National Narration and Organisational Crisis: A Discourse-Mythological Analysis of the Imperial War Museum During the Second World War

Abstract

The Imperial War Museum (IWM) first opened in London, United Kingdom, on 9 July 1920. Until the Second World War (1939-1945), this museum conducted itself as an institution that
commemorated heroism and sacrifice in the First World War (1914-1918). But when the United Kingdom declared war against Germany on 3 September 1939, that framing lost its relevance; major developments in British wartime mythology were occurring and a change to national narration was required. Thus, the IWM anticipated the prospect of cultural irrelevance. An organisational crisis ensued. This study captures two key factors in this case of the IWM. Firstly, we consider the cultural mythology which the museum knew it was embedded within and needed to represent accordingly to remain relevant after the Second World War. Secondly, we consider the ensuing legal contradictions that it perceived and unnecessarily feared for itself – both internally and through its dialogue with relevant authorities. The museum’s mythological entanglement with wider cultural and political factors made its sense of crisis simultaneously justified and unjustified. Our discoursemythological analysis shows how such a paradoxical phenomenon played out and what lessons can be learnt from it.