Forgetting the last big war: Collective memory and liberation images in an off-year anniversary

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

15 Scopus citations

Abstract

This article reports the results of a study of coverage of the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Paris published in French newspapers, newsmagazines, and online news media in 2009. Building on a previous study of images of the liberation in Parisian newspapers at the 60th anniversary in 2004, it provides empirical evidence for the conventional wisdom that less anniversary journalism is produced in non-decennial than decennial anniversaries. In addition, the article shows that visual coverage of the 65th anniversary of the liberation was even more reductive than coverage of the 60th, concentrating almost exclusively on images of French joy and authority and forgoing more problematic representations of German occupiers, French collaborationists, and U.S. troops. Finally, the article argues that this sparse and reductive view of the liberation of Paris has the potential to affect collective memories of the event as it recedes into the past and the number of living French citizens who remember it firsthand declines.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)204-222
Number of pages19
JournalAmerican Behavioral Scientist
Volume56
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2012

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Social Psychology
  • Cultural Studies
  • Education
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • General Social Sciences

Keywords

  • collective memory
  • liberation of Paris
  • media

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Forgetting the last big war: Collective memory and liberation images in an off-year anniversary'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this