The book War, Genocide, and Justice: Cambodian Memory Work, written by Cathy Schlund-Vials explores the remembrance of the Cambodian American community and their cultural practices, specifically through tourism and hip-hop expression, to stray away from producing an identity around war and genocide.
In particular, the chapter titled, “Atrocity Tourism” looks into how war, genocide, and violence is used as a commodity and a market rather than a site of recollection. Schlund-Vials creates many critiques of it, but one that stood out in particular was when she said, “This is not to suggest that these locations do not have other agendas (memorial, contemplative, or educational). Instead, the presence of individuals not intimately connected to specific histories of loss necessarily obscures site purpose, blurs intentionality, and obfuscates impact” (Schlund-Vials, p. 62). What stuck out to me was thinking about how I view certain exhibits at museums. If I don’t have any personal connection to whatever is being shown, I may not get the full experience and may take away the wrong things, blurring the lines on what is actually meant to be portrayed. Specifically, when it comes to traumatic events that occurred to people, not being able to understand what is being portrayed ultimately means that false narratives continue to be produced, further oppressing and marginalizing folks.
Question: What other strategies can be implemented in order to honor those events without misconstruing the intent and the narratives?
Photo Source: https://www.cartoonistgroup.com/store/add.php?iid=8447
Source: Schlund-Vials, Cathy J. War, Genocide, and Justice: Cambodian American Memory Work. University of Minnesota Press, 2012.
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