Cosmopolitan Connective Memory

Abstract

Now almost at the end of our journey, this final chapter engages with the global level of communication and memory. Assmann and Conrad (2010, 7) consider that memory has entered the global arena in four ways: a global public sphere requiring global accountability has led to a plethora of apologies for wars and colonial wrongs; global memory claims from wars and colonialism have led to notions of universal morality and respect of diversity; all levels of memory have come to be informed by the global context, for example consciousness of regional memory binding areas together has developed; and memorial globalization has occurred from below with grassroots activist movements and the worldwide diffusion of popular cultural products. In this chapter the focus will be primarily on this final category, but first some definitions of the terms ‘connective’ and ‘cosmopolitan’ memory are required.