History is part of our everyday life, our past and our present. There are different ways in which history can be transmitted. For some, it may be classical history lessons and history books or visiting museums and monuments. Popular culture, such as films, computer games, performances, or entertainment media, such as series and telenovelas, can also convey history. The influence of social media in the field of cultural memory has also increased considerably.

The entertainment sector has sometimes had more success than academia in expanding the historical and cognitive panorama of a global audience by conveying recent Latin American history in telenovelas and series - and, moreover, integrating itself into the script of global memory. GUMELAB understands telenovelas and series as historical research objects that are considered entertainment media but can still convey history. The depicted events of the past are interpreted and staged in the entertainment media. The way history is conveyed has an influence on our historical consciousness and our understanding of the past. This can also shape and influence our political thinking. The discipline of public history examines the mediation of history in the public sphere, away from the academia.

Further literature

Birkner, T., Donk, A. (2018): Collective Memory and Social Media. Fostering a New Historical Consciousness in the Digital Age? Memory Studies 42 (2):1–17.

Burkhardt, Hannes (2021): Geschichte in den Social Media. Nationalsozialismus und Holocaust in Erinnerungskulturen auf Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest und Instagram. 1. Auflage. Göttingen: V&R unipress; Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co.KG (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für Geschichtsdidaktik).

Knoch, Habbo (2021): Das KZ als virtuelle Wirklichkeit. In: Geschichte und Gesellschaft 47 (1), S. 90–121.

Korte, Barbara; Paletschek, Sylvia (2009): History Goes Pop. Zur Repräsentation von Geschichte in populären Medien und Genres. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag (Historische Lebenswelten in populären Wissenskulturen / History in Popular Cultures, 1).