'Remembrance within the sacred': Cultural memory in music video: American Lieux de Mémoire communicated through sound and vision

This dissertation will explore cultural memory in music video, taking three different videos by three American female artists in order to analyse varying collective memories of American history. The music video has developed into a sociological media platform, holding the ability to communicate and critique an array of socio-cultural shifts and struggles. The process of engaging with cultural memory in music video involves the interplay of past and present, where differing modes of remembering shape the collective imagination of history and elicit cultural considerations of both the modern day and future. Ranging from individual, collective, communal or national memories, this dissertation will focus on lieux de mémoire in cultural memory studies. These are sites of memory that hold significance for collective group remembrance, such as those from historic events of great vicissitude. The music videos for Madonna’s ‘American Life’, Lana Del Rey’s ‘National Anthem’, and Beyoncé’s ‘Formation’ each hold a lieu de mémoire of American history. They will be analysed as an attempt to provoke considerations of American ideals and, thus, communicate a particular memory of the nation’s history to persuade interrogations of the present and future.