Special relationships: romance, race, and the friendly invasion in film and television, 1941–1996

Edwards, Sam

doi:10.1057/s42738-020-00053-y

J Transatl Stud

2020

DOI: 10.1057/s42738-020-00053-y

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Special relationships: romance, race, and the friendly invasion in film and television, 1941–1996

Sam Edwards

Abstract: The story of the wartime 'friendly invasion' by American soldiers has been a staple of British popular culture since at least the end of the Second World War. Transatlantic love affairs and sexual encounters between Americans and Britons during the conflict were central to the origins -and lived experience -of the 'special relationship'. This article assesses how such events and episodes have been reimagined in post-war popular culture. By examining various films, novels and television series from the 1940s to… Show more

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Cited by 2 publications

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Breaking the ‘colour bar’: Len Johnson, Manchester and anti-racism

Hirsch¹,

Brown²

2022

Race & Class

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This article explores the overturning of the ‘colour bar’ in a Manchester pub in 1953. Led by Black boxer and Communist Len Johnson, the resistance and ultimate success in breaking the ‘colour bar’ tells much about Black agency, the relationship between anti-racism and the Communist Party, and the making and unmaking of race in modern Britain. The article outlines Johnson’s life up until 1953 and the history of the ‘colour bar’ in Britain that shaped Johnson’s career trajectory. In Britain, formal ‘colour bars’ existed, like that in boxing, but it was far more common for informal ones to operate that were only revealed through resistance to individual impositions. In the post-war years, Johnson spent much of his time challenging these unwritten ‘colour bars’ in Manchester as well as creating a new and explicitly anti-racist space, the ‘New International Club’. Such actions were part of a vibrant and dynamic politics led by Black activists in 1940s and 1950s Manchester. This piece shows how Johnson’s Communist Party membership was both central to Johnson’s activism, which included hosting Paul Robeson in Manchester to the consternation of the Pan-Africanists, as well as how the Party itself held back on its commitment to fighting for racial equality.

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Breaking the ‘colour bar’: Len Johnson, Manchester and anti-racism

Hirsch¹,

Brown²

2022

Race & Class

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Was it a Good War? Film, Memoir, and the Memory of the American Strategic Bombing Campaign

Edwards

2023

Revue Française D’études Américaines

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Cet article examine comment les bombardements stratégiques américains durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale ont été décrits dans la propagande de guerre, dans les films d’après-guerre et dans les mémoires d’anciens combattants. Il identifie d’abord comment la campagne de bombardements – généralement considérée comme l’élément le plus controversé de la guerre menée par les Alliés en Europe – a été décrite pendant la guerre par les producteurs culturels (y compris les réalisateurs hollywoodiens) recrutés par les autorités de l’Armée de l’air, soucieux de cultiver une image positive de la guerre aérienne. Il attire ensuite l’attention sur la façon dont cette représentation a évolué dans le cinéma d’après-guerre et, plus tard, a été aussi réévaluée dans les mémoires écrits par des anciens combattants. Ce faisant, cette étude s’intéresse à un recueil de mémoires de vétérans rédigés dans les années 1980, 1990 et au début des années 2000, époque à laquelle l’idée de la Seconde Guerre mondiale comme « guerre juste » s’est fermement ancrée dans la culture américaine. L’article conclut que pour certains de ces vétérans, le discours commémoratif dominant était problématique, car sans rapport avec les tensions, ambiguïtés et, au fond, avec l’ambivalence traversant l’ensemble de leurs souvenirs. En devenant auteurs de récits autobiographiques, ces anciens combattants apportent ainsi une perspective importante sur les origines, les contours et les limites de la « guerre juste » américaine.

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Special relationships: romance, race, and the friendly invasion in film and television, 1941–1996

Cited by 2 publications

References 28 publications

Breaking the ‘colour bar’: Len Johnson, Manchester and anti-racism

Breaking the ‘colour bar’: Len Johnson, Manchester and anti-racism

Was it a Good War? Film, Memoir, and the Memory of the American Strategic Bombing Campaign

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