| Abstrakt: |
Contextualization of symbols and monuments in the eras they were constructed, dedicated, and used remains important to exploring nuances of Civil War memory even as arguments about Confederate symbols continue to plague American society and public memory. This study explores the traces of Civil War memory in newspaper coverage of four Confederate monument celebrations across geographic sections. Discourse and narrative analyses of 258 articles, published in seven US newspapers in the 1890s and 1920s, examines how the promotion of the reconciliation strategy distorted memory of the Civil War away from fact to promote economic and political advantage while marginalizing realities of wartime atrocities and slavery. Analysis examines Lost Cause symbolism embodied in the Confederate flag in addition to the monuments themselves. This study contends that newspaper coverage served as strategic sites where narratives of sectional reunion and reconciliation took precedence over historical memory, thus influencing remembrances of the Civil War and perpetuation of symbols. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
