ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes commemorative rituals (performances) of collective memory of the fall of Vukovar and detects three different phases in the production and reception of social memory. The chapter follows the official, annual commemoration (“Memory Procession”) in the town of Vukovar from the time when it was first organized, after the peaceful reintegration of the town in 1998, until today. It relies on the model of social action as cultural performance set up by Jeffrey C. Alexander, who argues that the materiality of commemorative practices (rituals) should be replaced by a more multidimensional concept of performances. The chapter discusses different dynamics of memory making around Vukovar but also tracks intense memorialization efforts in the town. It pays attention to some of the numerous memorials in and around Vukovar in order to analyze how they reflect a tear in the town’s social fabric and what implications commemorations and memorialization of the war have on the town and its population today.
