Domestic archives of empire: photographing Burma and reconstructing British imperialism for the postwar moment

Allbeson, Tom ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7597-9087 and Gorrara, Claire ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0732-7666 2022. Domestic archives of empire: photographing Burma and reconstructing British imperialism for the postwar moment. Journal of War and Culture Studies 15 (2) , pp. 233-259. 10.1080/17526272.2022.2065120

PDF - Accepted Post-Print Version Download (1MB)

Abstract

This article examines how photography documenting the military campaign in Burma was mobilized in efforts to reconstruct the image and idea of the British Empire at the end of the Second World War. It analyses a selection of popular publications which provided visual instruction for white Anglophone audiences, promoting continuing British imperialism after the Allied victory. These publications were intended to be kept for posterity, acting as ‘domestic archives of empire’ for Anglophone audiences across the globe. Such publications represented the empire at war and in peacetime, supposedly fit for the postwar moment. At the time of their publication, these ‘domestic archives of empire’ exhorted white Anglophone readers to view the British Empire as embodying a liberal and tolerant mission. Today, they offer insights into a vernacular history of empire on the verge of fragmentation, presaging the challenges of reconstruction and decolonization and the development of imperial nostalgia.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	Published
Schools:	Modern Languages Journalism, Media and Culture
Publisher:	Taylor and Francis
ISSN:	1752-6272
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	4 April 2022
Date of Acceptance:	4 April 2022
Last Modified:	16 Nov 2024 10:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/149047

Actions (repository staff only)

Edit Item