The Role of Monuments and Memorials in Society
The role in which monuments and memorials play is one that is meant for the visitor to gaze upon the design of the monument or memorial and it is meant to be presented in various ways in order to capture a moment or an event from the past and show how it has influenced a nation or community in the present as well as how it affects the future. The principle of monuments and memorials is the urge to remember a particular event or a certain individual and preserve that entity for eternity. This becomes quite a powerful force since it serves as a visual reminder to everyone who takes the time to visit the monument or memorial. In every single culture around the world, monument and memorials are extremely important to every culture for they create their own unique memorials thus creating an understand for the culture who erected these objects of physical remembrance.
For instance, in America we memorialize in a different way than that of Europe and other countries around the world. This difference provides context on how America remembers those, or that, who brought great change to the country in one way or another and tells us something about the American character. In Europe, monument and memorial visitors often face heavy usage of sign tell them to “do not touch” as well as a lack of interactive exhibits. However, America culture seems to allow visitors access to experience the various traits embedded in a monument or memorial. It seems that there is a sort of democratic aspect to visiting monuments and memorials in America. Furthermore, American monuments and memorials not only approach in achieving cultural understand but also tackle educational and interpretive appreciation. Monuments and memorials can be interpreted in several perspectives but the overall idea of a monument or a memorial to the show the symbolic code of society. All of the various societies around the world all have a certain level of admiration when it comes to a nationalistic and cultural sense with symbols often found in monuments and memorials which provides significance to an element of a certain nation. In the end, monuments and memorials bestow memory and apply meaning to selective individuals and events which develop a sense of place for the citizens and the events that a certain state or country sees as most significant to them and cherish that individual or time period. Finally, monuments and monuments serve to educate the visitor, enlighten them with providing them the context of the history and culture, as well as present itself as a location for those who want to grieve, celebrate, analyze, and reflect.
