Fragile Monument : On Conservation and Modernity

This Ph.D. dissertation is a study of the discourse of conservation and its effect on the notion and role of the monument in modern western society. Through a revisionist account of the history of conservation it is shown how the monument has been transformed from an object that originally communicated permanence to an object that is perceived as fragile and in need of protection. The thesis suggests that the expansion and popularization of conservation is bound to a narrative of loss and danger which reveals a paradoxical relation between destruction and preservation. The study shows how spatial devices have been used to negotiate that paradox and investigates how this use of space has contributed to define the monument as an object of conservation.Arrhenius, Thordis is the author of 'Fragile Monument : On Conservation and Modernity', published 2003 under ISBN 9789172834866 and ISBN 9172834862.