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Volume 19
Spektrum: Publications of the German Studies Association
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Views of Violence
Representing the Second World War in German and European Museums and Memorials
Edited by Jörg Echternkamp and Stephan Jaeger
Afterword by Jay Winter
284 pages, 20 illus., bibliog., index
ISBN 978-1-78920-126-0 $135.00/£99.00 / Hb / Published (January 2019)
eISBN 978-1-78920-127-7 eBook
Reviews
“With the conceptually convincing, in the quality of his contributions far above average edited volume, the participants have succeeded admirably in giving an exemplary inventory of the current state of the debate with reference to public war commemoration.“ • Neue Politische Literatur
“…makes an important contribution to memory studies because it focuses on the memory of war and its millions of civilian victims, regardless of their identity.” • The German Quarterly
“Scholars can modestly contribute to a shared culture of remembrance through solid comparative research, an example of which is this volume.” • Journal in Cold War Studies
“This is a very impressive collection that brings together a series of strong, substantial case studies arranged into two thematic sections that – in their strength and consistent quality – constitute a significant contribution to the field.” • Gabriel Moshenska, University College London
Description
Twenty-first-century views of historical violence have been immeasurably influenced by cultural representations of the Second World War. Within Europe, one of the key sites for such representation has been the vast array of museums and memorials that reflect contemporary ideas of war, the roles of soldiers and civilians, and the self-perception of those who remember. This volume takes a historical perspective on museums covering the Second World War and explores how these institutions came to define political contexts and cultures of public memory in Germany, across Europe, and throughout the world.
Jörg Echternkamp is a Research Director at the Center for Military History and Social Sciences, Potsdam, and an Associate Professor of Modern History at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. He is co-editor of the journal Militärgeschichtliche Zeitschrift and has previously published the books Das Dritte Reich (2018) and Soldaten im Nachkrieg 1945-1955 (2014).
Stephan Jaeger is a Professor of German Studies and the Head of the Department of German and Slavic Studies at the University of Manitoba. His research covers narratives, representations and memory of war in German and European literature, film, historiography, and museums. His books include Theorie lyrischen Ausdrucks (2001) and Performative Geschichtsschreibung (2011).