Kenneth Foote Shadow Ground Summary

Foote, Kenneth E., Shadowed Ground: America’s Landscapes of Violence and Tragedy. Austen: University of Texas Press, 2003.

Introduction

Kenneth Foote’s Shadowed Ground: America’s Landscapes of Violence and Tragedy

examines monuments and memorials that deal with a variety of events in American History. He

uses a variety of types of monuments dedicated to natural disasters, mass murders,

assassinations, freak accidents and other varieties. Such monuments and memorials deal with

what Foote believes is a “sense of place.”

Sense of place. Memories attached to that place. Cultural geographer. Placelessness

Shared meanings
Temporary versus permenet

Function of the monument

In Foote’s argument, sanctification means the creation of a sacred place. It

This site is temporarily

noteworthy and eventually returns to its original use. It is almost as the event goes through a

lifecycle of sorts. This can be attribute to events that pertain to a certain generation and looses its

significance when that generation dies out. Lose of significance often leads to the

abandonment of these sites though that is often easily rectified.

Obliteration deals directly with sites that are attributed to scarring events. Many times

this obliteration refers to covering up an event or removing it completely from public view. Such

sites are considered not rectifiable or eternally tainted. Many of these events are sources of

community shame. Foote uses various examples of this. Foote first uses homes and sites of serial

murders and serial killers. One in particular, John Wayne Gacy. The community did not want to

understand that such a horrendous person could be in their community and doing these things. In

Foote’s words, “The shame of the murderer radiates outward to the community at large.”

The community also wanted to prevent the pilgrimage of fans of these killers to visit their