Memory Space and Memory Place

Abstract

In this chapter Digan examines the different concepts of ‘space and place’ and how they relate to sites of memory. She makes a distinction between space (‘Raum’) as a social concept and place (‘Ort’) as a measurable, tangible unit. She examines thesocial interpretation of space, which assumes that space is shaped and kept in existence by actors interacting with one another. She then examines the concept of place as a measurable entity that can change meaning (and have different meanings) as a whole. To do so she uses theories from the field of semiotics to examine how the meaning of a place depends on social conventions. In both of these analyses, the crucial question is how the ‘social’ and the ‘physical’ place come together.