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A counter-celebration or counter-observance or alternative commemoration can be a form of protest of a holiday's commemoration by challenging its dominant narrative with an alternative event, often representing a social cause such as indigenous rights, and involving symbolic subversion in the style of culture jamming. [1] [2]
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed four Spanish-based voyages across the Atlantic Ocean sponsored by the Catholic Monarchs, opening the way for the widespread European exploration and colonization of the Americas. His expeditions were the first known European contact with the Caribbean and Central and South America.
During the Age of Discovery, a large scale colonization of the Americas, involving a number of European countries, took place primarily between the late 15th century and the early 19th century. The Norse had explored and colonized areas of Europe and the North Atlantic, colonizing Greenland and creating a short term settlement near the northern tip of Newfoundland circa 1000 AD. However, due to its long duration and importance, the later colonization by the European powers involving the continents of North America and South America is more well-known.
Memorial Day is one of the federal holidays in the United States for honoring and mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. Memorial Day is also considered the unofficial beginning of summer in the United States.
Remembrance Day is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in the line of duty. The day is also marked by war remembrances in several other non-Commonwealth countries. In most countries, Remembrance Day is observed on 11 November to recall the end of First World War hostilities. Hostilities ended "at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month" of 1918, in accordance with the armistice signed by representatives of Germany and the Entente between 5:12 and 5:20 that morning. The First World War formally ended with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles on 28 June 1919.
Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. Columbus went ashore at Guanahaní, an island in the Bahamas, on October 12, 1492. On his return in 1493, Columbus moved his coastal base of operations 70 miles east to the island of Hispaniola, what is now the Dominican Republic and established the settlement of La Isabela, the first permanent Spanish settlement in the Americas.
A poppy is a flowering plant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colourful flowers. One species of poppy, Papaver somniferum, is the source of the narcotic drug mixture opium, which contains powerful medicinal alkaloids such as morphine and has been used since ancient times as an analgesic and narcotic medicinal and recreational drug. It also produces edible seeds. Following the trench warfare in the poppy fields of Flanders, Belgium, during World War I, poppies have become a symbol of remembrance of soldiers who have died during wartime, especially in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other Commonwealth realms.
Remembrance Sunday is held in the United Kingdom as a day to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. It is held on the second Sunday in November. Remembrance Sunday, within the Church of England, falls in the liturgical period of Allsaintstide.
Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945; it marked the official end of World War II in Europe in the Eastern Front, with the last known shots fired on 11 May.
Federal holidays in the United States are 11 calendar dates designated by the U.S. federal government as holidays. On these days non-essential U.S. federal government offices are closed and federal employees are paid for the day off.
Muharram is the first month of the Islamic calendar, and one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is banned. The tenth of Muharram is known as Ashura, an important day of commemoration in Islam. For Sunni Muslims, the day marks the parting of the Red Sea by Moses and the salvation of the Israelites, celebrated through supererogatory fasting and other acceptable expressions of joy. By contrast, Ashura is a day of mourning for Shia Muslims, who annually commemorate the death of Husayn ibn Ali, grandson of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the third Shia imam. Husayn was killed, alongside most of his relatives and his small retinue, in the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE against the army of the Umayyad caliph Yazid ibn Mu'awiya. The Shia rituals span the first ten days of Muharram, culminating on Ashura with mourning processions in Shia cities. Also in Muharram, the Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem was initially set as the direction of prayer for early Muslims.
Ashura is a day of commemoration in Islam. It occurs annually on the tenth of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar. For Sunni Muslims, Ashura marks the parting of the Red Sea by Moses and the salvation of the Israelites. Also on this day, Noah disembarked from the Ark, God forgave Adam, and Joseph was released from prison, among various other auspicious events on Ashura in Sunni tradition. Ashura is celebrated in Sunni Islam through supererogatory fasting and other acceptable expressions of joy. In some Sunni communities, the annual Ashura festivities include carnivals, bonfires, and special dishes, even though some Sunni scholars have criticized such practices.
Counting of the Omer is a ritual in Judaism. It consists of a verbal counting of each of the 49 days between the holidays of Passover and Shavuot. The period of 49 days is known as the "omer period" or simply as "the omer" or "sefirah".
Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah, known colloquially in Israel and abroad as Yom HaShoah and in English as Holocaust Remembrance Day, or Holocaust Day, is observed as Israel's day of commemoration for the approximately six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust by Nazi Germany and its collaborators, and for the Jewish resistance in that period. In Israel, it is a national memorial day. The first official commemorations took place in 1951, and the observance of the day was anchored in a law passed by the Knesset in 1959. It is held on the 27th of Nisan, unless the 27th would be adjacent to the Jewish Sabbath, in which case the date is shifted by a day.
A national day of mourning is a day, or one of several days, marked by mourning and memorial activities observed among the majority of a country's populace. They are designated by the national government. Such days include those marking the death or funeral of a renowned individual or individuals from that country or elsewhere or the anniversary of such a death or deaths, the anniversaries of a significant natural or man-made disaster occurring either in the country or another country, wartime commemorations or in memory of the victims of a terrorist attack. Flying a national or military flag of that country at half-mast is a common symbol.
Leif Erikson Day is an annual observance that occurs on October 9. It honors Leif Erikson, the Norse explorer who, in approximately 1000, led the first Europeans believed to have set foot on the continent of North America.
Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day or Armenian Genocide Memorial Day is a public holiday in Armenia and is observed by the Armenian diaspora on 24 April. It is held annually to commemorate the victims of the Armenian genocide of 1915. It was a series of massacres and starvation of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottomans. In Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, hundreds of thousands of people walk to the Tsitsernakaberd Genocide Memorial to lay flowers at the eternal flame. This day is also called "Armenian Martyrs Day".
Tatbir is a form of self-flagellation rituals practiced by some Shia Muslims in commemoration of the killing of Husayn ibn Ali and his partisans in the Battle of Karbala by forces of the second Umayyad caliph Yazid I.
The Cenotaph is a war memorial on Whitehall in London, England. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, it was unveiled in 1920 as the United Kingdom's national memorial to the dead of Britain and the British Empire of the First World War, was rededicated in 1946 to include those of the Second World War, and has since come to represent the Commonwealth casualties from those and subsequent conflicts. The word cenotaph is derived from Greek, meaning 'empty tomb'. Most of the dead were buried close to where they fell; thus, the Cenotaph symbolises their absence and is a focal point for public mourning. The original temporary Cenotaph was erected in 1919 for a parade celebrating the end of the First World War, at which more than 15,000 servicemen, including French and American soldiers, saluted the monument. More than a million people visited the site within a week of the parade.
A bronze statue of Christopher Columbus was installed on the grounds of the Minnesota State Capitol in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1931. The 10-foot statue was created by Italian American Carlo Brioschi.
The Columbus Quincentenary (1992) was the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' 1492 arrival in America. Similar to Columbus Day, the annual celebration of Columbus' arrival, the quincentenary was viewed contentiously, as different cultures and peoples had different ways of understanding Columbus' role in history. Certain institutions sought to celebrate this anniversary in commemoration of Columbus' momentous colonial and imperial achievements. Spain's Universal Exposition of Seville (1992) was elaborately planned to highlight Columbus' work and the overall European Age of Discovery. Italy's International Exposition of Genoa (1992) was themed "Christopher Columbus, The Ship and the Sea." In 1984, the United States designated the Christopher Columbus Quincentenary Jubilee Commission to execute a commemoration in honor of Columbus. In total, over 20 countries, including several Latin American countries and Japan, had committees to plan quincentennial celebrations.
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