TY - JOUR

T1 - Public commemorations of Danish soldiers

T2 - monuments, memorials, and tombstones

AU - Sørensen, Birgitte Refslund

PY - 2016/6

Y1 - 2016/6

N2 - This article takes a point of departure in Denmark’s decision to usethe armed forces as a tool of foreign policy, even when this impliesdeployment to regions where combat and casualties must beexpected. Since war, combat, and violence contradict traditionalself-understandings of being Danish, recent experiences in Iraq,Afghanistan, and elsewhere have implied renegotiations and reconstructionsof the national ‘we’. In this article, I examine how this isreflected in the emergent memorial landscape by focusing on onenational monument, two grassroots memorials, and 20 individualtombstones. All memorials, I argue, relate to a recent public discourseabout the ‘war-fighting nation’ and the ‘warrior generation’. Thenational monument eschews references to war and violence toproduce a national narrative focusing on ‘effort’ as the core collectivevalue. One grassroots memorial subtly challenges war and insists onpossible alternatives. The other silently accepts war, but demonstratesthat, apart from the ‘fallen soldiers’ who are commonly memorialized,war produces many other kinds of suffering that remainofficially and socially unrecognized. The individual graves and tombstones,which have been designed by the soldiers and their families,memorialize soldiers as professionals with a military belonging aswell as persons with numerous social attachments. And they mostdirectly address the war, violence, and suffering that the emergenceof a ‘war-fighting nation’ and a ‘warrior generation’ inevitably implies.Assembling different kinds of memorials that represent differentpositions of authority and power in the same analysis, I argue,provides a unique insight into how Denmark’s recent military adventuresare ascribed meaning, contested, and negotiated.

AB - This article takes a point of departure in Denmark’s decision to usethe armed forces as a tool of foreign policy, even when this impliesdeployment to regions where combat and casualties must beexpected. Since war, combat, and violence contradict traditionalself-understandings of being Danish, recent experiences in Iraq,Afghanistan, and elsewhere have implied renegotiations and reconstructionsof the national ‘we’. In this article, I examine how this isreflected in the emergent memorial landscape by focusing on onenational monument, two grassroots memorials, and 20 individualtombstones. All memorials, I argue, relate to a recent public discourseabout the ‘war-fighting nation’ and the ‘warrior generation’. Thenational monument eschews references to war and violence toproduce a national narrative focusing on ‘effort’ as the core collectivevalue. One grassroots memorial subtly challenges war and insists onpossible alternatives. The other silently accepts war, but demonstratesthat, apart from the ‘fallen soldiers’ who are commonly memorialized,war produces many other kinds of suffering that remainofficially and socially unrecognized. The individual graves and tombstones,which have been designed by the soldiers and their families,memorialize soldiers as professionals with a military belonging aswell as persons with numerous social attachments. And they mostdirectly address the war, violence, and suffering that the emergenceof a ‘war-fighting nation’ and a ‘warrior generation’ inevitably implies.Assembling different kinds of memorials that represent differentpositions of authority and power in the same analysis, I argue,provides a unique insight into how Denmark’s recent military adventuresare ascribed meaning, contested, and negotiated.

U2 - 10.1080/23337486.2016.1184417

DO - 10.1080/23337486.2016.1184417

M3 - Journal article

VL - 3

SP - 27

EP - 49

JO - Critical Military Studies

JF - Critical Military Studies

SN - 2333-7486

IS - 1

ER -