Word War II and Historical Memory: the Mental Landscape of Contemporary Europe

For citation: Yakova T.S., Yanglyaeva M.M. Istoricheskaja  pamjat' o Vtoroj mirovoj vojne: sovremennyj mental'nyj landshaft Evropy [Word War II and Historical Memory: the Mental Landscape of Contemporary Europe]. Mediaskop 3. Available at: http://www.mediascope.ru/2652

DOI: 10.30547/mediascope.3.2020.9

© Tamara S. Yakova
PhD in Philology, Associate Professor at the Chair of Foreign Journalism and Literature, Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow, Russia), t-yakova@mail.ru

© Marina M. Yanglyaeva
PhD in Philology, Associate Professor at the Chair of Foreign Journalism and Literature, Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow, Russia), marinapavlikova@mail.ru

Abstract

The data presented in the article reveal attitude of citizens of different European countries to key moments in the history of World War II. The authors analyze how the Munich agreement 1938, Treaty of non-aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union 1939 and the Victory of the Soviet Union in the War in 1945 are displayed in the public consciousness of Europeans today. The authors rely on the concept of “mental landscape” as a result of the transformation of the spiritual and material world of a human, social ideology and symbols of the state; as a semantic center in creating a hierarchy of identity (national, regional, local), which forms a sense of belonging to the place (country, region, home). The processes affecting the mental landscape should be taken into account, when the state (and in the state) implements various public projects, including political ones. Based on the media- geographic approach (mediametrical and rank analysis) and content-analysis of publications in European press (France, Italy, Britain, Germany) the authors try to estimate to what extent the reconstruction of the historical memory of the peoples of Europe has reached. The findings of the study demonstrate how the deformation of national mental landscapes occurs, how the zones of “memorable” and “forgotten” are being formed in the mind of audience.

Keywords: World War II, mental landscape, historical memory, Munich agreement, Treaty of non-aggression between Germany and the Soviet Union, mass media

Notes

Accords de Munich: au nom du pacifisme, la naissance d'une guerre [Munich Agreements: in the Name of Pacifism, the Birth of a War]. INA, 2018. Available at:  https://www.ina.fr/contenus-editoriaux/articles-editoriaux/accords-de-munich-au-nom-du-pacifisme-la-naissance-d-une-guerre/ (aссessed: 30.09.2018).

Avril P. (2018) Moscou invoque les accords de Munich pour admonester les Occidentaux [Moscow Invokes the Munich Agreements to Admonish Westerners]. Le Figaro.Available at: http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2018/09/19/01003-20180919ARTFIG00290-moscou-invoque-les-accords-de-munich-pour-admonester-les-occidentaux.php (aссessed: 02.10.2018).

Boyle D. (2018) Five Brexit Lessons for Theresa May from the Fateful Munich Agreement. The Guardian, September 28. Available at:  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/sep/28/brexit-theresa-may-munich-agreement-neville-chamberlain (aссessed: 02.10.2018).

Devers-Dreyfus N. (2018) Seconde guerre mondiale. Les «Accords de Munich», ou la capitulation) [World War II. The "Munich Agreements" or Capitulation]. L’Humanité, Vendredi September 28. (aссessed: 30.09.2018).

Istoricheskaja pamjat' – eshhe odno prostranstvo, gde reshajutsja politicheskie zadachi [Historical Memory ‒ One More Area Where Political Tasks Are Being Completed]. In: Rossija v global'noj politike[Russia in Global Politics]. 2019. December 31. Available at:  https://globalaffairs.ru/articles/istoricheskaya-pamyat-eshhe-odno-prostranstvo-gde-reshayutsya-politicheskie-zadachi/ (aссessed: 10.02.2020).

Kellerhoff S.F. (2018) Fast wäre es schon 1938 zum Weltkrieg gekommen. Die Welt, September 18.

Nazarov O. (2014) Indeks agrescivnosti [Index of Aggressiveness]. Literaturnaja gazeta, October 22. Available at: https://lgz.ru/article/-41-6483-22-10-2014/indeks-agressivnosti/ (aссessed: 30.09.2018).

Nirenstein F. (2018) Il patto "pacifista" di Monaco regalò a Hitler metà Europa [The Munich "Pacifist" Pact Gave Hitler a Half of Europe]. Il Giornale. Available at: http://www.ilgiornale.it/news/spettacoli/patto-pacifista-monaco-regal-hitler-met-europa-1575308.html (aссessed: 02.10.2018).

Munich Agreement: The Choice of Evil Dictators. Mirror Herald, 2018. Available at: https://mirrorherald.com/munich-agreement-choice-evil-dictators/ (aссessed: 02.10.2018).

On This Day, 1938: Peace for Our Time Was a Hollow Boast by Neville Chamberlain. Available at: https://www.sundaypost.com/fp/on-this-day-1938-peace-for-our-time-was-a-hollow-boast-by-neville-chamberlain/ (aссessed: 02.10.2018).

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