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‘We Will Re‐Member Them’: Muslims in the Great War Semi‐Centenary
Author(s) -
Tinsley Meghan
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
studies in ethnicity and nationalism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.204
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1754-9469
pISSN - 1473-8481
DOI - 10.1111/sena.12101
Subject(s) - decolonization , colonialism , collective memory , context (archaeology) , character (mathematics) , ethnic group , identity (music) , sociology , spanish civil war , world war ii , first world war , extension (predicate logic) , gender studies , history , national identity , collective identity , law , political science , anthropology , aesthetics , politics , art , ancient history , geometry , mathematics , archaeology , computer science , programming language
In A ugust 1964, the semi‐centenary of the First World War's onset coincided with uncertainty about Britain's future: decolonization had resulted in a diminished role in the international sphere, and migration had begun to alter the dominant ethnic and religious character of the metropolis. Britons increasingly confronted the question of what it meant to belong to the postcolonial nation. In this context, First World War commemorations served a twofold purpose: first, they revised prior representations of colonial subjects in the war, in light of contemporary realities; and second, they served as an outlet for imperial nostalgia. This article considers the relationship between race, nation, and collective memory by analysing representations of Muslim colonial subjects in the 1964 BBC documentary, The Great War . A content analysis aims to explain how Britain's evolving collective memory reveals its dominant national identity and, by extension, its willingness to accommodate postcolonial newcomers.