How and Why We Remember

--Memorializing and remembrance are activities that should be carried out often and with the highest regards as well as respect. Remembering the fallen, the deceased, and the lost has always been important for mankind. It is a way to show that we care or cared for that person and to show that they were important in some way or another.
--Today in the 21st Century, we remember and memorialize others and ourselves in a very different fashion than the people of centuries past did. In centuries past, people were remembered through obituaries articles in newspapers and large memorials. With technology today, the way we remember people is a little bit different. Remembrance is done through news articles on the internet, sites dedicated to certain people, and of course there are still obituaries and monuments. However, technology seems to be taking over more of the obituaries actually published in newspapers. Technology is slowly taking over and changing the way that we memorialize and identify ourselves.
--An example of the above could be the Seattle PI. In the event of the PI closing, the employees took to the internet and blogging to try and remember it and even keep it from closing. In the end the Seattle PI closed anyway so in a sense, it could be considered a failure. The employees tried to remember the PI in their own, different way even if it was not the most effective way of doing so. Another example of remembrance is the site called MyDeathSpace.com. Because it contains online obituaries and news articles, it could be considered successful. Since it is keeping up with modern times and has all these things on the internet, it could be thought of as successful.
--There are some important things to think about on the topic of remembrance, specifically with the Seattle PI. As I said before, the employees of the Seattle PI took up blogging to memorialize the closing of the newspaper. The problem was that this “strategy” did not work. Considering how the paper was going to close no matter what the employees said or did the whole idea of blogging was just a sentimental movement to ease the pain and sorrow of the employees as well as regular readers. However, the employees telling their stories had meaning to it because it showed how committed the employees had been to the newspaper while it was still in business.
--Remembrance is not just secluded to remembering the dead or fallen. It can also be used to remember a time and a way of life. A large way that this is done is though literature. The remembrance of an era can be done through books, short stories, and poems. An example of such could be the era of the flappers. Books such as Ernest Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises” memorialize the flapper era by having a big emphasis on Brett who seems to be the embodiment of the Flappers. Shorter pieces such as “What Became of the Flappers?” and “Eulogy on the Flapper” by Zelda Fitzgerald memorialize the Flappers by describing what the Flapper was and what she stood for. Therefore remembrances are literature depending on what form they are in. As long as it is in some form of writing it could be remembrance and literature. But again, that is all up to personal opinion.
--With the whole idea, sometimes, issue of remembrance and memorialization, certain problems can arise. The main issue being what happens when there is no agreed upon form of memorialization for a nation. The issue is that if there is no agreed upon form, then there is no cohesion among the nation. Everybody has their own idea of how we should memorialize and not everyone agrees. If there is no agreed on form, then everyone begins to fight. An example being from Ben’s presentation about how soldiers should be remembered in England after they were brought back from the war. Some wanted to do it in their own special way, some wanted it to be very uniform to show that all the soldiers fought and died as equals. Without an agreed upon form of memorialization, there can be no real national identity. Here in the United States, we have funerals and articles as a national form of memorialization but we also simply remember the lost.
--A good example of national identity and cohesion in terms of memorialization is the remains of the twin towers. The destruction of the two towers and all the live's lost, for a short time, brought cohesion to the people of the United States. The site of the destruction is a national memorial to everyone that was lost. Seeing the pictures of the destruction has ensured that I never forget about it and will therefore remember all those that died.
--This all can relate back to what we learned about memorialization in relation to World War 1. All the graves of soldiers were uniform to show that they fought and died as equals. In a way, these uniform graves helped make sense of the death toll of war. Having them all look the same helps people see the enormity of death from the war. If the graves had all been different, then it would have been harder to see or picture the total amount of lives lost. Therefore the memorialization of World War 1 could be seen as successful.
--Memorialization is one of the most important activities that man can do. The remembrance of people or events is a natural necessity of all people. Memorialization and remembrance can be done in all sorts of forms from written materials to videos to websites. Remembrance of a past event can help us to make corrections for the future. Memorialization of people can help us see or understand parts of ourselves and help make ourselves better. Without remembrance or memorialization, we are nothing. To remember is to be human. Memorialization is relevant to life and being alive. If we cannot or choose to not remember, then perhaps we are not really human.