A policy of memory is a deliberate action, established by governments or other political or social actors with the aim of preserving, transmitting and valuing the memory of certain aspects of the past considered particularly significant or important. This way this interested and selective nature of any policy of memory implies the combination of forgetfulness and memory, in favour of the search for an identity as an institutional collective or power group.
The interests of this power may vary over time and with them will also change institutional memories or shared amnesia. All memory policy uses "mnemonic" resources and strategies to select, reconstruct, preserve and transmit what we want to recall from the past. These strategies include the preservation of certain "memory spaces", the construction of memorials, the use of toponymy linked to memory in squares and streets, the creation of institutions responsible for the conservation and transmission of memory (archives, museums, documentation centres, information, dissemination, research…), the management of pedagogical programs… Many of these resources are managed through a commemorative calendar and the celebration of the anniversaries that will keep this memory alive.
IN MEMORY OF ... by Manel Clemente offers a semiotic analysis of consciousness and oblivion in the monuments of contemporary Europe. It also includes other projects linked to other locations outside Europe.
Manel Clemente has recently published (December 2024) a doctoral thesis under the tutelage of Dr. Xavier Roigé at the University of Barcelona : "In memory of ... Monumental heritage commemorating the Civil War in Catalonia" :
Part of the graphic material linked to this research work can be viewed on the following web pages:
contact: manelclemente@manelclemente.com