historical, cultural, and political movements. The present study shows that both change and re-evaluation are present at a national level, the same place being reinterpreted and redefined according to the temporal political needs
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