Article
Introduction
by Rob van der Laarse, Francesco Mazzucchelli, Carlos Reijnen
in Versus n. 119, Traces of Terror, Signs of Trauma, pp.3-19
Abstract (english)
This is the introduction to a collection of articles about the
spatialization processes of memory of war in contemporary
Europe. It is divided in three parts. The first part proposes
a transdisciplinary perspective, which includes semiotics, to
tackle the relations between space, war heritage and cultural
memory and to analyse memory narratives conveyed by places.
An approach based on the investigation of “terrorscapes” (places
with a high density of traces) is proposed. The second part delves
on the notion of terrorscapes, focusing on the meaning of “terror”
and on the shift of paradigm in European politics of memory after
1989. The third part deals with the European space of memory,
questioning the possibility of construction of a shared European
memory narrative on XX centuries wars. The last paragraph
summarizes the contributions of the volume.