Remediation and remembrance: “Dancing Auschwitz†Collective Memory and New Media
Journal Title: ESSACHESS - Journal for Communication Studies - Year 2012, Vol 5, Issue 2
Abstract
A new generation is changing the face of Holocaust remembrance, a morally laden subject that continues to captivate public imagination, spark controversy and generate dialogue, now by using social media. In summer 2010, controversy erupted worldwide as “Dancing Auschwitz,†a YouTube video of a Jewish family dancing at various Holocaust remembrance sites, defied the existing cultural narrative through a novel expression of Holocaust remembrance. The artifact exemplifies the larger debate whether technology aids memory as successfully as we believe or whether by freeing us from the burden encourages us to forget. We argue that virtual memorials can fulfill roles left vacant by more traditional forms of remembrance and open new avenues of communication and expression that allow participants, especially Germans and Jews, to re-mediate their identities. Virtual memorials can enhance the remembrance experience by cultivating fluid, interactive and creative spaces that encourage high degrees of participation, collaboration and self-expression. In the case study, YouTube users implemented three forms of remediation: role switching, redefinition, and disassociation. Despite the obstacles (e.g., destructive identity forces, commercial culture, and temporalities of social media trends), technology ultimately act as an aid to humanity’s deep-seated desire to remember.
Authors and Affiliations
Paige L. GIBSON| Department of Communication, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA, Steve JONES| Professor, Department of Communication, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP9112
- DOI -
- Views 406
- Downloads 27
Introduction to Micro-finance
Micro-finance appears today as the most promising tool in the struggle against poverty and banking exclusion. By providing micro-credit, collecting saving and supplying microinsurance, micro finance institutions (MF...
Contributions and limitations of experimentation as a method to investigate the educational effects of media
Communication sciences generally analyse media either as texts, or from the standpoint of their production and reception contexts. Experimental methods are of little use in these cases. Instead, the study of educationa...
Symbolic severance. Charlie or the broken circle of cultural mediation
The cultural dimension of the attack on Charlie Hebdo raises questions about the meaning of the event in terms of public policies on art and culture. At issue particulary is the re-situation of those policies in their...
Sustainable innovation in intensive animal husbandry; policy and public protests towards a mega-farm in the Netherlands
In this paper the planning and implementation of a specific mega-farm in the Netherlands is discussed, the so called ‘New Mixed Business’ (NMB). The central question is: how did communication, contestation and cont...
Overview of the Index of Reporters Without Borders: historical perspectives and methodology
The article provides a brief history of the Press Freedom Index of Reporters sans Frontières, its methodology, and how it is different from the of Freedom House and IREX measures.