The COVID-19 Pandemic and Memory: Remembrance, commemoration, and archiving in crisis

This book offers a platform for the analysis of commemorative and archiving practices as they were shaped, expanded, and developed during the Covid-19 lockdown periods in 2020 and the years that followed. By offering an extensive global view of these changes as well as of the continuities that went with them, the book enters a dialogue with what has emerged as an initial response to the pandemic and the ways in which it has affected memory and commemoration. The book aims to critically and empirically engage with this abundance of memory to understand both __memorialization of the pandemic and commemoration during the pandemic__: what happened then to commemorative practices and rituals around the world? How has the Covid-19 pandemic been archived and remembered? What will remembering it actually entail, and what will it mean in the future? Where did the Covid memory boom come from? Who was behind it, how did it emerge, and in what social configurations did it evolve? Contents Notes on Contributors List of Figures Chapter 1: Introduction: Unlocking Memory Studies: Understanding Collective Remembrance During and of Covid-19 Remembrance of and During Covid-19: A Research Agenda Memory Studies and the Covid-19 Pandemic Can We Speak of a Covid-19 Memory Boom? Commemorative Events Between Memory Politics and Protests: What Changed During Lockdowns? Memorial Museums and National Days: Did Digital Practices Transform Commemoration During the Pandemic? Bibliography Part I: Can We Speak of a Covid Memory Boom? Chapter 2: “It seemed right to keep some sort of history”: Performances of Digital Memory Work by Young Women in London During Covid-19 Introduction Performing Memory in a Postfeminist, Digital Context Methods Approaching Covid-19 as Worth Remembering Prioritisation of Happy “memories” During Covid-19 Expression of Gratitude Towards Platforms Conclusion References Chapter 3: Picturing Lockdown in the UK: Memorializing an Ongoing Crisis Introduction Material Commemoration and Archiving Efforts Method Comparing Archiving Practices and Content: The NBR and the Picturing Lockdown Collection Between the Official and the Alternative: How Social Media Impacts Archiving Efforts Agents of (Their Own) Memory Shifting Archiving Practices Concluding Remarks References Chapter 4: #Mémoriascovid19: Reimagining and Narrating Trauma in the Core of the Covid-19 Pandemic in Brazil Introduction Project #MemóriasCovid19 Trauma’s Testimony Between Word and Image “Real-Time” Memory and the Pandemic’s Temporalities Closing Remarks Bibliography Sources Websites Quoted Memories Interviews Chapter 5: The Danger of a Single Story: Epic-Pandemic Narratologies and Memorials of COVID-19 in Nigeria Introduction Nigerian Storytelling During the Lockdown Period: Methodological Framework for Grassroots Memory The Danger of a Single Story: Epic-Pandemic Narratives and Memorials of Nigeria’s COVID Era The Virus Is a Divine Judgment The Virus Is a Hoax and Government Conspiracy The Virus Is Targeted at the Rich Conclusion Works Cited Chapter 6: Pandemic from the Margins: How United-States-Based College Students Think the Pandemic Should Be Remembered Bringing Protest and Mourning Together: The Origins of the Project Digital Commemoration and Mourning Virtual Memorials to Lived Experiences of a Pandemic Conclusion Bibliography Part II: Commemorative Events Between Memory Politics and Protests: What Has Changed During the Lockdowns? Chapter 7: “No quarantine to workers’ rights”: Recontextualizing Labour Day Commemoration in the Semiotic Landscape of a Pandemic Demonstration Introduction Theoretical and Methodological Choices: The Semiotic Landscape of a Commemoration During Lockdown Criminalization and Appropriation of Protest Practices in the Pandemic Semiotic Landscape Memoryscapes on the Online-Offline Nexus Closing Remarks References Chapter 8: The Struggle to Remember Tiananmen Under COVID-19 and the National Security Law in Hong Kong Remembering Tiananmen in Hong Kong: 1989–2019 National Security Law and Memory Erasure Contesting the Right to Commemorate June 4 Under COVID Evaluating the Role of the Pandemic Concluding Remarks References Chapter 9: “Memory Does Not Quarantine”: COVID-19, Remembering the Coup, and the Struggle for Democracy in Bolsonaro’s Brazil Introduction A Surprising Foretold Crisis The Silent Treatment: Organizing Caminhada do Silêncio in Rio de Janeiro From Silence to Blast: Pots and Pans and Images of Hope Conclusion References Chapter 10: Human Rights Day: Grassroots Commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic Restrictions in South Africa Introduction: The Sharpeville Commemorations in a Historical Context Commemorating the Sharpeville Massacre: Pre-cOVID-19 Human Rights Day Celebrations: 2020 Online Commemoration and Grassroots Initiatives Conclusion Bibliography Part III: Memorial Museums and National Days: Did Digital Practices Transform Commemoration in Times of the Pandemic? Chapter 11: “Le goût d’un jour de fête”? Commemorating the End of the Second World War on Twitter During the Lockdown: A Comparison Between France and Italy Introduction Studying a Digital Commemoration Studying Digital Memory Social Media and Twitter Building Our Corpus Commemorations with Different Statuses The Political and Cultural Meanings of 25 April The Contested 8 May Commemorating the End of the Second World War: The 2020 Context in Italy and France Italy: Incentives to Commemorate Online France: Is Online Commemoration a True Commemoration? Commemorating on Twitter During the Lockdown Commemorating 25 April 2020 on Twitter Commemorating 8 May 2020 on Twitter Conclusion References Chapter 12: #Hashtag Commemoration: A Comparison of Public Engagement with Commemoration Events for Neuengamme, Srebrenica, and Beau Bassin During Covid-19 Lockdowns Commemoration on Social Media Method Historical Detail Memory Media Appropriation Conclusion Bibliography Chapter 13: #DigitalMemorial(s): How COVID-19 Reinforced Holocaust Memorials and Museums’ Shift Toward Social Media Memory Introduction Commemoration on Social Media Before COVID-19 Methodology Responding to the Pandemic Through Social Media and Digital Tools Hashtags, Features, and Digital Vernaculars in Pandemic Digital Memory Digital Formats for Communicating Multimodal Memory Doing Digital Holocaust Commemoration Conclusion: Toward Social Media Memory References Chapter 14: Holocaust Remembrance on Facebook During the Lockdown: A Turning Point or a Token Gesture? Introduction Digital Holocaust Memory in the Times of COVID-19 Lockdown Changes and Continuities What Does the Change in Commemoration Mean? Conclusions References Chapter 15: Epilogue: Did the Pandemic Change the Future of Memory? Bibliography Index