Page 59 - Dark Shades of Istria
P. 59
ia Perspective on Dark Tourism 4
and Memory
The questions of the cultural and individual memory have become in-
teresting issues in the fields of study of visual culture, cultural studies
and media studies. This means that concepts of memory (e.g. personal
memories) do not necessarily come to the people (audience) from their
individual experience but from their mediated experience based on pho-
tographs, documentaries and popular culture (Sturken, 2008, p. 75), as
well as from the media. Moreover, there is a close relationship between
the media and processes of remembrance (Zierold, 2008, p. 399). In this
context, the intention of the media/journalism is to explain contempo-
rary events in the public sphere: memory and the related past offer them
a key source through which they understand and explain topical events.
This even creates a ‘memory superabundance’ within which people iden-
tify themselves with other people’s emotions and memories (Širok, 2009,
p. 29).
The media are often accused of the (alleged) disappearance (Zierold,
2008, p. 399) or ‘rewriting’ of memory (and history) – see the example of
Štok and Česnik (2012). The historical perception of society has changed
as a consequence of the influence of the media (Nora, 1989, p. 7). On the
other hand, as memory serves as a prism through which to consider me-
dia/journalism, memory-related journalistic work itself has become an
interesting research topic (Zelizer, 2008a, pp. 382–383). Accordingly, Edy
(1999) suggests caution, because despite the great importance of jour-
nalistic reporting for historiography and media studies,¹ it is not always
possible to rely only on these resources due to the simple and dramatic
narratives of news reporting. Thus, the crucial issues of the contempo-
rary ‘media environment’ (internet) are credibility, its operationalisation
and measurement (Metzger et al., 2003). The ‘media environment’ is un-
derstood as a fragmented, changing, globalised environment with de-
institutionalised mass communication, where the media, however, often
seek to reach the masses (not to target narrow niches) (Napoli, 2010).
From the perspective of tourism studies, some questions about me-
dia and memory relations were identified as early as in the 1980s. Hence,
¹ They are not exclusively used only within these sciences.
59
and Memory
The questions of the cultural and individual memory have become in-
teresting issues in the fields of study of visual culture, cultural studies
and media studies. This means that concepts of memory (e.g. personal
memories) do not necessarily come to the people (audience) from their
individual experience but from their mediated experience based on pho-
tographs, documentaries and popular culture (Sturken, 2008, p. 75), as
well as from the media. Moreover, there is a close relationship between
the media and processes of remembrance (Zierold, 2008, p. 399). In this
context, the intention of the media/journalism is to explain contempo-
rary events in the public sphere: memory and the related past offer them
a key source through which they understand and explain topical events.
This even creates a ‘memory superabundance’ within which people iden-
tify themselves with other people’s emotions and memories (Širok, 2009,
p. 29).
The media are often accused of the (alleged) disappearance (Zierold,
2008, p. 399) or ‘rewriting’ of memory (and history) – see the example of
Štok and Česnik (2012). The historical perception of society has changed
as a consequence of the influence of the media (Nora, 1989, p. 7). On the
other hand, as memory serves as a prism through which to consider me-
dia/journalism, memory-related journalistic work itself has become an
interesting research topic (Zelizer, 2008a, pp. 382–383). Accordingly, Edy
(1999) suggests caution, because despite the great importance of jour-
nalistic reporting for historiography and media studies,¹ it is not always
possible to rely only on these resources due to the simple and dramatic
narratives of news reporting. Thus, the crucial issues of the contempo-
rary ‘media environment’ (internet) are credibility, its operationalisation
and measurement (Metzger et al., 2003). The ‘media environment’ is un-
derstood as a fragmented, changing, globalised environment with de-
institutionalised mass communication, where the media, however, often
seek to reach the masses (not to target narrow niches) (Napoli, 2010).
From the perspective of tourism studies, some questions about me-
dia and memory relations were identified as early as in the 1980s. Hence,
¹ They are not exclusively used only within these sciences.
59
