This paper focuses on the symbolic power exercised through the memorials in the Republic of Cyprus. Public sculpture is almost exclusively memorial sculpture and it reflects the predominant values of the national iden...This paper focuses on the symbolic power exercised through the memorials in the Republic of Cyprus. Public sculpture is almost exclusively memorial sculpture and it reflects the predominant values of the national identity. This paper constitutes the first analysis of current historical and cultural perceptions in the southern part of the island through these visual representations and the ceremonial behaviors they generate. Characteristic cases of memorials presented here prove that commemoration in the Republic of Cyprus is inextricably linked to location which is either associated with an actual event of death, or draws power from its relation to culturally symbolic institutional buildings. The memorials illustrate the blending of private and public sphere and, respectively, private and social identity of the deceased. They prove that the affinities between heroism and sanctity within the Greek cultural milieu have imbued the social subconscious and impacted significantly on the collective recollections and the national narratives. This paper focuses on the aesthetics of the memorials which, due to their affinities with tombs in Greek and Cypriot cemeteries, lack affirmative hope, healing and closure of the trauma. On the contrary, they persist in portraying victimhood as a state of being.展开更多
文摘This paper focuses on the symbolic power exercised through the memorials in the Republic of Cyprus. Public sculpture is almost exclusively memorial sculpture and it reflects the predominant values of the national identity. This paper constitutes the first analysis of current historical and cultural perceptions in the southern part of the island through these visual representations and the ceremonial behaviors they generate. Characteristic cases of memorials presented here prove that commemoration in the Republic of Cyprus is inextricably linked to location which is either associated with an actual event of death, or draws power from its relation to culturally symbolic institutional buildings. The memorials illustrate the blending of private and public sphere and, respectively, private and social identity of the deceased. They prove that the affinities between heroism and sanctity within the Greek cultural milieu have imbued the social subconscious and impacted significantly on the collective recollections and the national narratives. This paper focuses on the aesthetics of the memorials which, due to their affinities with tombs in Greek and Cypriot cemeteries, lack affirmative hope, healing and closure of the trauma. On the contrary, they persist in portraying victimhood as a state of being.
