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Combat Gnosticism and the Woman Poets
British Female Munitions Worker 1914-1918, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library Archives on Flickr Commons James Campbell’s ‘Combat Gnosticism: The Ideology of First World War Poetry Criticism’ ranks...
View ArticleThe War, The Great War, The First World War
Whilst visiting Germany and talking to colleagues last year the topic of what we call the War arose in conversation. One of my German friends noted that in Britain we occasionally use the term ‘The...
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War Horse Poetry
Image available as CC-BY-NC-SA from the National Library of Wales. Poetry of the First World War mentions horses rarely. Hardy’s ‘In Time of “The Breaking of Nations”‘ and Thomas’s ‘As the team’s...
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Truth-telling versus literary allusion in David Jones’s ‘In Parenthesis’ (1937)
Portrait photograph of David Jones in uniform Criticism of the literature of the First World War sometimes finds a place both for realism – what we might call ‘truth-telling’ – and for fictionalised...
View ArticleThe Georgians will inherit the earth…
When Filippo Marinetti published the manifesto for the Futurist movement on the front page of Le Figaro on the 20th February 1909, it signalled, perhaps, not only the first salvo across the bows of...
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Under a green sea – experiences of gas warfare
This 3D simulation introduces you to the experiences of gas warfare in the trenches through interviews with veterans, contemporary photographs, and poetry. You will need to download the free Unity3D...
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Slimescapes
Im Schützengraben (In the trench). CC BY-NC-SA from drakegoodman on Flickr If the First World War is described as the end of illusion for a whole generation of young men, the horrors of trench mud can...
View ArticleIvor Gurney, Isaac Rosenberg, Wilfred Owen
Last Remembrance Day saw the publication of a new Penguin anthology. Three Poets of the First World War: Ivor Gurney, Isaac Rosenberg, Wilfred Owen is edited by Jon Stallworthy and Jane Potter. The...
View ArticleThe Dying Kiss: Gender and Intimacy in the Trenches of World War I
In the trenches of World War I, the norms of tactile contact between men changed profoundly. Mutilation and mortality, loneliness and boredom, the strain of constant bombardment, the breakdown of...
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Rose Macaulay, Hurt-Berries and Compassion Fatigue
The term ‘compassion fatigue’ is usually associated with a disinclination to donate to yet another mammoth charity telethon. The OED defines the phrase as ‘apathy or indifference towards the suffering...
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Words for Battle
The first episode of BBC Radio 4′s new documentary series, 1914-1918: The Cultural Front, is now available for listening. “Words for Battle” examines the response of the British literary and cultural...
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Popular fiction in World War I
Presented by Dr Jane Potter, Senior Lecturer in Publishing at Oxford Brookes University, this video and audio podcast looks beyond the War Poets to the important role that books, publishers and the...
View ArticleThe Blagasphere
[For my first post here at Oxford's World War One Centenary Blog, I've decided to skip a bit beyond the war itself and highlight an interesting moment from its surrounding cultural milieu. Blogging has...
View ArticleMichael Morpurgo again (cross-post)
Below is a cross-post from George Simmers Research Blog, on Michael Morpurgo’s recent article for the Guardian. It raises questions around the ethics of being flexible with historical accuracy to weave...
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Pen and Sword Pt. I: The Authors’ Declaration
[N.B. This is the first in an intended series of posts about the history of British propaganda efforts during the First World War. The main focus of the series will be on the literary side of things,...
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Pen and Sword Pt. II: Advertising King Albert’s Book
[N.B. This is the second in an intended series of posts about the history of British propaganda efforts during the First World War -- the inaugural post can be read here. The main focus of the series...
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Poetry vs. History
What place do the poets and their work have in the historical analysis of the War? Dr Stuart Lee takes a look at the debate in the short audio podcast. This episode is part of the new podcast series...
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