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Commemorating a war that never came : The Cold War as counter-factual war memory

Farbøl, Rosanna LU (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)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
publishing date
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}},
}