The Dark Side of the Moon. Cultural Oblivion

The theme of this month’s issue of Public History Weekly and, subsequently, this editorial, is that which no longer exists – that which has been culturally eliminated, considered irrelevant, dangerous or repulsive – and, not least, the underlying practices. Questions concerning cultural oblivion have been prevalent in recent public debate. In this text, we intend to clean the slate and reflect again on the topic’s fundamental principles. We will first outline the key aspects of the current state of debate in cultural studies to then propose an alternative way of conceptualising and categorising the phenomenon. Finally, we will present the seven contributions that make up this month’s issue, each of which is dealing with different manifestations of cultural oblivion.