From dead places to places of the dead. The memorial power of battlefields, ruins, and burials in the warscapes of Spain and the Western front

This chapter explores the different mnemonic and emotional affordances of a range of interconnected sites that constitute warscapes of 20th-century conflict. The types of site that will be examined include mass graves, cemeteries, battlefields, abandoned or ‟dead” settlements that have been maintained as ruins. The sites vary in the kind of commemorative acts, representations of war, and affective relationships to the dead, which they elicit and enable. This chapter reflects on the experiences of visitors, local communities, and relatives of the dead as they encounter these sites. It will consider key contrasts such as vernacular memorial practices versus official commemoration; military versus civilian death; and heroic or redemptive framings of war versus narratives of mourning and loss. This chapter takes a material culture perspective focusing on the significance of the presence and absence of tangible physical traces of the past including the remains of the dead. Our analysis emphasises the importance of contextualising sites within their wider warscapes. The significance of sites such as battlefields, mass graves, and war cemeteries are understood relationally to each other. The cases considered here are sites of the Spanish Civil War and World War I, drawing on the recent and ongoing recovery and commemoration of war dead in Spain and on the Western Front.