“Who has Left this Hole in the Ground?”: Filling the Gaps between Memory and Memorial after 9/11

• In Event: Rhetoric of Politics

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between memory and memorial through the lens of democratic theory. The intersections between collective memory and citizenship are increasingly important in a post 9/11 world. As citizens, we feel compelled to build a monument and in so doing to concretize the events of 9/11. We want to dedicate; we want to consecrate; we want to hallow ground zero. We should, however, be wary of the anti-democratic tenor of these impulses. Reverence is problematic for the health of any democratic nation. The discourses surrounding the construction and completion of a 9/11 memorial reflect a sense of urgency. In our haste to remember 9/11, we must not forget the value of a democratic society. How can citizens respond to the traumatic events of that fateful day in a way that is consistent with democratic principles? Is it possible to build a democratic monument—a monument marked by contingency and plurality rather than permanence and a singularity of vision? Can a monument actualize the democratic potential of our collective memory? The answers to these questions are important for democratic theorists and rhetoricians alike. This paper examines the democratic nature of monuments and countermonuments before investigating the proposed design for the 9/11 memorial in addition to the rhetoric of the architects and the selection committee.

Author

• Erin Witte, University of Georgia