Title: Bigger than Gallipoli : war, history, and memory in Australia /
Authors: Reed, Liz, 1944-
Publisher: University of Western Australia Press,
Year: 2004
Subjects: World War, 1939-1945 Australia Anniversaries, etc.; Nationalism Australia; Australia Civilization; Australia Social conditions
Abstract: "'Bigger than Gallipoli' provides an indepth analysis of the ways in which Australia remembers the Second World War, focusing on the yearlong commemorative program 'Australia Remembers' throughout 1995 all over Australia, involving small towns, local organisations and official national events. For many of the Second World War generation this was the recognition for which they had been yearning. Liz Reed expertly analyses how the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the war's end represented 'remembrance' visually, in text and in spectacle. Comparisons are drawn with similar events held in Canada and New Zealand / Aotearoa. 'Bigger than Gallipoli's' key themes of nostalgia, memory and commemoration are linked to explorations of how Australia as a nation seeks to reconstruct its identity, and the extent to which 'Australia Remembers' expressed new ways of representing previously ignored groups such as Australian Indigenous people and women."--Publisher's website.
Contents: Introduction : memory and World War II -- Small nations remember : Canada, Australia, and New Zealand remember -- History and memory : Australia Remembers 1945-1995 and uses of the past -- Nostalgia unbounded : VP Day as spectacle -- Australia Remembers and national identity -- The legacy of Australia Remembers 1945-1995.