Commemorating a war that never came : The Cold War as counter-factual war memory
(2017) In European Studies 34. p.149-169- Abstract
- The Cold War never became the global World War III. It was a war that never broke out. Nevertheless, in some countries like for instance Denmark it is commemorated as exactly that: a war. This is particularly apparent at museums and heritage sites, where the narrative and mnemonic frame works used and activated in the representations stem from cultural memories of the Second World War. In the proccesses of establishing this Cold War cultural memory as a war memory, it has become part of a transcultural passion for memories of traumatic pasts. But, the Cold War as cultural memory is a counter-factual war memory. In Denmark, the Cold War has, moreover, become part of a fierce competition between rivaling memory communities, preventing a... (More)
- The Cold War never became the global World War III. It was a war that never broke out. Nevertheless, in some countries like for instance Denmark it is commemorated as exactly that: a war. This is particularly apparent at museums and heritage sites, where the narrative and mnemonic frame works used and activated in the representations stem from cultural memories of the Second World War. In the proccesses of establishing this Cold War cultural memory as a war memory, it has become part of a transcultural passion for memories of traumatic pasts. But, the Cold War as cultural memory is a counter-factual war memory. In Denmark, the Cold War has, moreover, become part of a fierce competition between rivaling memory communities, preventing a common commemoration culture caracteristic of transcultural war commemorations. This article reveals a number of paradoxses related to the notion of absence: the absent war is remembered as a war; it is a war memory without victims or traumas; a national war commemoration culture in connection to the Cold War is absent; and the war memory is received without contestation in spite of the competition between the various memory communities. (Less)
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- author
- Farbøl, Rosanna LU
- publishing date
- 2017
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- host publication
- The Twentieth Century in European Memory : Transcultural Mediation and Reception - Transcultural Mediation and Reception
- series title
- European Studies
- editor
- Törnquist-Plewa, Barbara and Sindbæk Andersen, Tea
- volume
- 34
- pages
- 149 - 169
- publisher
- Brill
- ISSN
- 1875-8150
- ISBN
- 978-90-04-35235-3
- 978-90-04-35234-6
- DOI
- 10.1163/9789004352353_008
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- 3c61db80-b58a-4cd3-bc39-72a0e79775a4
- date added to LUP
- 2022-09-08 09:51:57
- date last changed
- 2022-09-26 14:40:35
@inbook{3c61db80-b58a-4cd3-bc39-72a0e79775a4, abstract = {{The Cold War never became the global World War III. It was a war that never broke out. Nevertheless, in some countries like for instance Denmark it is commemorated as exactly that: a war. This is particularly apparent at museums and heritage sites, where the narrative and mnemonic frame works used and activated in the representations stem from cultural memories of the Second World War. In the proccesses of establishing this Cold War cultural memory as a war memory, it has become part of a transcultural passion for memories of traumatic pasts. But, the Cold War as cultural memory is a counter-factual war memory. In Denmark, the Cold War has, moreover, become part of a fierce competition between rivaling memory communities, preventing a common commemoration culture caracteristic of transcultural war commemorations. This article reveals a number of paradoxses related to the notion of absence: the absent war is remembered as a war; it is a war memory without victims or traumas; a national war commemoration culture in connection to the Cold War is absent; and the war memory is received without contestation in spite of the competition between the various memory communities.}}, author = {{Farbøl, Rosanna}}, booktitle = {{The Twentieth Century in European Memory : Transcultural Mediation and Reception}}, editor = {{Törnquist-Plewa, Barbara and Sindbæk Andersen, Tea}}, isbn = {{978-90-04-35235-3}}, issn = {{1875-8150}}, language = {{eng}}, pages = {{149--169}}, publisher = {{Brill}}, series = {{European Studies}}, title = {{Commemorating a war that never came : The Cold War as counter-factual war memory}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004352353_008}}, doi = {{10.1163/9789004352353_008}}, volume = {{34}}, year = {{2017}}, }