Collective Memory And Cultural Landscapes

The relationship between collective memory and the formation or construction of cultural landscapes is the importance that society feels when preserving or creating a unique landscape that gives a memory of what an area looked like in the past. Geoffrey Cubitt in History and Memory defines this idea of memory and cultural landscapes by stating that this relationship is the awareness of the past, which is preserved or created by society for their memory (Cubitt, 15-16). With this quote, Cubitt gives the impression that the relationship between memory and cultural landscapes lies within the perseveration of these historic landscapes. This connection of memory and cultural landscapes is also seen in Miller’s article where he states that through the National Park Service’s construction of roads to isolated parks, tourist gained access to these sites, which then motivated the nation to preserve these landscapes (Miller, 77). Miller’s statement suggests this motivation to preserve the public’s only memory of the landscapes of the nation’s past ultimately brought the connection of memory and cultural landscapes closer together.
When reviewing the quotes given in the lecture by J.B. Jackson, the question present is whether the act of historic
Demonstrated through the efforts to preserve cultural landscapes, the public historian must understand the importance and attachments that the public memory has to the places that they inhabit (Bluestone, 15). With this idea of the public’s memory and attachments to certain places, the historian can then understand what qualifies as successful landscape construction and preservation. Once the historian understands this, they will then comprehend the relationship between these three ideas and how to preserve the landscapes that remind the public of the