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'This remarkable study illuminates the cultural imaginary of war in a fundamentally new way. Exploring the deep veins of resistance within a narrative frame dominated by symbols of consensus, the authors offer a wholly original reading of one of the most consequential genres of 20 and 21st century life. Timely and important.'
Robert Burgoyne, author of The Hollywood Historical Film
In state and public discussion about war and conflict, figures of transgression such as deserters, pacifist and emigrants are often marginalised, but they also play a key role in rethinking cultural and national identity in the wake of military violence. Raising questions of agency, responsibility and culpability in relation to the 'other', their cultural representation can enable reflection on and renegotiation of values and collective norms after the destabilisation of war.
Through an interdisciplinary lens, this collection analyses the depiction of these transgressive figures in a variety of visual media, as well as the narrative, socio-cultural, political and historical contexts in which they emerge.
Lisa Purse is Professor of Film Studies at the University of Reading.
Ute Wölfel is Associate Professor in German Studies at the University of Reading.
Cover image: methods used by Americans to mark stragglers and deserters. Florent, 5 November 1918. Photograph by US official photographer. Courtesy of the American First World War Official Exchange Collection, Imperial War Museum © Imperial War Museum (Q 70742)
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edinburghuniversitypress.com
ISBN 978-1-4744-4626-6
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List of contents
List of figures; Notes on the Contributors; Acknowledgements; 1: Introduction, Lisa Purse and Ute Wölfel; 2: Momentary Rupture? Dawn (1928) and the Transgressive Potential of the Edith Cavell Case, Claudia Sternberg; 3: 'An act of wilful defiance': Objection, Rebellion, and Protest in the Imperial War Museum's First World War Galleries, Rebecca Clare Dolgoy; 4: Figures of Transgression in Representations of the First World War on British Television, Emma Hanna; 5: The End of Transgression: Fritz Bauer as Traitor on the German Screen, Ute Wölfel; 6: 'Just another Kraut'?: The Wehrmacht Traitor as 'Good German' in Hollywood's Decision before Dawn (1951), Patrick Major; 7: Religious pacifism and the Hollywood war film: from Sergeant York (1941) to Hacksaw Ridge (2017), Guy Westwell; 8: Military Masculinity and the Deserting Soldier in Stop-Loss (2008), Thomas Ærvold Bjerre; 9: Activist, mother, filmmaker: competing transgressions in the Syrian war documentary, Lisa Purse; 10: Marie Colvin - the war hero and the 'nasty woman', Agnieszka Piotrowska; Index
About the author
Dr Lisa Purse is Associate Professor in Film in the Department of Film, Theatre & Television at the University of Reading.Dr Ute Wolfel is Lecturer in German Studies at the University of Reading
Summary
Through an interdisciplinary lens, this collection analyses the depiction of figures of transgression (e.g. traitors, deserters, refugees) in a variety of visual media, as well as the narrative, socio-cultural, political and historical contexts in which they emerge.
