Remembering the Present: Oregon's Afghan-Iraqi Freedom Memorial
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Date
2010-06
Authors
Isaak, Marissa Tamar, 1980-
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
On Veterans Day 2006, Oregon's governor dedicated the newest addition to the
capitol grounds, a memorial fountain commemorating the soldiers killed in the current
wars in Afghanistan and Iraq: The Afghan-Iraqi Freedom Memorial. The political
contestations surrounding the memorial demonstrate how ideologies become inscribed
onto landscapes. After conducting a qualitative analysis including interviewing
participants and detractors of the monument, observing the site on multiple occasions,
and examining its media coverage, I conclude that the memorial stakes a claim to the
meaning of this controversial war long before the fighting is over, it reproduces
geopolitical imaginaries promoted by the Bush Administration, and it reconfigures trends
in the representation of soldiers. By taking a multi-scalar approach to this research, I am
able to combine geopolitical, State-level, and embodied approaches to memorial research. This project furthers the geography literature by exposing the multiple
meanings contained in one local commemorative site.
Description
xi, 133 p. : ill. (some col.) A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number.