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

Wittlinger, Ruth

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: Jun 30, 2008
• 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.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1596435
• Publisher URL: http://www.multilingual-matters.net/jmmd/025/jmmd0250453.htm