War Memory and Popular Culture: Essays on Modes of Remembrance and Commemoration »

Michael Keren is a professor of communications and Canada Research Chair in communication, culture and civil society at the University of Calgary (Calgary, Alberta, Canada). He is the author or editor of numerous books on such topics as the media, politics and freedom of the press. A native of Hamburg, Germany, Holger H. Herwig is a professor of history and Canada Research Chair in military and strategic studies at the University of Calgary). He has written extensively about German military-diplomatic relations in the 20th century, and has taken part in several History Channel and Discovery Channel productions.

This collection of essays investigates such diverse vehicles for war commemoration as poems, battlefield tours, souvenirs, books, films, architectural structures, comics, websites, and video games. Drawing on essayists from Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Israel and the United States, this work explores the evolution from traditional to contemporary forms of war commemoration while addressing the fundamental question of whether these new forms of memorial are meant to encourage the remembering or the forgetting of the experience of war, as well as what implications the process of commemoration may have for the continuation of the modern nation state.

Introduction Michael Keren Keren, Michael 1

Pt. I The Popularization of War Memory: Remembering Or Forgetting?

Commemorating Jewish Martyrdom Michael Keren Keren, Michael 9

The Ninetieth Anniversary of the Battle of the Somme Dan Todman Todman, Dan 22

Popular Memory in Northern Ireland Rebecca Lynn Graff-McRae Graff-McRae, Rebecca Lynn 41

Manufacturing Memory at Gallipoli Bruce C. Scates Scates, Bruce C. 57

Commemoration and Consumption in Normandy, 1945-1994 Sam Edwards Edwards, Sam 76

Nuclear War and Popular Culture Arthur G. Neal Neal, Arthur G. 92

Pt. II The Media of War Memory: Erosion of Hegemony?

The Cult of Heroic Death in Nazi Architecture Holger H. Herwig Herwig, Holger H. 105

The Superhero Comic Book as War Memorial Bart Beaty Beaty, Bart 120

The BBC's "People's War" Website Lucy Noakes Noakes, Lucy 135

Inscribing Narratives of Occupation in Israeli Popular Memory Tamar Katriel Katriel, Tamar 150

The Operation Victory Video Game Janis L. Goldie Goldie, Janis L. 166

The Rwandan Genocide in Film Kirsten McAllister McAllister, Kirsten 185

About the Contributors 201

Index 203