In the theoretical part of my master's thesis I focus on the reality of death, specifically man's unique understanding of it and inability to accept it as the end of one’s individual self. From an evolutionary, psychological and philosophical point of view, I try to explain reasons for the existence of non-utilitarian objects and how they relate to man's desire to achieve immortality. The material legacy can outlive one's biological death and thus allow individuals to continue living on a cultural level as materialised artificial memories in the minds of the living interpreters. Humans experience the reality in a dualistic mind-body manner, which is probably an evolutionary adaptation. To explain this apparent dualism, I mostly use Vilém Flusser's terminology. Flusser proclaims man to be an animal but also a super animal. An animal continues to exist through sexual intercourse, while a super animal (individual) continues its existence on a symbolic narrative level.
In my analysis of artificial memories, I make a distinction between classical and electronic media of memorialisation. First, I focus on static media such as tombstones, monuments, death masks, paintings, and analog photographs. Then I discuss electronic analog and digital media such as film tapes, cassettes, computers and the internet. I conclude the chapter with the notion that in the current digital era, our ancient material culture is being transformed into a new cyber-material one. After that, I focus on entropy and decay of artificial memories, while making a distinction between environmental and social causes.
In the later chapters, I explore the history of Pula during the Austro-Hungarian and Italian rule, and how the radical demographic shift in the aftermath of the Second World War affected collective memory and urban identity of the city. I finalise the thesis by presenting the project Even the Dead Can Smile.
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