Forgetting the wars: Australian war memorials and amnesia

Abstract

This chapter examines the role of forgetfulness in Australian war memorials. It traces the notion of memory and its relationship with national identity and Anzac as a background to understand what part these play in Australian memorialisation. Forgetfulness is a crucial part of the memory process and its role in inducing social or collective amnesia is assessed as a necessary (if sometimes unsafe) part of war remembrance. Collective amnesia is the product of a number of processes, both official and individual, that work to mask aspects of war represented in war memorial design and in the rituals that accompany war commemoration in memorial spaces.