Reporting the war: Perspectives on the enemy
Summary :
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- The characterization of Germans
- Ernie Pyle's impressions
- The German Luftwaffe
- Compositions of Fighting Ships
- The needs of Allied propaganda
- Analysis of Grossman's writings
- Aftermath of the war
- Ancient Rome's description
- Conclusion
- Works cited
Abstract
war correspondents' writings on the Second World war offer a contemporary perspective to the fighting, the events, and the experience of individuals engaged in the 1939-1945 conflict. From the Front, wire dispatches, radio broadcast, photography, and film recordings returned to educate the populace on news of the war as a means of rallying support for the Allied effort. Since the end of the war, positive reflections on 'the enemy' and the German people continue to find representations in popular media as a source of controversy. Not only has 'war guilt' presented itself to survivors and subsequent generations of Germans, but public tribute or memory for the sacrifice and the contribution of veterans and deceased soldiers during the Second World war is impolitic. As such, negative images of 'the enemy' continues to classify depictions of the Axis powers to this day. For instance, Prince Harry's attire as a Nazi at a fancy dress party provoked international outrage when it was published in the British tabloids in 2005. Concomitantly, the positive Hollywood portrayal of Tom Cruise as Schutzstaffel officer Oberst Claus Philipp Maria Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg in Valkyrie (2008) was solely due to his orchestration of the 20 July, 1944, plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.
The essay will explore the characterization of Germans as 'the enemy' in selected Second World war literature-that is, as a people somehow monstrous, inhumane, or 'to blame' for the hostilities. From this prejudicial bias, personal and collective justification was provided for the deaths of German soldiers and civilians during and after the war. As 'they deserved it,' it was not wrong or unjust to want them dead. Moreover, in these readings, Germans find themselves at the periphery of the narrative, as objects as opposed to subjects, never truly passing beyond the limits of 'Other.'
The essay will explore the characterization of Germans as 'the enemy' in selected Second World war literature-that is, as a people somehow monstrous, inhumane, or 'to blame' for the hostilities. From this prejudicial bias, personal and collective justification was provided for the deaths of German soldiers and civilians during and after the war. As 'they deserved it,' it was not wrong or unjust to want them dead. Moreover, in these readings, Germans find themselves at the periphery of the narrative, as objects as opposed to subjects, never truly passing beyond the limits of 'Other.'
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