Citation

Riley A. Vis. Stud. 2008; 23(1): 4.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, International Visual Sociology Association, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/14725860801908502

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The site of the crash of United Flight 93 on September 11, 2001 has received considerably less scholarly attention than Ground Zero in New York, but the cultural symbolism and narrative-making being generated there is no less fascinating. In this essay, I examine some of the visual evidence of this cultural work and suggest ways to understand how those images are mobilized culturally and incorporated into narratives about the meaning of the crash. The images discussed here depict the aftermath of the crash, the temporary memorial erected afterward and other commemorative sites in the area, and the design for the permanent memorial. I examine them from a Durkheimian perspective on symbolization and cultural narrative, which posits that cultural symbols have their origins in the 'primitive' binary system of sacredness and profaneness. Robert Bellah's notion of civil religion is also used to make sense of the process by which sacredness has been constructed from the event of the crash of Flight 93.

Language: en