The Half Life of the Blitz: memory, urban space and civic identity in a provincial town, 1939 - present.

闪电战的半衰期：省级城镇的记忆、城市空间和公民身份，1939 年至今。

• 批准号: AH/V010921/1
• 负责人: James Greenhalgh
• 金额: $ 23.91万
• 依托单位: University of Lincoln
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FV010921%2F1
• 关键词: Half; Life; Blitz; memory; urban

The project examines how understandings of our shared pasts have tangible impacts upon the politics, culture and even built environments of cities through a study of the post-war experience and memory of one of Britain's most historically neglected cities, Kingston-Upon-Hull. Local memory contends that Hull was Britain's most heavily bombed city, but was excluded from the roll call of national sacrifice that focuses upon emblematic examples like London and Coventry. The severity of the Blitz on Hull and the fortitude of the citizenry have become pillars of a civic memory that forms a stark and contentious counterpoint to the city's alleged excision from what, in the twenty-first century is one of Britain's most potent, contentious and frequently invoked national stories. Combined with Hull's relatively isolated position - in both geographical terms and in the national consciousness- a comparative lack of post-war reconstruction and the subsequent decline of the local economy, the narrative that Hull's sacrifice was forgotten, even maligned has become central to the city's personal, historical and political narratives of the post-war. Hull gives us a visible example of how a powerful narrative can infuse debates and cultural forms. The project enables us to ask broader questions about the importance of historically contingent identities in other urban settings, so has important implications for heritage and planning, whilst also examining contentious areas of contemporary debate over the place of the Second World War in constructions of twenty-first century Britishness. In Hull, inconsistent post-war rebuilding, halting urban renewal schemes, deindustrialisation, lack of investment and unemployment have, over the last 80 years, been repeatedly framed through a narrative that civic fortitude was not reciprocated by the post-war state. Contemporary understandings of the tangible links to the Blitz have been underscored by the popularity of Hull's 'Blitz Trail' walking tour, invoked in angry reactions to rumours of the city's exclusion from 'HS3' rail links, fed into political narratives of 'forgotten' northern towns and ignored populations, and featured in campaigns to preserve symbolic post-war buildings. By exploring the progression, contestation and deployment of these narratives the project uses the centrality of the Blitz's legacy as a lens through which to historicise the formation and importance of contentious local identities, and their tangible impacts upon the fabric and governance of cities. The project's first phase involves a series of public workshops, surveys and interviews that will build-up a legacy of local engagement and resources, but also constantly shape the first strand of the research, helping the project team develop the direction of their investigations The second phase then uses the directions generated through public engagement to inform research approaches from oral, urban and governmental history, examining local and central government documents and schemes alongside campaigns and media coverage to track how the evolving legacy of the Blitz has been imagined and used, whilst conducting oral history interviews with residents. The project builds on its partnership with Hull History Centre to create spaces and opportunities for a diverse set of interested groups, organisations and individuals to engage with their urban and civic past. The public will have the opportunity to follow the ways that their contributions shape the project via social media and the internet. School workshops, online accessibility to workshops, social media and short videos will stimulate participation beyond traditional audiences for history and heritage. We aim to create a live dialogue during the duration of the project that will continually stimulate an already vibrant heritage and historical community of interest in Hull, but also move the researchers past their own a priori judgements about what should be researched.

该项目通过对英国历史上最被忽视的城市之一金斯敦-船体的战后经验和记忆的研究，探讨了对我们共同过去的理解如何对政治，文化甚至城市的建筑环境产生切实的影响。当地的记忆认为，船体是英国最严重的轰炸城市，但被排除在点名的国家牺牲，重点是象征性的例子，如伦敦和考文垂。船体闪电战的严重性和公民的坚韧已经成为公民记忆的支柱，形成了一个鲜明而有争议的对立面，与21世纪英国最有力，最有争议和经常被引用的国家故事之一的城市被所谓的切除。再加上船体相对孤立的地位--无论是在地理上还是在民族意识上--战后重建相对缺乏，以及随后当地经济的衰落，船体的牺牲被遗忘，甚至被诽谤的叙述已经成为这座城市战后个人、历史和政治叙述的核心。船体给了我们一个明显的例子，说明一个强大的叙事如何能够注入辩论和文化形式。该项目使我们能够提出更广泛的问题，在其他城市环境中的历史偶然性身份的重要性，因此具有重要的意义，遗产和规划，同时也研究了有争议的领域，当代辩论的第二次世界大战的地方，在二十一世纪英国的建设。在船体，不一致的战后重建，停止城市重建计划，去工业化，缺乏投资和失业，在过去的80年里，一再被一种叙述框定，即公民的坚韧没有得到战后国家的回报。船体的“闪电战之路”步行之旅的流行，强调了当代对闪电战有形联系的理解，这是对城市被排除在“HS 3”铁路线之外的谣言的愤怒反应，被灌输到“被遗忘的”北方城镇和被忽视的人口的政治叙事中，并在保护象征性战后建筑的运动中发挥了作用。通过探索这些叙事的发展、定位和部署，该项目将闪电战遗产的中心地位作为一个透镜，通过它来历史化有争议的地方身份的形成和重要性，以及它们对城市结构和治理的切实影响。该项目的第一阶段包括一系列的公共研讨会，调查和访谈，这将积累当地参与和资源的遗产，但也不断塑造研究的第一链，帮助项目团队制定他们的调查方向。检查地方和中央政府的文件和计划，以及运动和媒体报道，以跟踪如何演变的遗产闪电战已经想象和使用，同时进行口述历史采访的居民。该项目建立在与船体历史中心的合作伙伴关系的基础上，为各种感兴趣的团体、组织和个人创造空间和机会，使他们能够参与城市和公民的过去。公众将有机会通过社交媒体和互联网关注他们的贡献塑造项目的方式。学校讲习班、在线讲习班、社交媒体和短视频将刺激传统受众以外的人参与历史和遗产。我们的目标是在项目期间创造一个现场对话，这将不断激发船体已经充满活力的遗产和历史社区的兴趣，但也推动研究人员过去自己的先验判断应该研究什么。