The following is a sample of the kind of message you might send to a
Symposium presenter, as discussed on the
. Adapt freely.
Dear Danielle Freedman,
I
enjoyed attending the roundtable on Memorialization:
A Challenge
to Memory at which you delivered your paper, "(_____)gate:
Watergate's Haunting Effect on the American Psyche." In the context of
the other roundtable papers about the national commemoration of things
we'd like to remember (such as the American struggle and victory in
WWII), I thought your research added an interesting twist by asking us
to think about how we commemorate those things we would rather forget.
As you'll remember, I asked you in the Q & A whether you
thought all the more recent "gates" - Monicagate, WMDgate, etc. - by
their very multiplication had led us to think of Watergate
as less scandalous than it really was. In other words (I don't think I
was as clear as I wanted to be at the session), was it now so easy to
attach "-gate" to anything that Watergate just seemed like another
potential late night
TV comedian punchline and not like a singular historical moment that
represented a profound shift in how citizens thought about their
government?
I
appreciated your candor in admitting that you hadn't thought of the
issue in quite that way, and I was impressed by your ability to
think on the fly and answer the question in a way that folded
in ideas from the other papers on the roundtable. I paraphrase,
but you said something like, yes, there might be a
certain amount of trivialization in our adding "-gate" to any and every
minor
scandal. But, it was more than made up for by the fact that this kind
of naming at least kept the memory of Watergate alive and well, and not
just some artifact thrown into the dustbin of history. And you
suggested that this was probably the best we could hope for, because no
momument to Watergate was ever going to be constructed next to the WWII
Memorial on the National Mall. Very smart and funny. I've thought about
your answer since, and I largely agree. Though I do think it's worth
considering not only whether is something is remembered, but how it is
remembered, since it is how something is remembered that shapes our
current politics and practice.
So
thanks again for a really stimulating session, and I hope the work goes
well as you work toward turning your presentation into your final
research paper.
Sincerely,
Ryan
Jerving
UW20 Section 48
