Abstract
2014 has seen much popular and academic debate about the proper form of commemoration regarding the First World War’s centenary in Britain, together with some reflection as to the meaning and contemporary relevance of this commemorative process. Much of this debate has revolved around the “proper format” of public display, the nature of “celebration,” the apparent “duty to pay respect” and/or “mourn,” together with the form and prominence of the centenary within the National School Curriculum. While much of the academic debate has tended to have a critical edge, which has pointed towards the politicized and contingent nature of this debate, there has been less consideration of how this debate works in a comparative standpoint. Taking a comparative critical heritage perspective, this chapter investigates how the commemoration of the First World War in Britain has developed alongside commemorative and other events, developing an appreciation of the power of purposeful nostalgia at different scales. Making room for nonelite perspectives and potentialities, the chapter reflects on how contemporary heritage politics might find connections between the centennial commemoration of war, the potential reformulation of the nation-state, and a resonance of emancipatory moments.
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Notes
- 1.
This process of naturalization and “taken-for-grantedness” among state actors or organizations is a development of Bourdieu’s (1977) notion of habitus; the generation and structuring of principles, practices, and representations, which are objectively regulated without obedience to rules, adapted to goals without conscious aiming, and collectively orchestrated without being the product of conscious direction (see Bourdieu, 1977, p. 72; Harvey, 2000, p. 49).
- 2.
In the UK, “Remembrance Sunday” is the official day used to commemorate the military and civilian contributions to the two World Wars and later conflicts. It is always held on the nearest Sunday to November 11th, in memory to the First World War armistice.
- 3.
This dream of preservation reflects an assumption and tacit demand that certain “sacred duties” should be untouchable for future generations.
- 4.
Speech details available at https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/speech-at-imperial-war-museum-on-first-world-war-centenary-plans (last accessed 30 June 2015).
- 5.
The charities benefitting from this installation included Cobseo (Armed Forces community support), Combat Stress (specialising in PTSD), Coming Home (connected to the Haig Housing Trust), Help for Heroes (veteran support group), The Royal British Legion, and SSFA (veteran’s support group). See https://poppies.hrp.org.uk/about-the-charities for more details (last accessed 29 April 2015). Some of the remaining ceramic poppies are also going to be incorporated into the Imperial War Museums’ collection.
- 6.
By Christmas 1914, conscription had yet to occur in the UK. The soldiers involved were all “battle-hardened” professionals, many with a long prewar military career behind them.
- 7.
For instance, Channel 4’s Not Forgotten, first aired in 2006 (and re-aired in 2014), partly followed a Who Do You Think You Are? format, following the family history experiences of contemporary relatives of those executed (see http://www.channel4.com/programmes/not-forgotten/episode-guide/series-2/); Chloe Dewe Matthews’ exhibition of photographs (ongoing), taken at the exact spot of execution 100 years after the event (see: http://www.chloedewemathews.com/shot-at-dawn/). BBC 3’s Our World War historical drama (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p022twsy) utilized televisual techniques pioneered during the BBC 3’s Afghanistan-based war drama, Our War (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00vhs86). All websites in this note were last accessed 9 April 2015.
- 8.
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtMhjEaVyGA&noredirect=1The Killing of Private Harvard (last accessed 24 February 2015).
- 9.
See www.ukdf.org.uk for more information on this group (last accessed 24 February 2015). Described by the conservative Daily Telegraph newspaper as “a group which organises meetings between key players in the defence industry” (www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/labour/4348729/labour-peers-Robin-Ashby-profile.html) (last accessed 13 February 2015), the UKDF has a “no-lobbying” policy.
- 10.
James Foley became the first Western journalist to be so executed, sometime around 19 August 2014, a month after the UKDF execution reenactment was uploaded.
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Harvey, D.C. (2017). Critical Heritage Debates and the Commemoration of the First World War: Productive Nostalgia and Discourses of Respectful Reverence During the Centenary. In: Silverman, H., Waterton, E., Watson, S. (eds) Heritage in Action. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42870-3_8
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