ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at how memorials function in this context. In contrast to measures such as tribunals and truth commissions, memorials – and commemoration more generally – are a acquisition in the repertoire of dealing with the past. Post-conflict memory landscapes embed and convey meaning, and are thus inexorably linked to the legacy of the conflict, to struggles over interpretations about the violent past and to the sites where remembering takes place. Constructing memorials after atrocities has become an important aspect of coming to terms with atrocities and thus forms a central component of transitional justice. In the context of transitional justice, memorials are often referred to as symbolic reparations, in contrast to material reparations such as financial compensation. Parallel to the inclusion of victims in memorial processes, the aesthetic form of some memorials has changed, giving way to a new memorial culture.
