Гробља као простори сећања
Cemeteries as places of memory

Summary/Abstract: Memory is a very important concept concerning heritage, realisation of a hereditary process and, above all, cultural potential of various objects – precisely, their potential to be the testimonies of the past eras. However, heritage (and also the memory) are usualy related to “traces of the past”, materiality. That’s the reason why cemeteries could also be that kind of traces. The aim of this work is to emphasize the changes that occurred in 18th and 19th century which effected changes in the conception of history (and historiography), appearance of systematic care for heritage and different attitude towards the past. Furthermore, the impact of ideology of Nationalism, and the movement of Romantism could not be neglected. All of these changes could be related to modifications in the culture of death concerning the foundation of modern cemeteries and systematic burials. Main aspect is to observe cemeteries, trough concept of Pierre Nora, as places of memory, special “traces of the past” that serves to show man’s immortality, despite his temporariness. Their purpose is to be the representation of the things that are not present, the “presence of the absence”. One aspect of importance of cemeteries as places of memory is relevance of individual memories of people whose ancestors are buried there. The second aspect is the relevance of continuity of social groups to memorize the past so they could create their own identity.

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