The Languages of Remembrance: An Attempt at a Taxonomy

Abstract

Every speech act about and interpretation of the Great War today is also a way of remembering it. Remembering this cataclysmic event has become an almost religious practice in many countries. People want to remember it well, humbly and respectfully. Yet a commemoration of such an event can never be disinterested. As members of local, national and academic communities, we are all invested in many practices of remembrance. But every act of remembering is selective. It is impossible to do justice to every participant, to everybody who suffered from the war, to every episode of the war, which had many consequences for the local and national histories of the different parties involved.