Written in Stone: Public Monuments in Changing Societies

By Sanford Levinson

Book Overview

Twentieth Anniversary Edition with a new preface and afterword

From the removal of Confederate monuments in New Orleans in the spring of 2017 to the violent aftermath of the white nationalist march on the Robert E. Lee monument in Charlottesville later that summer, debates and conflicts over the memorialization of Confederate "heroes" have stormed to the forefront of popular American political and cultural discourse. In Written in Stone Sanford Levinson considers the tangled responses to controversial monuments and commemorations while examining how those with political power configure public spaces in ways that shape public memory and politics. Paying particular attention to the American South, though drawing examples as well from elsewhere in the United States and throughout the world, Levinson shows how the social and legal arguments regarding the display, construction, modification, and destruction of public monuments mark the seemingly endless confrontation over the symbolism attached to public space.

This twentieth anniversary edition of Written in Stone includes a new preface and an extensive afterword that takes account of recent events in cities, schools and universities, and public spaces throughout the United States and elsewhere. Twenty years on, Levinson's work is more timely and relevant than ever.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1478002808
• ISBN13: 9781478002802
• Release Date: October 2018
• Publisher: Duke University Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Written in Stone : Public Monuments in Changing Societies

The author of Written in Stone attempts the task of interpretting monuments in changing societies. Often one does not think about how monuments hold one moment in time stagnant, yet socieites change and the monuments usually still stand. Levinson utilizes a wide variety of examples to look at the question of monuments in changing societies. Levinson's book is the first substanitial work of I seen written on the subject of monuments when societies change and it is likely not to be the last. For further reading Levinson's footnote are well done.