A Souvenir for the Land of Pagodas
In the capital cities of Myanmar (Burma)—present and previous—stand five government-sponsored pagodas, five gold-plated stars linking two architectural constellations. The first of these constellations is composed of the thousands of religious structures that punctuate the landscape of Myanmar, ofte...
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| Format: | Thesis |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2024
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/153851 |
| _version_ | 1826200500772536320 |
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| author | Allen, Christopher H. |
| author2 | Ghosn, Rania |
| author_facet | Ghosn, Rania Allen, Christopher H. |
| author_sort | Allen, Christopher H. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | In the capital cities of Myanmar (Burma)—present and previous—stand five government-sponsored pagodas, five gold-plated stars linking two architectural constellations. The first of these constellations is composed of the thousands of religious structures that punctuate the landscape of Myanmar, often called the “Land of Pagodas.” The second is composed of the monuments erected by the various regimes that have administered the country’s government since independence in 1948, each of which embodies its own formulation of national identity and history. Occupying this covalent position, these five pagodas are physical manifestations of an ongoing nationalist project of ethnic and religious homogenization that legitimizes itself through historicist narratives, militaristic violence, and the co-opting of religion in service of political power. They are artifacts of propaganda—tools for “propagating the faith”¹ of ethno-nationalism.
As such, these buildings also embody many of the social and political forces that pressured the maternal side of my family to emigrate from the country in the early 1980’s, in order to avoid prejudice and persecution as members of marginalized ethnic and religious groups. This thesis therefore operates from a diasporic distance, and is informed by a perspective which lacks the privilege of nostalgia.
Taking the five government-sponsored pagodas as its site of departure, this thesis approaches them as narrative media, and comprises a series of investigations into challenging monumental architecture and repurposing its narrative capacities. If these architectural forms function as narrative tools of the state, how can they be claimed in order to tell alternate stories?
This thesis approaches memory(s) as an inheritance, augmenting personal and ancestral narratives that have been excised from a history whose authority is predicated on their exclusion. It considers historiography as a process of multiplicity—even dissensus—and proposes the diasporic souvenir as a mechanism for disrupting narrative regimes of power.
¹ “Propaganda” (n.), from New Latin 𝘱𝘳ō𝘱ā𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢, short for 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘨ā𝘵𝘪ō 𝘥ē 𝘗𝘳ō𝘱ā𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘥ā 𝘍𝘪𝘥ē, “Congregation for Propagating the Faith.” 𝘖𝘹𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘋𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺, 10th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020), s.v. “Propaganda.” |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:37:26Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/153851 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:37:26Z |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1538512024-03-22T03:43:57Z A Souvenir for the Land of Pagodas Allen, Christopher H. Ghosn, Rania Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Architecture In the capital cities of Myanmar (Burma)—present and previous—stand five government-sponsored pagodas, five gold-plated stars linking two architectural constellations. The first of these constellations is composed of the thousands of religious structures that punctuate the landscape of Myanmar, often called the “Land of Pagodas.” The second is composed of the monuments erected by the various regimes that have administered the country’s government since independence in 1948, each of which embodies its own formulation of national identity and history. Occupying this covalent position, these five pagodas are physical manifestations of an ongoing nationalist project of ethnic and religious homogenization that legitimizes itself through historicist narratives, militaristic violence, and the co-opting of religion in service of political power. They are artifacts of propaganda—tools for “propagating the faith”¹ of ethno-nationalism. As such, these buildings also embody many of the social and political forces that pressured the maternal side of my family to emigrate from the country in the early 1980’s, in order to avoid prejudice and persecution as members of marginalized ethnic and religious groups. This thesis therefore operates from a diasporic distance, and is informed by a perspective which lacks the privilege of nostalgia. Taking the five government-sponsored pagodas as its site of departure, this thesis approaches them as narrative media, and comprises a series of investigations into challenging monumental architecture and repurposing its narrative capacities. If these architectural forms function as narrative tools of the state, how can they be claimed in order to tell alternate stories? This thesis approaches memory(s) as an inheritance, augmenting personal and ancestral narratives that have been excised from a history whose authority is predicated on their exclusion. It considers historiography as a process of multiplicity—even dissensus—and proposes the diasporic souvenir as a mechanism for disrupting narrative regimes of power. ¹ “Propaganda” (n.), from New Latin 𝘱𝘳ō𝘱ā𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢, short for 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘨ā𝘵𝘪ō 𝘥ē 𝘗𝘳ō𝘱ā𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘥ā 𝘍𝘪𝘥ē, “Congregation for Propagating the Faith.” 𝘖𝘹𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘋𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺, 10th ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020), s.v. “Propaganda.” M.Arch. 2024-03-21T19:10:34Z 2024-03-21T19:10:34Z 2024-02 2024-02-22T21:59:21.679Z Thesis https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/153851 In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted Copyright retained by author(s) https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/ application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Allen, Christopher H. A Souvenir for the Land of Pagodas |
| title | A Souvenir for the Land of Pagodas |
| title_full | A Souvenir for the Land of Pagodas |
| title_fullStr | A Souvenir for the Land of Pagodas |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Souvenir for the Land of Pagodas |
| title_short | A Souvenir for the Land of Pagodas |
| title_sort | souvenir for the land of pagodas |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/153851 |
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