World War II in French Collective Memory: The Relevance of Alternate History Comics. An Analysis of the Wunderwaffen Saga

For several years, alternate histories have become increasingly popular in France. Stories imagining the consequences of the (non-) happening of a precise event can now be found in novels, movies, TV series or even video games. Among all the historical events tackled by the authors, WWII is one of the most popular and enduring themes (Campeis, Gobled, 2015). A huge variety of WWII related alternate history comic books have been edited during the last decade and there is no sign that their success is going to decrease in the near future. To the contrary: spin-offs of some the most successful sagas were even released with a special focus on this conflict. Freed from the reality constraint, the authors give their imagination free rein and depict their vision of WWII. This liberty is unique in the field of “historical” fictions and should be taken seriously into account by the researcher in social sciences. For the latter, these comic books are a perfect “entry door” to analyze how WWII entered the collective memory more than seventy years after its end. In this context, we intend to answer the following questions: what does an alternate history comic can teach us about the way WWII is perceived in contemporary French society? Which biases and misrepresentations can be found in the description of the conflict?