College - Author 1
College of Liberal Arts
Department - Author 1
History Department
Degree Name - Author 1
BA in History
Date
4-2024
Primary Advisor
Farah Al-Nakib, College of Liberal Arts, History Department
Abstract/Summary
This paper examines how fictional digital media–film, television, and digital games–have both mirrored and influenced the American popular memory of the World Wars, establishing how visual media in the last 25 years has disseminated distinct historical themes and narratives to American audiences. Examining both World Wars together allow us to witness historical narratives of WWI and WWII intersecting across many works of media, applying critical elements of one conflict's memory to the other. This is accomplished through the process of historical thematic dissemination, through with creators off all three types of visual media pay homage to or draw on historical points from other works.
This paper is divided into four parts. Part I examines WWII media in the 2000s and its central narratives. Part II examines WWI media in the 21st century, and the differences between film and digital game depictions of the war. Part III examines WWII media in the 2010s and 2020's, as many works challenge popular American conceptions of the conflict and draw of themes from WWI media to do so. Part IV examines how 'the enemy' is depicted in WWI/WWII media, and the roots of these depictions in long-held conceptions about America's past opponents.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/histsp/64