Swimming into memory: the Los Angeles Olympics (1932) as Japanese lieu de mémoire

Abstract

This paper will analyse the swimming events of the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics in the framework of collective memory. Olympic Games are memorable moments in the history of a nation. As moments they are a unit of time, but they are equally part of an Olympic as well as a national narrative sequence: Each Olympic Games continues the established rituals and symbolism of the Olympic Movement and each athletic event is firmly based in the history of prior athletic events. Performative practices are, in this sense, also commemorative practices that function as cues for collective memories. The memory of the 1932 swimming competitions thrives on the notion that Japan once has been a nation of extraordinary skilled and successful swimmers. I will show that the significance of the 1932 swimming competitions as lieu de mémoire is not based on the invention of a tradition, but rather lies in them being a frame of reference to verify the invented past as present.