Conflicted nationalism and World War I in Belgium: Memory and museum design

My dissertation addresses Belgian memorialization against the backdrop of the contentious division of Belgium into two language groups, French and Dutch. Although the cultural diversity of Belgium makes it an ideal case study on cultural differentiation within a defined political boundary, Belgium has been largely neglected in the literature dedicated to analyses of nations and nationalism by scholars outside of the country. And although Belgium remained the sole occupied country for the duration of WWI, little research by non-Belgian scholars has been dedicated to Belgian's history of the war. My research explicitly addresses the complexity of Flemish nationalism in Belgium as articulated in two museums dedicated to WWI, The IJzertoren Museum in Diksmuide and The In Flanders Fields Museum in Ieper.; I ground my study in the modern movement for autonomy, which lies in the Front Movement, an organization dedicated to the recognition of Flemish culture and the primacy of the Dutch language born in the trenches of the Belgian Front during WWI. The IJzertoren and the In Flanders Fields Museum must not only address this organization, but also contend with the multi-faceted development of Flemish Nationalism from the 19th century to the present.; I compare and contrast each museum's claim to tell an inclusive history of the local as well as international scope of the war and the attempt to address Belgium's changing national values in the post-war years from 1918-1930 and into the present. My dissertation analyzes issues such as the use of art, interactive displays, secondary educational materials such as magazines and websites, marketing strategies and visitor responses. I examine the commonalities and dissimilarities between the two museums as well as assess the success of each museum in reaching their prescribed goals. I will evaluate what kind of experience the narrative provides for the public.; This study encompasses not only the fate of these two memorial museums over time and the evolution of their meaning, but also changes in war memorial tourism. My dissertation will provide the first institutional histories of these two museums.