Seattle Monuments

When prompted to write about Seattle's monuments, my first reaction was to deconstruct the word and do some word work (thanks, Speed!). Monument in German is das Denkmal. Denken means to think. Generally in English we associate monuments with people or places that we remember. It is interesting to me that in German it is referred to in the present tense (past tense of denken is gedacht, dachte) and I think this speaks volumes on the way the German people interface with their own history and culture. History and monuments are not static, one-dimensional, or fixed. They may refer to one person or time of history, but those monuments stay with us and mean different things to a wide variety of audiences, whether intended to do so or not. My trusty friend dict.leo.org came up with a list of the different types of monuments one can contemplate: of nature, literature, art, architecture, cultural monument, protected monument, victory monument, monument of the national hero. Many monuments in Berlin have a somber past relating back to the National Socialists or the DDR/East German and Soviet past. While these are painful eras and burdens on the German psyche, they are nonetheless aspects of their being and must be acknowledged, not effaced.

Drawing on my own memory, which is active and not just a function of what happened in the past, the Seattle monument I choose to reflect on is Pike Place Market. This microcosm, which I visited as a child and now frequent today, represents much the way my brain works. The Market is a dynamic cultural, economic, artistic, tourist center and I'm sure if you asked people on the street you could compile a wide variety of experiences and opinions relating to the market and its place in and significance as a part of Seattle. There is a picture I found in a family photo album of me standing alongside my mother near a floral display in the market. At the time I was 12 and relations with my mother were a lot more cordial than they have been in more recent years. My aunt took the photo (my mother's sister). Had you asked each of us, myself, my mother, and my aunt what the market and that particular outing meant to us you would certainly have gotten different responses. Both my mother and my aunt grew up in the Puget Sound area and went to the market as children, so it would be a nostalgic visit for them. Had you asked 12 year old Anja what she perceived of the market that day it would have been new sounds and smells and the promise of a fun afternoon with my family. Just during the last year I have been to the market quite a bit and its place in my life is ever-changing. During the fall I passed through the market every day on my way to work at the World Affairs Council and as I went I did my best to filter it all out--all of the sights, sounds, smells, and most of all the crowds of people. It became a routine and was not a luxury or a pleasing sensual experience any longer. Now that I no longer work downtown I go to the market at my leisure and frequent the Crepe de France establishment or enjoy the fresh produce and take the time to really imbibe all the sights and smells that I tried so hard to block out before when I was just operating on auto pilot just to get to and from work every day. Thus monuments can stand for different things for each individual at different times. And I think I side with the Germans on this one; they are best though of in the present tense, rather than a figment of the past to be overlooked and tread over as time passes.

I love you, Mom.