Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- List of illustrations
- Introduction
- 1 An Unhealed Wound: Britain and the First World War
- 2 A Monumental Monument: The Great War (BBC, 1964)
- 3 Survivors: Veterans and the Nature of Personal Testimony
- 4 Heroes and Villains
- 5 Drama, Comedy and Drama Documentary
- 6 Over the Top: Reality Experiential Television
- 7 The Fear of Forgetting
- Filmography
- Bibliography
- Index
Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- List of illustrations
- Introduction
- 1 An Unhealed Wound: Britain and the First World War
- 2 A Monumental Monument: The Great War (BBC, 1964)
- 3 Survivors: Veterans and the Nature of Personal Testimony
- 4 Heroes and Villains
- 5 Drama, Comedy and Drama Documentary
- 6 Over the Top: Reality Experiential Television
- 7 The Fear of Forgetting
- Filmography
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In recent years the way in which the First World War has been remembered has emerged as a significant historiographical issue. While researchers have focused on the study of commemorative sites and rituals, in contemporary Britain, the memory of both World Wars has occupied a central position in the most influential medium of popular culture – television. From the development of new broadcast technologies in the 1960s through to the recent memory boom of the 1990s, the media, publishing and tourism industries have broadened the public space of remembrance in contemporary British culture. Discussions of tactics and strategy illustrated by military maps have been replaced by an emphasis on the individual narrative. Today's programmes are more likely to feature the background stories and writings of the men who fought, but also the lives of women and other family members whom Noel Coward encouraged to ‘Keep the Home Fires Burning’.
This book examines the many ways in which British television has remembered the First World War. It will discuss of a range of documentary and dramatic programmes in terms of their cultural and historical significance by showing how television has influenced modern attitudes to 1914–18. This book will show that, in order to be accepted and understood by British viewers, programmes utilised the language and imagery of remembrance rituals that were established in the immediate postwar period.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Great War on the Small ScreenRepresenting the First World War in Contemporary Britain, pp. 1 - 6Publisher: Edinburgh University PressPrint publication year: 2009