Remembrance Day for Lost Species: Remembering and mourning extinction in the Anthropocene

Abstract

This article examines what is lost and remembered at a time of mass extinction; identifying the Anthropocene – the geological epoch in which the incremental and disruptive impact of the human species has become the main planetary force – as an epoch of mourning. The paper explores the memory and future memory of extinction through the example of Remembrance Day for Lost Species, an international initiative encouraging people all over the world to gather annually on 30th November in funeral ceremonies to mourn extinct species. The article particularly draws on Ursula Heise’s concept of ‘eco-cosmopolitanism’ (2008, 2016) and Michael Rothberg’s ‘multidirectional memory’ (2009) as well as fieldwork notes and interviews conducted during Lost Species Day 2018 in Brighton, UK. The analysis considers the conditions of future memory at a time of ecological loss by examining the extinction memorial and funerary practices formulated and performed during the Remembrance Day’s events.