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För farligt att glömma - En semiotisk och kontextuell undersökning av minnesmärket Romanoparken - sång om en plats

Österling, Palle LU (2025) KOVK03 20242
Division of Art History and Visual Studies
Abstract (Swedish)
Too dangerous to forget – a semiotic and contextual study of the memorial Romanoparken –
Sång om en plats

This essay examines the memorial Romanoparken – Sång om en plats (2020), which
embodies Roma memories. However, there are risks with memorials when they take the
material form of a monument that they are seen as completed actions and the completion can
lead to distancing oneself from the monument and letting go of the need to remember. The
aim of the essay is to investigate how Romanoparken – Sång om en plats can become a
memorial that creates meaning and relevance through its expression and its context.
Furthermore, it is investigated whether the work can avoid the risk of forgetting and
irrelevance that memorials... (More)
Too dangerous to forget – a semiotic and contextual study of the memorial Romanoparken –
Sång om en plats

This essay examines the memorial Romanoparken – Sång om en plats (2020), which
embodies Roma memories. However, there are risks with memorials when they take the
material form of a monument that they are seen as completed actions and the completion can
lead to distancing oneself from the monument and letting go of the need to remember. The
aim of the essay is to investigate how Romanoparken – Sång om en plats can become a
memorial that creates meaning and relevance through its expression and its context.
Furthermore, it is investigated whether the work can avoid the risk of forgetting and
irrelevance that memorials can suffer from and instead engages a future viewer. The purpose
is also to examine how the work relates to antiziganism and the post-colonial concept of the
Other in its depiction of Roma memories.

Theoretically, the study is primarily based on semiotics and how symbols, iconic and
indexical signs can create meaning and make the work relevant to an observer. But
postcolonial theory in the form of the concept of the Other and formal analysis with a focus
on the work's composition is also discussed and how this can make the work relevant to a
viewer. The investigation is based on eight photographs (reproductions) of the work's various
parts, which have been contextualized in order to understand the work's various signs in a
historical and contemporary context based on Roma and how this can make the work relevant.

The result shows that Romanoparken – Sång om en plats fulfills many important functions for
a memorial to be experienced as relevant over time: an object to learn from, something that
connects people's experiences and a place to mourn. The work's various signs such as symbols
and indexes are important to fulfill these functions, but without a Romani context the work
would have lost much of its relevance. The analysis also shows that the work can become a
relevant memorial based on its composition because it is generally made up of a horizontal
structure. Romanoparken – Sång om en plats has also been shown to be able to be a part of
both making visible and countering antiziganism and the image of the Other, and then mainly
through the sound artwork. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Österling, Palle LU
supervisor
organization
course
KOVK03 20242
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Semiotics, Antiziganism, Roma, Memorial, Monument, Symbols, Context, the Other, Edward Said, Charles Sanders Peirce, Composition, Visual codes, Visual arts
language
Swedish
id
9191401
date added to LUP
2025-05-28 16:27:16
date last changed
2025-05-28 16:27:16
@misc{9191401,
  abstract     = {{Too dangerous to forget – a semiotic and contextual study of the memorial Romanoparken – 
Sång om en plats 

This essay examines the memorial Romanoparken – Sång om en plats (2020), which 
embodies Roma memories. However, there are risks with memorials when they take the 
material form of a monument that they are seen as completed actions and the completion can 
lead to distancing oneself from the monument and letting go of the need to remember. The 
aim of the essay is to investigate how Romanoparken – Sång om en plats can become a 
memorial that creates meaning and relevance through its expression and its context. 
Furthermore, it is investigated whether the work can avoid the risk of forgetting and 
irrelevance that memorials can suffer from and instead engages a future viewer. The purpose 
is also to examine how the work relates to antiziganism and the post-colonial concept of the 
Other in its depiction of Roma memories.
 
Theoretically, the study is primarily based on semiotics and how symbols, iconic and 
indexical signs can create meaning and make the work relevant to an observer. But 
postcolonial theory in the form of the concept of the Other and formal analysis with a focus 
on the work's composition is also discussed and how this can make the work relevant to a 
viewer. The investigation is based on eight photographs (reproductions) of the work's various 
parts, which have been contextualized in order to understand the work's various signs in a 
historical and contemporary context based on Roma and how this can make the work relevant.
 
The result shows that Romanoparken – Sång om en plats fulfills many important functions for 
a memorial to be experienced as relevant over time: an object to learn from, something that 
connects people's experiences and a place to mourn. The work's various signs such as symbols 
and indexes are important to fulfill these functions, but without a Romani context the work 
would have lost much of its relevance. The analysis also shows that the work can become a 
relevant memorial based on its composition because it is generally made up of a horizontal 
structure. Romanoparken – Sång om en plats has also been shown to be able to be a part of 
both making visible and countering antiziganism and the image of the Other, and then mainly 
through the sound artwork.}},
  author       = {{Österling, Palle}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{För farligt att glömma - En semiotisk och kontextuell undersökning av minnesmärket Romanoparken - sång om en plats}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}