COMMEMORATIONS – BETWEEN SOLEMNITY AND NATIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS

Dumitru-Cătălin ROGOJANU Muzeul Civilizației Dacice și Romane, Deva (România)

Abstract

In this scientific work we aim to investigate the commemorations and their role in society, the features that define them, the motivations that determine states and people to celebrate, to recall exemplary – or on the contrary, less fortunate – events and personalities. Commemorations can be placed between solemnity and national consciousness, and the need of remembering the past in this way is the leitmotif of this paper. Furthermore, we expose synthetically the functions and types of commemorations, as well as the mission of the historian in the context of these events, the “places of memory” as locations with commemorative signification, but also the potential for manipulation and the “abuses of memory”. Keywords: commemorations, solemnity, national consciousness, “duty of memory”, “places of memory”, “abuses of memory”.