Heritage That Hurts

"As an anthropologist, tourist, and artist, Sather-Wagstaff investigates the traumatic events of 9/11 as a site of contested meaning. Her exercise in visual ethnography examines the various social practices of tourists in their engagement with the tangible and intangible essence of 'heritage that hurts.' This innovative study adds substantively to the evolving role of the 9/11 events and, in doing so, embarks on new methodological and theoretical approaches. Appropriately illustrated, referenced, and indexed. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Most levels/libraries." --CHOICE "...the book leads us to consider the fascinating question of why and how we are driven to construct and visit sites that memorialize mass death and horrific tragedy, and what uniquely human needs are fulfilled when we do so."... --Museum Magazine "Drawing on five years of intermittent ethnographic research at the WTC site, and analysis of in-depth interviews, photographs, graffiti, and souvenirs, Sather-Wagstaff compares the 9/11 memorial with other dark tourism sites--the Oklahoma City National Memorial, Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, and others--to show how tourists construct and disperse knowledge through performative activities, which make painful places meaningful both individually and collectively. The analysis reveals the complex cultural mediation of suffering at such sites, particularly with regard to consumer practices such as purchasing commemorative items and souvenirs. As such, the book makes important contributions to the anthropology of suffering and the anthropology of material culture, as well as the anthropology of tourism. See the full review: http://wings.buffalo.edu/ARD/cgi/showme.cgi?keycode=4223"--Rebecca Forgash, Anthropology Review Database