Mediating War and Identity: Figures of Transgression in 20th- and 21st-century War Representation

Description

Examines the processes of conceptualising the self through ambivalent figures like traitors in representations of warOffers a genealogy of figures of transgression, and proposes the functions to which such figures are put in the cultural debate about war and its consequencesCase studies from a range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives, examining different types of cultural representationPushes forward understanding of specific forms and circumstances of transgression, but also the variety of figures of transgression that can be manifest in cultural representationExtends understanding of how figures of transgression are situated in Western visual and media culture, and to what endsIn 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.