Preventing False Memories and Revitalizing Collective Memory with the Help of Historical Cartographic Materials and GIS: An Examination of the Lost Piers of Mersin

Abstract

Piers are vital elements in the formation of collective memory in Mediterranean port cities and they played an important role in Mersin's urban life until the 1950s. Although there are some oral history-based studies attempting to spatialize them, they lack any measure of accuracy and reliability, and carry the risk of leading to false memories. In this context, the aim of this paper is to illustrate that collective memory can be properly reconstructed by using historical maps only if appropriate methods of analysis and reliable maps are used. In this study, which is based on various historical maps of Mersin city, the locations of the lost piers have been determined by using georeferencing tools available in QGIS. The study reveals that the tendency to construct false memories could be prevented by using reliable maps and appropriate tools in GIS in combination with the archive records.