ABSTRACT
At the local, regional, and national levels, remembering and commemorating have been central to society’s continuity as an ‘imagined community’. In particular, patriotic chronicles, pantheons of monuments, and calendars of ceremonial extravaganzas have long been marshalled in campaigns choreographing national identities. The role of war has been central to this exercise in identity construction and the following questions are central to this discussion of a particular demonstration of this process: why has World War I been referred to as the Great War? How should we review it in the C21st? What should we remember and what should we forget? Should memorials to the Great War be designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites? If so, what are UNESCO’s Outstanding Universal Values ascribed to the Great War and how should they be communicated?
