Cultural memory, gender and age: young Latvian women's narrative memories of war-time Europe, 1944–1947

TitleCultural memory, gender and age: young Latvian women's narrative memories of war-time Europe, 1944–1947
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of PublicationSubmitted
AuthorsL. McDowell
JournalJournal of Historical Geography
Volume30
Issue4
Pagination701-728
ISSN03057488
Abstract

Abstract: This paper examines the war-time experiences of dislocation and loss, as well as the transition to independent adulthood, of 25 Latvian women who came to Britain as European Volunteer Workers after the end of the Second World War. Despite the recent work in cultural history exploring memories of wartime dislocation and the growing use of oral narratives in this exploration, relatively little is known about the 1944 migration from the Baltic States to the UK or about the particular experiences of young women in this movement. This paper begins to address this forgotten history through interviews with now-elderly women living in Britain in the context of recent debates about cultural memory and forgetting.

DOI10.1016/j.jhg.2003.08.020
Short TitleCultural memory, gender and age