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'Perceptions of Germany and the Germans in Post-war Britain'

Wittlinger, Ruth

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Authors

Ruth Wittlinger



Abstract

Although Anglo-German relations since 1945 have by and large been friendly at the level of the political elite, on a wider scale British perceptions of Germany and the Germans are for the most part negative and still dominated by images of the Third Reich and the Second World War. It has even been suggested that ‘kraut-bashing’ is the only form of racism in Britain which is still considered socially acceptable. Going beyond the simplistic but commonly expressed view which dismisses these negative British perceptions of Germany as envy of Germany's post-war economic revival, this paper will argue that there is a range of other reasons which help to account for the negative perceptions British people hold of Germany and the Germans such as the legacy of the Second World War and post-war challenges to British national identity, the nature of the Holocaust and the way history and languages are taught in Britain.

Citation

Wittlinger, R. (2004). 'Perceptions of Germany and the Germans in Post-war Britain'. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 25(5-6), 453-465

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date 2004-10
Deposit Date Jun 30, 2008
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development
Print ISSN 0143-4632
Electronic ISSN 1747-7557
Publisher Taylor and Francis Group
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 25
Issue 5-6
Pages 453-465
Keywords Post-war Anglo-German relations, Anti-German discourse, British perceptions, representations of Germans, British media.
Publisher URL http://www.multilingual-matters.net/jmmd/025/jmmd0250453.htm

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