What happens when we blindly accept the monuments in our built world, treating them as permanent fixtures of history rather than invitations to critique the traditions they represent?
The University of West Georgia's Emerita Professor of Philosophy, Dr. Janet Donohoe, joins host PJ Wehry to discuss the overlooked dynamism of our built environment and how we interact with public memory.
Dr. Donohoe explores the complex ties between physical spaces and tradition in her book, Remembering Places: A Phenomenological Study of the Relationship between Memory and Place. They examine how the removal of monuments is not an erasure of history but a rewriting of it, and how understanding our physical world can help us critically engage with the narratives we pass on to future generations.
In this conversation they explore:
- How monuments function as a "palimpsest," where tearing them down doesn't remove the place but instead writes over it, leaving underlying traces of memory and tradition.
- Husserl’s concepts of the "home world" and "alien world," demonstrating how our childhood environments physically write themselves onto our bodies and set our normative baseline for experiencing new places.
- The striking contrast between the World War II Memorial, which uses its overbearing scale to dictate a narrative of American power, and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, an open space that invites profound personal reflection and critique.
- Why rushing to memorialize tragedies, such as the push to immediately erect 9/11 monuments, often solidifies a narrative of victimization without allowing for the necessary time to process and understand the long-term impact.
- The dual meaning of the word "monument"—to remember and to be mindful—which calls us to actively critique our traditions rather than blindly perpetuating them.
- How the meaning of a monument is never truly "set in stone," but rather emerges dynamically in the continuous encounter between the viewer and the physical space.
This is a conversation for anyone interested in philosophy, architecture, and history who wants to understand the profound weight behind our built environment and how we process the evolving, physical traditions of our modern age.
Make sure to check out Dr. Donohoe's book: Remembering Places: A Phenomenological Study of the Relationship between Memory and Place 👉 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0739187163
Check out our website at chasingleviathan.com
Who thinks that they can subdue Leviathan? Strength resides in its neck; dismay goes before it. When it rises up, the mighty are terrified. Nothing on earth is its equal. It is without fear. It looks down on all who are haughty; it is king over all who are proud.
These words inspired PJ Wehry to create Chasing Leviathan. Chasing Leviathan was born out of two ideals: that truth is worth pursuing but will never be subjugated, and the discipline of listening is one of the most important habits anyone can develop.
Timestamps
0:00 Introducing Janet Donohoe
0:54 Why Study Memory, Place, and Monuments
2:32 Why We Erect and Remove Monuments as Palimpsests
5:37 Digital Erasure, Physical Traces, and Afterlives Of Data
7:53 Home World, Alien World, and Experiencing Home
12:04 Smell Memory and Bodily Responses to Place
15:10 Modern Writing Erasure and The Palimpsest Metaphor
16:14 Marginalia Layered Reading And Material Texts
17:38 From Individual Body to Collective Memory and Tradition
21:19 Critique Freedom and How Monuments Shape Narrative
23:15 Dynamism Tradition and Renewing the Built World
26:40 Beyond Keeping or Tearing Down Monuments
27:37 Monuments Disrupting Habitual Life and Calling Forth Thought
28:21 Homeless Jesus Statue Orlando and Urban Disruption
29:50 The National Mall Subversive Memorials and Vietnam Wall
33:41 Hero Worship Mourning and the Hidden Costs of War
38:51 Hegel, Gadamer, and how Meanings of Monuments Evolve
42:42 9/11 Memorials, Grief, and Owning Public Memory
45:23 Closing Thoughts
