Historical monuments are essential landmarks in the history of a country, often located in public places and serving as sources of knowledge about past societies and civilizations.
Monuments often reflect one side of history – for instance, extolling Confederacy as an embodiment of state rights – thus justifying their preservation or removal is an issue which should involve all stakeholders.
Definition
Monuments are structures with special status for their artistic, architectural, or scientific value, earning it special protection under law and through technical provisions designed to maintain and improve them. As such, monuments may fall under special regulations designed to ensure their conservation and enhancement.
As such, monuments can often become controversial depending on their purpose and commemorations of wars or conflicts that were or remain contentious, as well as memorializing controversial figures or people such as colonialism that perpetuates legacy such as beliefs of cultural or racial superiority, taking over foreign land for colonization purposes, exploiting natural resources or oppression and torture of indigenous populations. Such monuments could spark outrage in citizens over commemorations which glorify past actions such as colonialism’s legacy such as beliefs in cultural or racial superiority beliefs as well as memorializing its legacy by glorifying its past actions such as beliefs of superiority held towards indigenous populations that resulted from colonialism’s legacy including beliefs of cultural and racial superiority beliefs while taking over foreign lands to exploit resources or oppressing indigenous populations through slavery or torture of indigenous populations or their enslavement/torment/torment/torment/torment/enslavement/torment/torment/torment/enslavement/torment/enslavement/torment of indigenous peoples by means of monuments glorifying their legacy or celebrating its legacy such as cultural/racial superiority beliefs/coloialism/coloialism with regards to cultural/racial superiority beliefs, beliefs in terms of culture/racial superiority as well as beliefs associated with colonialism (or simply by celebrating its legacy exploitation/enslavement/ enslavement/enslavement/ torturing of indigenous populations ass it allusion etc…etc etc). It would indance/ torture… etc….
Monuments may also be contentious in their design. This is especially the case when they reveal something of its creator’s attitudes or values as revealed through its form; for instance, many Hellenistic period monuments in Nabataean cities such as Petra showed a preference towards glorifying rulers over upholding state values.
Purpose
Monuments serve a dual function: they commemorate events or people while reflecting the values prevalent at their time of creation. As such, monuments make excellent teaching tools in history classes–particularly within the United States where many monuments can be controversial.
Conflicted monuments can spark classroom discussions about changing values and their impact. A monument honoring war heroes may still elicit outrage due to its valorisation of cultural and racial supremacy while simultaneously erasing lives that have been suppressed or subjugated.
An anti-apartheid statue in South Africa may spark lively conversations on its legacy and may serve to honor those who died under that regime, while at the same time providing students with an opportunity to understand that historical analysis does not fit one mold and to critically reflect upon their beliefs – reinventing expired monuments can provide ample opportunity for this.
Design
Monument-making has long shaped the aesthetics of public space, from ancient Egypt’s pyramids to Renaissance Italy’s emphasis on human form – with monument-building inspired by many cultures and art practices across time and space.
Students will explore how a monument’s design and materials influence its meaning, while learning how monuments evolve over time – for instance, Steve Biko’s memorial in East London was only dedicated twenty years after his death; its legacy continues to be debated among younger generations today.
Students will examine recent disputes regarding how cities select, preserve and display historical monuments. Through discussing these debates, students will examine how monuments can serve as both reminders of positive and negative aspects of history; additionally they will consider which individuals deserve commemoration and the shape of monuments that could best capture their memory legacy.
Meaning
Monuments are designed to commemorate people or events and can evoke powerful emotions that often invoke reverence for those depicted or honored by them, yet may also contain ideas which cause disapproval or anger among many people. As such, school children should carefully consider both the context of its creation as well as its social significance when viewing monuments in class.
Although monuments usually require physical presence, this does not preclude non-material representations like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon for which no archaeological evidence has yet to surface. Furthermore, prioritizing monuments of one region or nation does not imply parochialism as their meaning can often resonate across geographical borders.
Students could conduct an open-ended research project in the classroom to investigate an interesting monument, using online sources or newspaper stories and documentaries as resources for their inquiry. They may also seek the opinions of those with different viewpoints regarding whether this monument should be kept up.
