Excavating Memory explores memory as contested social practice in the present rather than as a passive recollection of the past. Through a diverse set of material and discursive strategies, memory is seen as a complex process that involves remembering and forgetting, erasure and inscription, absence and presence. It is from the folds between remembering and forgetting that sites of memory emerge. Taking a cue from archaeology, the collection of essays in this volume parses the multiple layers of meaning and tenuous lines of power that memory work produces. Offering a variety of approaches to t ... More

Excavating Memory explores memory as contested social practice in the present rather than as a passive recollection of the past. Through a diverse set of material and discursive strategies, memory is seen as a complex process that involves remembering and forgetting, erasure and inscription, absence and presence. It is from the folds between remembering and forgetting that sites of memory emerge. Taking a cue from archaeology, the collection of essays in this volume parses the multiple layers of meaning and tenuous lines of power that memory work produces. Offering a variety of approaches to the study of memory—from anthropology and archaeology to sociology, history, philosophy, literature, and archival studies—the authors explore such diverse arenas as public protests, memorials and art installations, archaeological objects, human remains, colonial landscapes, testimonies, and digital space as sites of memory.