Facing a Difficult Past? The Yser Tower in Dixmude, Belgium

Publication date: 16/11/2016

In this article Maarten van Alstein discusses the pacifist message of the museum at the Yser in Dixmude. By presenting the First World War as senseless violence and horror, the museum hopes to induce in visitors an awareness of the value of peace. He argues that by opting for this pacifist narrative the museum tends to bypass the complex history of the site itself. It avoids any in-depth discussion about the controversial history of the Yser Tower and its role in the efforts of the broader Flemish Movement to construct a Flemish nation.

M. Van Alstein (2016), ‘Facing a Difficult Past? The Yser Tower in Dixmude, Belgium’, Cultures of History Forum, Imre Kertész Kolleg Jena