Screening Twentieth Century Europe

This book offers a comparative study of historical television genres in Europe, with a special focus on Germany and Great Britain and their way of narrating twentieth century European history. The book analyses our common European past and memory through central historical television narratives. Each chapter looks at how historical TV genres, fictional and documentary, have dealt with the most salient and defining periods, events and changes in the twentieth century an age of extremes. Bondebjerg offers unique theoretical and analytical insight into the role of television in mediating and shaping the past. The book explores television's creation of transnational cultural encounters across Europe in relation to our common and national past. The book addresses how television has influenced our understanding of history, collective memory and public debate over the twentieth century. It is fundamentally a book about the importance of the past in present day Europe and the centrality ofmedia for transnational understanding.

Develops an innovative understanding of mediated cultural encounters in Europe, of how historical television drama shapes our understanding of twentieth century European history, and how the past is still a very important part of present European cultures and societies, a place where national and transnational dimensions cross and the way we see ourselves and others is shaped Examines central historical television genres, documentary (authoritative documentary, docudrama), and fictional (period drama, war drama, biopics) in a comparative European perspective, looking especially at German and English historical drama, but also drawing up a bigger picture, and with a central perspective on how historical drama from below (focusing on everyday life) and historical drama from above (focusing on those in power, and the larger historical structures) gives us a deeper understanding of history Argues for a strong interdisciplinary profile of media and memory studies, genre studies, and cultural studies, an interdisciplinary perspective arguing for a universal, cognitive and emotional dimension in how we relate to and interact with historical drama, the way our mind and memory works, and also argues for a strong national and historical diversity in historical drama in Europe

Auteur

Ib Bondebjerg is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Communication at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He co-directed the research projects Changing Media - Changing Europe (2000-2004) and Mediating Cultural Encounters through European Screens (2013-2016). His recent books include Engaging with Reality: Documentary and Globalisation (2014), European Cinema and Television: Cultural Policy and Everyday Life (co-ed. 2015), and Transnational European Television Drama: Production, Genres and Audiences (co-auth. 2017).

Résumé

"This book was a milestone in research, highlighting the cultural role of television drama, not only in a Danish context, but also internationally. ... Bondebjerg's methodological approach - following the course of history from a constant, comparative perspective - makes his account of English and German historical drama and documentaries not only informative, but also fascinating reading. ... Any reader interested in history on screen will enjoy revisiting their favourite productions under the professional guidance of Bondebjerg." (Gunhild Agger, MedieKultur, Issue 70, 2021)

Contenu

1. Introduction. A Century of Extremes and Profound Changes: Mediating European History.- 2. Memory and History as Mediated and Embodied Narratives.- 3. Historical Genres on Television: The Broader European Picture.- 4. The Meaning of Small Things: Everyday Drama and History from Below.- 5. History from Above: Historical Biopics.- 6. Grand illusions and The Great War: WW1 Narratives.- 7. Living on the Edge: The Roaring Twenties and World Crisis.- 8. Hell on Earth: WW2 War Narratives.- 9. Post-war Europe: Cold War, Welfare and Cultural Revolution.- 10. Europe 1989 and Beyond: Towards the New Millennium.- 11. Conclusion: History on Our Mind the Forms and Functions of Mediated History