History & MemoryPub Date : 2018-03-18DOI: 10.2979/HISTMEMO.30.1.06
S. Rauch
{"title":"Understanding the Holocaust through Film: Audience Reception between Preconceptions and Media Effects","authors":"S. Rauch","doi":"10.2979/HISTMEMO.30.1.06","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/HISTMEMO.30.1.06","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:Empirically, little is known about the individual reception of films about the Holocaust, but this has rarely prevented intense speculation about the impact of films on Holocaust knowledge, memory and consciousness. This article presents key findings from a qualitative study with viewers of recent films. It argues that researching actual audiences rather than mere textual analysis is required to understand the complexities of the reception process and the relationship between history, film and memory. It demonstrates that while the impact of feature films about the Holocaust on viewers has been overstated and the role of preconceptions underestimated, the film \"text\" nonetheless matters for individual film reception.","PeriodicalId":43327,"journal":{"name":"History & Memory","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2018-03-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77525501","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
History & MemoryPub Date : 2017-09-18DOI: 10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.2.06
David M. Wight
{"title":"Henry Kissinger as Contested Historical Icon in Post-9/11 Debates on US Foreign Policy","authors":"David M. Wight","doi":"10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.2.06","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.2.06","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This article analyzes the role of historical memories of Henry Kissinger, former US national security advisor and secretary of state in the Nixon and Ford administrations, in post-9/11 foreign policy debates in the United States. It argues that the Kissinger of the Cold War has become a historical icon and an important point of reference for many in the twenty-first century who seek to shape popular American understandings of contemporary international affairs. Furthermore, it argues that an analysis of Kissinger is useful in understanding how historical figures can utilize their own celebrity to steer the popular remembrance and deployment of memories of themselves.","PeriodicalId":43327,"journal":{"name":"History & Memory","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2017-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"74110023","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
History & MemoryPub Date : 2017-09-18DOI: 10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.2.03
Christiane Baier
{"title":"Homer's Cultural Children: The Myth of Troy and European Identity","authors":"Christiane Baier","doi":"10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.2.03","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.2.03","url":null,"abstract":"This article seeks to demonstrate how the myth of Troy is still relevant to modern-day European culture and identity, drawing on Gregor Feindt et al.'s concept of \"entangled memory\" as a theoretical foundation. In order to support this claim, it discusses Wolfgang Petersen's movie Troy (2004), the successful exhibition Troy—Dream and Reality that opened in Germany in 2001; the heated debate sparked by this exhibition among German scholars; and the political discussion about Turkey's unsuccessful application for membership in the European Union, in which references to Troy played a surprising role.","PeriodicalId":43327,"journal":{"name":"History & Memory","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2017-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83550865","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
History & MemoryPub Date : 2017-09-18DOI: 10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.2.04
D. Stone
{"title":"\"The Greatest Detective Story in History\": The BBC, the International Tracing Service, and the Memory of Nazi Crimes in Early Postwar Britain","authors":"D. Stone","doi":"10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.2.04","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.2.04","url":null,"abstract":"Alan Burgess's 1950 BBC radio play, The Greatest Detective Story in History, presented a moving and insightful analysis of the work of the International Tracing Service (ITS) and revealed how much was known about the crimes of the Nazis so soon after the war. This article uses Burgess's play in order to focus on the operation of the ITS's child search branch and considers why the work of the ITS was deemed an appropriate topic for a radio drama in Britain in 1950. It argues that, despite the limits of its analysis and adherence to culturally familiar narrative frameworks and conventions, Burgess's play captures the ways in which the Third Reich was understood in Britain in the postwar years: as a vast act of criminality which the British could proudly claim to have helped to destroy. The play also reminds us of the postwar moment when Britain was proud to be involved in international organizations and when rebuilding Europe was perceived to be in British interests.","PeriodicalId":43327,"journal":{"name":"History & Memory","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2017-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"86265388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
History & MemoryPub Date : 2017-09-18DOI: 10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.2.02
Kıvanç Kılınç
{"title":"\"The Hittite Sun Is Rising Once Again\": Contested Narratives of Identity, Place and Memory in Ankara","authors":"Kıvanç Kılınç","doi":"10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.2.02","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.2.02","url":null,"abstract":"This article seeks to shed light on the journey of the Hittite sun disk, a cult object from the Early Bronze Age, from the architectural, narrative and discursive boundaries of a public museum to the streets of contemporary Ankara. First, it explores the role that the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations played, through the invention of secular symbols, in (re)defining modern Turkish identity. Then it probes into the processes by which the sun disk became an increasingly popular and yet controversial political symbol. In doing so, the article examines how a state-sanctioned memory-making project heralded a \"clash of imaginations\": conservative and Islamist versus secular-leftist urban identities, embodying conflicting visions of Ankara's past and future.","PeriodicalId":43327,"journal":{"name":"History & Memory","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2017-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"79586372","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
