From the “Era of the Witness” to an Era of Traces. Memorialisation as a Process of Iconisation?

The chapter explores the effects of the re-emergence of a "materialist paradigm" and a "forensic aesthetics" on cultures of commemoration (and monumentalisation) of historical violent events. A semiotic reflection on the concept of trace - pivotal notion within forensic studies - is proposed. Through an analysis of some memory sites that monumentalise or sacralise material traces of the commemorated event, the chapter shows how the indexical features of the trace are sometimes converted in "iconic" features. In conclusion, the chapter proposes an integrative, semiotic-forensic approach to sites of political violence and the processes of their memorialisation.