Memorials of the Great War in Britain: The Symbolism and Politics of RemembranceTaking as its focus memorials of the First World War in Britain, this book brings a fresh approach to the study of public symbols by exploring how different motives for commemorating the dead were reconciled through the processes of local politics to create a widely valued form of collective expression. It examines how the memorials were produced, what was said about them, how support for them was mobilized and behaviour around them regulated. These memorials were the sites of contested, multiple and ambiguous meanings, yet out of them a united public observance was created. The author argues that this was possible because the interpretation of them as symbols was part of a creative process in which new meanings for traditional forms of memorial were established and circulated. The memorials not only symbolized emotional responses to the war, but also ambitions for the post-war era. Contemporaries adopted new ways of thinking about largely traditional forms of memorial to fit the uncertain social and political climate of the inter-war years.This book represents a significant contribution to the study of material culture and memory, as well as to the social and cultural history of modern warfare. |
Contents
The Composition of a National Cult | 20 |
A Commemorative Tradition and its Application | 40 |
Talking About War Memorials | 65 |
Copyright | |
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Other editions - View all
Memorials of the Great War in Britain: The Symbolism and Politics of Remembrance Alex King No preview available - 1998 |
Common terms and phrases
amongst appear architects Armistice Day artists Association Atkinson Brierley Papers Barnsley Barnsley Chronicle bereaved Borough Bradford Britain British Legion Carlisle Journal celebrations Cenotaph ceremonies Church clients commemoration council cross Daily Mail dead death discussion Enfield Gazette erected ex-servicemen expressed feelings Figure Hackney Hackney and Kingsland Hackney and Stoke Hoylake Ibid idea institutions interpretations Islington Islington Daily Gazette Jagger July Kingsland Gazette Leeds letter Llandrindod London Lord Lutyens mayor meaning memorial committee memorial fund memorial project military Minutes monument moral mourning National War Memorial offered organisations orial parish participation peace political Port Sunlight press cutting professional proposed Public Record Office Pudsey Reginald Blomfield remembrance roll of honour Royal Artillery Royal Artillery memorial sacrifice sculpture sense Sheffield silence social Society soldiers Stoke Newington street shrines suggested symbols town unveiling village West Kirby World wrote Yorkshire Yorkshire Observer