ABSTRACT
Cultural commemorative events reinforce cultural identities and heritage. They can focus on creative works – including books, works of art, music and other forms of performance – or their creators. Commemorations of such creativity may be strongly linked to national identities, though in many cases they may be so widely appreciated that their connections are universal. The link to national identities often makes such commemorative events popular with governments and the broad appeal raises hopes of encouraging tourism. Conversely, some cultural commemorations may be quite subversive and others of limited appeal outside a particular community.
