Teaching European History and Memory through the Eurovision Song Contest during the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT

The Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) offers a unique snapshot of Europe, in which Europe invents itself anew with new artists and songs. The participating national media services, who are usually members of the European Broadcasting Union, create a new ‘usable past’ for themselves based on ‘presentist’ concerns (Olick, 2007, 19) with each iteration of the contest. The image of the present is hence dynamic, as is the image of the past that is recalled each year. The present performed at Eurovision is therefore always contingent on history, tradition and memory. This chapter explores how the ESC can serve as a vehicle for teaching history and memory to tertiary students by focusing on two countries and regions with histories of conflict with their European neighbours. The ESC can give voice to the desire for atonement in the case of a perpetrator nation such as Germany and to current concerns about acts of aggression from neighbouring powers in the case of Ukraine in 2016. In addition, the chapter discusses how the ESC can serve as a tool for teaching the politics of memory and the value of historical understanding in Europe through a pedagogical approach adopted during the global pandemic. © 2023 selection and editorial matter, Adam Dubin, Dean Vuletic and Antonio Obregón;individual chapters, the contributors.