They are so strange and lovely. A symbol of another era. There are many of these spomeniks / pametniks in Bulgaria too, though it seems Yugoslavia really took it to the next level!
What Are Spomeniks?
21–30 of 60 posts
Re: What Are Spomeniks?
#22I can confirm seeing them in person looks very impressive. Some of them are so impressive that some even get to get small replicas made by some guy https://www.etsy.com/listing/728310082/concrete-brutalist-ww...
Re: What Are Spomeniks?
#23Funny to see those are referred to in English as "Spomeniks". After living in the US for a decade, looking at this definitely brings an incredible feeling of nostalgia. Damn it. I want to go back in time, and back to Sarajevo.
Although it's a very unpopular sentiment these days, I also want to go back in time to Old Yugoslavia. I still remember reading "Moj Mikro" and "Svet Kompjutera", attending JUDEF in Šibenik and making friends with kids from all over Yugoslavia. My generation, at least, believed in brotherhood and unity.
Re: What Are Spomeniks?
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
In England, we call Stonehenge a monument: https://heritagecalling.com/2016/10/10/im-sorry-but-what-is-...
If there were hundreds or thousands of very closely related in time and purpose monuments all over England, there would be a more specific name to group those, too. Calling Spomeniki "monuments" is like calling a tractor a "vehicle" -- it's correct, but it's a loss of useful grouping information.
There are, and they're called henges.
Re: What Are Spomeniks?
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
No. The locally-used name here, "Spomeniks", more precisely groups and identifies these structures than the foreign word "Memorial" would. Calling them by another name would make it difficult to communicate usefully about them, while simultaneously stripping away a piece of their cultural heritage: their native-language name. Additionally, as the article notes, Spomenik translates to Monument in english, not Memorial…
Yes. As someone who at one time spoke fluent Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian, I can confirm that "spomenik" can be (and sometimes is!) translated as "memorial". Indeed, the root of the word is a verb that in its archaic sense can mean "to remember", as does the verbal root of "memorial". Furthermore, "spomenik" can also be translated as "monument". So while the word often is used in the context of the WWII socialist memoria…
"Spomenik" definitely means "monument" or "memorial". In a specific context, it also means "tombstone".
"Spomenica" is much less used. I'm a native speaker -- born and raised in Belgrade -- and I've only heard it in very specialized and rare occasions, so I'm having a hard time translating it correctly. In the context I've heard it used, it's an award or recognition, usually in the form of a scroll or a medal.
I like the authors use of the native word "spomenik" to talk about this specific style, but it's definitely just the author's artistic choice.
Re: What Are Spomeniks?
#26Is there not a perfectly fine English translation, "Memorial"?
No. The locally-used name here, "Spomeniks", more precisely groups and identifies these structures than the foreign word "Memorial" would. Calling them by another name would make it difficult to communicate usefully about them, while simultaneously stripping away a piece of their cultural heritage: their native-language name. Additionally, as the article notes, Spomenik translates to Monument in english, not Memorial…
> the more precise name "Spomeniks" uniquely refers to them
This is wrong. As a native Slovenian speaker and fluent in English I can say that "spomenik" is as specific in our language as "monument" is in English. This page is the first time I ever saw anybody attribute the word to specifically mean these old socialist monuments.
Re: What Are Spomeniks?
#27Oh wow. Currently in Bosnia & Hercegovina, did not expect to see this on the front page of HN. There are so many here. They are impressive to see in person. The one in Sarajevo is a monument to WWII soldiers: https://www.spomenikdatabase.org/sarajevo Also, Stećak, the medieval version: https://bazerdzan.ba/blogs/blog/stecak-the-true-bosnian-trea...
I was there as well a couple years ago and purposely sought a few out just to see them in person! Very imposing and interesting monuments indeed. Memorable, too.
Re: What Are Spomeniks?
#28Funny to see those are referred to in English as "Spomeniks". After living in the US for a decade, looking at this definitely brings an incredible feeling of nostalgia. Damn it. I want to go back in time, and back to Sarajevo.
Although it's a very unpopular sentiment these days, I also want to go back in time to Old Yugoslavia. I still remember reading "Moj Mikro" and "Svet Kompjutera", attending JUDEF in Šibenik and making friends with kids from all over Yugoslavia. My generation, at least, believed in brotherhood and unity.
I'm not so sure how unpopular it is.
I have a friend who steadfastly still calls himself Yugoslavian, rather than Macedonian.
Haven't really talked to him about why, and that's a sample size of 1, but there's others out there who at least look back fondly on Yugoslavia.
Re: What Are Spomeniks?
#29Is there not a perfectly fine English translation, "Memorial"?
No. The locally-used name here, "Spomeniks", more precisely groups and identifies these structures than the foreign word "Memorial" would. Calling them by another name would make it difficult to communicate usefully about them, while simultaneously stripping away a piece of their cultural heritage: their native-language name. Additionally, as the article notes, Spomenik translates to Monument in english, not Memorial…
But similar monuments exist in lots of post communist countries and are called differently based on local languages, so you would need to use different names for these monuments in each country which kind of defeats the purpose of language translation... we need to accept that words don't have 1:1 mapping.
Re: What Are Spomeniks?
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
In England, we call Stonehenge a monument: https://heritagecalling.com/2016/10/10/im-sorry-but-what-is-...
If there were hundreds or thousands of very closely related in time and purpose monuments all over England, there would be a more specific name to group those, too. Calling Spomeniki "monuments" is like calling a tractor a "vehicle" -- it's correct, but it's a loss of useful grouping information.
"very closely related in time and purpose"
One example of this are "war memorials" - of which there are about 80 thousand in the UK (villages, towns, districts in cities, some schools).