History & MemoryPub Date : 2017-09-01DOI: 10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.2.05
M. Edele
{"title":"Fighting Russia's History Wars: Vladimir Putin and the Codification of World War II","authors":"M. Edele","doi":"10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.2.05","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.2.05","url":null,"abstract":"Vladimir Putin shows remarkable interest in history in general and World War II in particular. This article explores this historian-president's attempts to codify the memory of this war in an open attempt to transmit a useful past to the younger generation. It argues that top-down models of historical memory are of little explanatory value in the Russian situation. The president rides a wave of historical revisionism that he shapes at the same time. Putin's government successfully uses it to mobilize Russian society against critical minorities within and perceived enemies without. The far-reaching consequences of this politicization for the history of World War II are sketched in the final section of the article.","PeriodicalId":43327,"journal":{"name":"History & Memory","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2017-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90680119","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
History & MemoryPub Date : 2017-03-30DOI: 10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.1.0104
J. Baumel-Schwartz
{"title":"Beloved Beasts: Reflections on the History and Impact of the British “Animals in War” Memorial","authors":"J. Baumel-Schwartz","doi":"10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.1.0104","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.1.0104","url":null,"abstract":"This article focuses on the creation and public reception of the Animals in War Memorial, unveiled in London in 2004. Using Wendy Griswold’s multi-pronged methodology for examining cultural history, it focuses on understanding the memorial’s “intention,” “reception,” “comprehension,” “explanation” and “validity.” After reconstructing the social agents’ intentions in creating the memorial, it analyzes its consumption by the observers and onlookers. It then interprets the memorial through the lens of the broader symbolic framework. Finally it returns to the creators of the Animals in War Memorial to assess whether the interpretations of their actions correspond with their original conception and comprehension of the memorial.","PeriodicalId":43327,"journal":{"name":"History & Memory","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2017-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72441730","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
History & MemoryPub Date : 2017-03-30DOI: 10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.1.0041
David Clarke
{"title":"Understanding Controversies over Memorial Museums: The Case of the Leistikowstraße Memorial Museum, Potsdam","authors":"David Clarke","doi":"10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.1.0041","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.1.0041","url":null,"abstract":"Focusing on the case of the Leistikowstraße Memorial Museum in Potsdam, which commemorates victims of Soviet occupation after 1945, this article seeks to understand how conflicts can arise over such institutions, paying attention to the politicization of memory, the professional discourse of historians and museum practitioners, the demands of victims, and institutional factors. It examines the context of the development of this memorial museum in order to understand the decisions that determined the particular ways in which the past is presented at this site.","PeriodicalId":43327,"journal":{"name":"History & Memory","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2017-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"77643819","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
History & MemoryPub Date : 2017-03-30DOI: 10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.1.0072
Justin Court
{"title":"Picturing History, Remembering Soldiers: World War I Photography between the Public and the Private","authors":"Justin Court","doi":"10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.1.0072","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.1.0072","url":null,"abstract":"The centennial anniversaries of World War I have prompted a boom in publications about the war, including many recent photographic compendiums that strive to document the war in visually appealing ways. This type of historical illustration, which often borders on sensationalism, threatens to conventionalize historical narratives of the war and obscure important ethical considerations of a current encounter with the war’s violent past through images. This article draws on archival research into the personal photo albums of German soldiers in World War I to argue for an engagement with private memory of the war that can forge important empathic connections to the past as a way of adding needed nuance to the visual representation and present understanding of the war.","PeriodicalId":43327,"journal":{"name":"History & Memory","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2017-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"88810204","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
History & MemoryPub Date : 2017-03-30DOI: 10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.1.0134
Jesse Curtis
{"title":"Remembering Racial Progress, Forgetting White Resistance: The Death of Mississippi Senator John C. Stennis and the Consolidation of the Colorblind Consensus","authors":"Jesse Curtis","doi":"10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.1.0134","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2979/HISTMEMO.29.1.0134","url":null,"abstract":"This article examines Americans’ memories of white opposition to the civil rights movement. As an early user of colorblind rhetoric to defend white supremacy, the segregationist John Stennis confounded Americans’ expectations of what white racism was supposed to look like. Popular American memory imagined a vast chasm between extremist white resistance of the past and a colorblind present. To accurately remember Stennis when he died in 1995 was thus to call into question the legitimacy of the contemporary colorblind consensus. Instead, he was widely portrayed as a personification of the nation that had supposedly vanquished white resistance and embraced racial equality. This article looks for meaning in these misrepresentations and asks what purpose such narratives served.","PeriodicalId":43327,"journal":{"name":"History & Memory","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2017-03-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78596526","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}