Représenter et penser l’affrontement : le magazine Vu face à la Guerre d’Espagne et à la menace d’une deuxième guerre mondiale

Abstract

Vu, created in 1928, is a magazine which endows photography with a new role, in that it became the very contents of the magazine. Its director, Lucien Vogel, is a convinced pacifist with left-wing commitments. His point of view on the period of time, in between the two world wars, is particularly interesting. Our article will study how, between 1928 and 1936, Vu reports the tensions inherited from World War I and covers the Spanish War. In the first place, by means of photographs and eye-catching page settings, Vu tries to prevent a new confrontation, the fear of a new war being the obsession of Lucien Vogel. On the second hand, in its media coverage of the Spanish war, Vu sides, from the beginning of the war, with the cause of the Spanish Republicans. The commitment of Lucien Vogel is such that he is dismissed by the owners of the magazine, who reproach him with his biased point of view. In both cases, one will inquire to which extent the political ideology of the journal’s director has an impact on the representations of the current tensions and on the depiction of the enemy’s figure. It will also be highlighted that the many possibilities offered by photography are significant items, which bear a tangible impact on the representation given by Lucien Vogel of this period.

Keywords

• France
• Lucien Vogel
• Spanish War
• Vu magazine
• War Culture
• World War II.