Memory as a Battlefield
Personal and Political Investments in the National Military Past
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11077258 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alistair Thomson (0000-0002-1735-1830) |
| Year | 1995 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 55-73 |
| Publication date | 1995-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Oral History Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0094-0798 • E-ISSN: 1533-8592 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/ohr/22.2.55 |
| OpenAlex | W2330534835 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
For the past decade I have been researching Australian memories of the First World War, exploring the memories of war veterans, the national popular legend of (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps), and the relationship between individual memories and national legend. In 1994 I concluded this research with the publication of Anzac Memories: Living With the Legend.' Throughout the project I was often surprised by the extent and intensity of the emotional and political involvement (investment) in the subject of my research. In this article I will explore these investments from three perspectives relevant to oral historians working in other contexts and countries. First, my personal involvement in the memory of Australians at war poses issues for oral historians researching subjects that touch upon our own identities, and highlights issues about the role and control of memory within families. Second, my Anzac writings have stirred angry responses among historians and in the popular press, which reveal much about the relationships between memory and history and between oral history and contests over popular memory. Lastly, my interviews had a significant impact upon the lives of some of the veterans I interviewed, affirming but also challenging their remembering and identities, and thus spotlighting dilemmas about the nature of the oral history relationship and the role of the oral historian.
Art history · Battlefield · Legend · Media studies · Oral history · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Subject (documents) · Anthropology · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy · Gender Studies · History · Law · Memory, Trauma, and Commemoration · Oral History, Memory, Narrative Analysis · Psychology
| Unique citing works | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,32 |
| Citation span | 2001 - 2018 (18) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |