Monday, October 27, 2008

Written in Stone Analysis

Sanford Levinson approaches the topic of Public History from the point of view of national identity through monuments and other public spaces. This book has proven to be an extremely interesting read. Levinson discusses the central theme of how those with political power within any society choose to organize public space to convey specific messages. One of the truly interesting aspects of this book is that it does not just focus simply on political reasons, but also ideological factors such as the Confederate flag. Levinson covers a broad base of public spaces that are influenced by politics and the history surrounding them.
In the beginning, Levinson focuses on the controversies present in Eastern Europe. Eastern Europe is known as being a tumultuous region, and is an excellent place to start with this discussion. As Levinson notes, the Bolsheviks were well known for this action. They were also well known for erecting hundreds of monuments depicting Lenin and Stalin throughout the Soviet Union (as Levinson describes in his explanation of Prague’s statue to Lenin). The surprising part to me was when Levinson notes on page 14 that after the fall of communism, even some strong anti-communists were ambivalent to the destruction of these symbols of the Soviet Union.
Beginning with the severe transitions in Eastern Europe opens the door to a global perspective on the topic. The movement to the conversation of the South brings it all back home. I especially liked that Levinson admits that it is slightly a personal reason that he focused on that area on page 31. It makes him appear to be honest and more trustworthy. I appreciated that he took his argument globally and then brought it back home, because it shows how the issue over public space is universal.
Levinson also expands on his point by including other aspects of public space, such as street names. He opens the subject to incorporate some aspects of public space that some may not commonly think of. The weight of a street name is expressed throughout his book, and surprisingly it is more complex than one might think. The name of a street in Germany or in San Francisco faces the same difficulties in the process. It really makes one begin to look around even Tallahassee and wonder how streets got their names.
Levinson’s approach to writing is unique in that he doesn’t use chapters. His book is one continuous process, in essay format. In some instances this may seem tedious but Levinson makes it work successfully. Also, the usage of photos is important because it shows the way historical figures are depicted. Overall this book approaches the issue of public space effectively. I really liked the perspective he took on the subject and how he described the situation from a relatable situation, the South, and the global view.

5 comments:

Kristen said...

I have to agree, I really appreciated Levinson's global context. It's nice to see how public history applies not only in the US but elsewhere.

I also really liked how he branched away from statues...like you said, even mentioning street names. It really gets you thinking. Like, hmm why is this building named after this man? And when Levinson started discussing stamps I had to laugh a bit because my father collects stamps (first day covers to be exact) and so I've seen my fair share. Anyway, it's just neat to see the broad range of ways we commemorate things.

Katie Adams said...

I also liked how he was able to incorporate his argument not just in the United States, but abroad. I felt like that those examples he gave in Russia and in Zimbabwe were the extreme cases of how controversy surrounding monuments have been solved. Even how he compared the controversy of the Stars and Bars in the U.S. to the stigma surrounding the German Nazi swastika flag was intriguing.

I also agree that the pictures provided an important understanding to Levinson's argument. Although the pictures are small, you can still get a sense of how large and dominating the monuments are. By incorporating the pictures into the book, I felt that Levinson was also inviting the reader to interpret the monument in his/her own way.

Brent said...

I found it extremely interesting in the way power relates to representation in any and all aspects of the public landscape. It is interesting that something we think of as so commonplace, like street names, can be contentious and powerful, no matter where you are. I was also somewhat intrigued by Levinson’s comment about the ambivalence of former Soviets. On one hand it seems like something of an easy generalization on the other it makes me wonder about representations for governmental reasons and the use of monuments to promote change. It seems like an interesting subject for study, if accurate.

Shelby said...

Like Katie, I enjoyed his use of monuments abroad rather than just focusing on the US. I felt that it gave his argument greater breadth and depth. It put the confederate flag debate into a entirely different spectrum for myself. Although, obviously, you cannot compare the confedracy to Communist and Nazi control, they do have similarities in the idea that what they stood for was deemed wrong by the general public. I was however, glad that Levinson made the distinction that the confederate soliders (many of whom were merely serving their country) still deserve distinction unlike SS soliders who truly believed in what they were doing.

Nicole H. said...

*Re-Post*
I liked how you mentioned street names. It is amazing what you can learn about what seem like silly street names just by going back and reseraching a town's local history. Case in point: in Boca Raton there is a street that runs by the local mall called Butts Road *insert giggling here* Everyone I know (including myself before I found out) wondered why in the heck a town would name a road "Butts?" Well after working at the Boca Raton Hisotircal Society I found out that the road is actually named after a local pioneer whose last name was Butts (his first name still escapes me, sorry). Mr. Butts owned a large bean field that was in the same location as the current mall, and he was a big employer of local men, particularly blacks. Now I can't help but enlighten people who are with me about this little tidbit of local history when we drive to the mall and they start to laugh and make fun of the road name. Some road names are obviously named after local (or national) heros or prominent men and women, but when you come across a name that seems arbitrary (or in some cases, humorous), knowledge of the local history can prove otherwise.