Intergenerational Transmission of Historical Events. The Duty to Remember and Nostalgia in French Picturebooks about Refugees of 20th-Century Conflicts
Intergenerational Transmission of Historical Events. The Duty to Remember and Nostalgia in French Picturebooks about Refugees of 20th-Century Conflicts

Summary/Abstract: Major 20th-century conflicts feature extensively in children’s literature and are often discussed from diverse perspectives. Since memories of past conflicts gradually fade as witnesses pass away, the child’s role as a third generation memory receiver becomes essential in memory transmission. This article explores French picturebooks that portray the experiences of ethnic groups fleeing 20th-century conflicts. These fictional narratives draw on historical events as a collective legacy, highlighting childhood memory fragments, nostalgia, and the duty to transmit memory from generation to generation. This article’s principal aim is to investigate how the transmission of historical memory intertwines with nostalgia and intergenerational relationships in both visual and verbal forms. It also explores how family history can serve as a pretext for collective history.

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