Memorials to remember this?

U2 Remembers the Famine

The Irish Famine had an impact throughout the world and is a global event. It is the first great tragedy to be covered by visual media, to inspire a global effort for famine relief and the first to have demographic (population) effects over several continents. Much of Canada’s history can only be understood if we remember what happened in Ireland in the 1840’s. How should we remember the Famine? 

Public memory is a curious phenomenon (thing). Remembering is building a story about the past for us.  Remembering is not just repeating the same story over the generations. Canadians remember the terrible starvation in Ireland and the “coffin ships” that crossed the Atlantic. Yet, far more Irish people died on the forgotten journey through Canada’s inland waterways than on the Atlantic. Grosse Isle is remembered but not the timber trade that brought so many through Quebec. The Irish Memorial on Grosse Isle is the most famous one in Canada, perhaps even the world. Yet, the oldest memorial in Canada and probably in the world, is the Black Rock in Montreal (1859). More died in Montreal than in Grosse Isle in 1847. Public memory plays funny tricks. Think and try to explain why the “collective memory” should be the way it is. Or, is there really such a thing as “collective memory”?

Memorials line the oceans and rivers where the Famine victims landed in Canada, the United States, and Australia. Look at the types of memorials there are. The Jeanie Johnston, the replica of a reconstructed timber ship, is a moving memorial to the Famine. Catholics and Protestants built this modern replica as a gesture of citizenship uniting the two communities. What other types of memorials are effective and appropriate in your opinion? Look at the different styles of memorials. Which do you prefer?

 The story of the Famine is often similar to modern tragedies, and Canadians are divided in our reaction to them. Should we remember that the citizens of Kingston, Ontario had a “not in my backyard” attitude to fever hospitals? How should good citizens act when they might die helping victims of a past tragedy such as the Famine or a modern tragedy such as SARS or avian flu?

LIVE AID, triggered by Bob Geldoff and Bono of U2, raised money for famine relief today. These two are Irish, and remembering the Famine encouraged them to help modern famine victims. Knowing history helped them to act like good citizens in the present. Geldoff and Bono show that we should remember significant events in our history and act upon that knowledge. Do U think we ought 2 remember the Famine and if so, in what ways should we do this?