Abstract
This introduction explores the role played by artistic and cultural responses to conflict in communicating an understanding of loss, grief, and memory. Though it is acknowledged that artistic truth is not synonymous with literal truth, the arts are well able to explore the nature of war and in doing so illuminate something about human nature, both at its best and at its worse. This chapter provides a broad sweep of the material included in this handbook and contextualises it, both in terms of the other chapters, and its broader place in the genre of war art.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
“Henry James’s First Interview,” Henry James on Culture: Collected Essays on Politics and the American Social Scene, ed. Pierre A. Walker (Lincoln/London: University of Nebraska Press, 1999), 144.
- 2.
Jenny Edkins, Trauma and the Memory of Politics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 41.
- 3.
Cathy Caruth, Trauma: Explorations in Memory (Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1995), 154.
- 4.
Susanne Langer, Philosophy in a New Key: A Study in the Symbolism of Reason, Rite and Art (New American Library, New York, 1948), 77.
- 5.
Langer, Philosophy in a New Key, 78.
- 6.
Sarah Kofman, Smothered Words (Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1998), 14–36.
- 7.
Siegfried Sassoon, “Suicide in the Trenches,” in Counter-attack, and Other Poems, ed. Siegfried Sassoon (New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, 1918).
- 8.
Michael Copp, Cambridge Poets of the Great War: An Anthology (Madison, N.J: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2001), 61.
- 9.
Philip Gibbs, Realities of War (London: Hutchinson & Co Ltd., 1936), 70.
- 10.
Edkins, Trauma and the Memory of Politics.
- 11.
John Masefield, The Old Front Line: Or the beginning of the Battle of the Somme (London: Heinemann, 1917), 3.
- 12.
Terry Brighton, Patton, Montgomery, Rommel: Masters of War (New York: Crown Publishing Group, 2009), 260.
- 13.
Joanna Burke, “Introduction,” in War and Art: A Visual History of Modern Conflict, ed. Joanna Burke, 7–43 (London: Reaktion Books, 2017).
- 14.
Paul Gough, The artist at war: ‘A very dangerous type of spectator,’ retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/412499/The_artist_at_war_A_very_dangerous_type_of_spectator.
- 15.
Richard Posner, The Essential Holmes: Selections From the Letters, Speeches, Judicial Opinions, and Other Writings of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (University of Chicago Press, 1992).
- 16.
Susan Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others (New York: Picador, 2003), 7.
- 17.
Kenneth Clark, “The Weather in our Souls,” The Listener 25, no. 642 (1 May 1941): 620–621.
- 18.
Anna Clark, “Under Construction: Nation-building past, present and future,” in The Challenge of Teaching Australian History, ed. John Butcher (Canberra: ANU Press).
- 19.
Eric Montgomery Andrews, The ANZAC Illusion: Anglo-Australian Relations During World War I (Oakleigh, Victoria: Cambridge University Press, 1993).
- 20.
Joan Beaumont Commemoration in Australia: A Memory Orgy? Journal of Australian Political Science 50, no. 3 (2015): 536–544.
- 21.
David Stephens, “Why is Australia spending so much more on the Great War centenary than any other country?” John Menadue – Pearls and Irritations. Posted 29 June 2015, access December 16, 2017, https://johnmenadue.com/david-stephens-why-is-australia-spending-so-much-more-on-the-great-war-centenary-than-any-other-country/.
- 22.
Stephen Badsey, Blackadder Goes Forth and the ‘Two Western Fronts Debate 1914–1918, in The British Army in Battle and its Image 1914–18, ed. Stephen Badsey (London: Continuum Books, 2009), 37–54.
- 23.
“Dear Revisionist’ ll.18–19, Strand 14, no. 2., Jon Glover (ed) (Leeds: Leeds University, 2016), p.75.
- 24.
Jay Winter, Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning: The Great War in European Cultural History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 2–5.
- 25.
Jenny Edkins Trauma and the Memory of Politics, 16.
- 26.
