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    Forgetting, sacrifice, and trauma in the Western Australian State War Memorial

    197478_197478.pdf (251.4Kb)
    Access Status
    Open access
    Authors
    Stephens, John
    Date
    2013
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
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    Citation
    Stephens, John. 2013. Forgetting, sacrifice, and trauma in the Western Australian State War Memorial. Journal of Australian Studies. 37 (4): pp. 466-484.
    Source Title
    Journal of Australian Studies
    DOI
    10.1080/14443058.2013.832700
    ISSN
    1444-3058
    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/3056
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    Built in 1929, the Western Australian State War Memorial was not the grand structure that many wanted, and its construction was hindered by the resounding failure of two appeals for funds from an apparently apathetic public. State government and city authorities refused to assist unless the memorial was utilitarian, a stance deeply opposed by a State War Memorial Committee committed to a monument and shrine. However, the familiar debate about utility versus monument in war commemoration not only underlined tensions about the visible public recognition due to returned soldiers and the way that the fallen should be honoured, but it coalesced around the problem of how the concepts of sacrifice and trauma generated by the First World War might be memorialised and represented. This article pursues the argument that sacrifice and trauma are crucial to understanding why the committee rejected a utilitarian memorial and persisted with their monument scheme.

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