Les bombardements en Grande-Bretagne, en France et en Italie: expériences comparées, mémoires contrastées

Knapp, A. (2017) Les bombardements en Grande-Bretagne, en France et en Italie: expériences comparées, mémoires contrastées. In: Bérenger, C. and Agostini-Ouafi, V. (eds.) Sous la Glace et les Débris du Temps. Front de l'Est et Bombardements en Europe. Indigo, Paris, pp. 281-294. ISBN 9782352601418

Abstract/Summary

The experience of being bombed, though varied in some respects, has a common core of fascination, terror, trauma and grief. Yet memories of the bombing war between 1940 and 1945 differ greatly between countries. Comparing the cases of the United Kingdom, France, and Italy, this chapter argues that the intensity of bombing made little difference to this variation. On the other hand memory was greatly shaped by (a) the coherence of the narrative of bombing with the national narrative of the war, (b) the success or otherwise of governments in coping with air raids and their consequences, (c) the role of capital cities and (d) the type and level of cultural production during and after the war itself.