“A Deadly Weapon, A Solemn Memorial,” Wall Street Journal, 9 November 2012.
- 27.
Geoff Dyer, The Missing of the Somme (Penguin: London, 1994), 91.
- 28.
Basil Liddell Hart, Liddell Hart’s History of the Second World War (London: Pan, 1973), 7.
- 29.
Paul Fussell, The Great War and Modern Memory (London: Oxford University Press, 1975).
- 30.
Dyer, The Missing of the Somme, 45.
References
“A Deadly Weapon, A Solemn Memorial”. Wall Street Journal, November 9, 2012.
Andrews, Eric Montgomery. The ANZAC Illusion: Anglo-Australian Relations During World War I. Oakleigh, Victoria: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Badsey, Stephen. “Blackadder Goes Forth and the ‘Two Western Fronts Debate 1914–1918.” In The British Army in Battle and its Image 1914–18, ed. Stephen Badsey, 37–54. New York: Continuum Books, 2009.
Beaumont, Joan. “Commemoration in Australia: A Memory Orgy?” Journal of Australian Political Science 50, no. 2 (2015): 536–544.
Brighton, Terry. Patton, Montgomery, Rommel: Masters of War. New York: Crown Publishing Group, 2009.
Burke, Joanna. “Introduction”. In War and Art: A Visual History of Modern Conflict, ed. Joanna Burke, 7–43. London: Reaktion Books, 2017.
Cathy Caruth. Trauma: Explorations in Memory. Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1995.
Clark, Anna, “Under Construction: Nation-building Past, Present and Future.” In The Challenge of Teaching Australian History, ed. John Butcher, 33–47. Canberra: ANU Press, 2008.
Clark, Kenneth. “The Weather in Our Souls.” The Listener 25, no. 642 (1 May 1941): 620–621.
Copp, Michael. Cambridge Poets of the Great War: An Anthology. Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2001.
Dyer, Geoff. The Missing of the Somme. Penguin: London, 1994.
Edkins, Jenny. Trauma and the Memory of Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.
Fussell, Paul. The Great War and Modern Memory. London: Oxford University Press, 1975.
Gibbs, Philip. Realities of War. London: Hutchinson & Co Ltd, 1936.
Gough, Paul. The Artist at War: ‘A Very Dangerous Type of Spectator’. https://www.academia.edu/412499/The_artist_at_war_A_very_dangerous_type_of_spectator.
James, Henry. “Henry James’s First Interview.” In Henry James on Culture: Collected Essays on Politics and the American Social Scene, ed. Pierre A Walker, 138–145. Lincoln/London: University of Nebraska Press, 1999.
Kofman, Sarah, Smothered Words. Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1998.
Liddell Hart, Basil. Liddell Hart’s History of the Second World War. London: Pan, 1973.
Masefield, John. The Old Front Line: Or the Beginning of the Battle of the Somme, London. London: Heinemann, 1917.
Posner, Richard, ed. The Essential Holmes: Selections From the Letters, Speeches, Judicial Opinions, and Other Writings of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992.
Sassoon, Siegfried. “Suicide in the Trenches.” In Counter-attack, and Other Poems, ed. Siegfried Sassoon. New York: E. P. Dutton & Company, 1918.
Sontag, Susan. Regarding the Pain of Others. New York: Picador, 2003.
Stephens, David. Why is Australia Spending so Much More on the Great War Centenary than Any Other Country? John Menadue – Pearls and Irritations (blog). Posted June 20, 2015. https://johnmenadue.com/david-stephens-why-is-australia-spending-so-much-more-on-the-great-war-centenary-than-any-other-country/.
Winter, Jay. Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning: The Great War in European Cultural History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kerby, M., Baguley, M., McDonald, J. (2019). Introduction: Artistic and Cultural Responses to War. In: Kerby, M., Baguley, M., McDonald, J. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Artistic and Cultural Responses to War since 1914. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96986-2_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96986-2_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-96985-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-96986-2
eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)