Still fighting in the trenches: ‘War discourse’ and the memory of the First World War in Britain

Ross J Wilson

doi:10.1177/1750698015575174

Abstract

This article examines how the memory of the First World War (1914–1918) across Britain has been structured by the use of a specific ‘war discourse’. This means of communication draws upon the vast array of words, phrases and sayings that were popularised through the experience of large numbers of civilians in military service during the conflict. This lexicon has been subsequently incorporated into wider usage and retains a prominent place within cultural expression. However, rather than merely being used as an illustrative device, the ‘war discourse’ is employed to make specific references regarding both the past and the present within the political, media and public sphere, as issues of blame, responsibility and neglect are integral parts of its usage. Through the application of critical discourse analysis, the ‘war discourse’ can be observed as a significant means by which society remembers the Great War.

Highlights

The hundredth anniversaries of the Great War in Britain will be an opportunity to engage in the meanings and memories of a conflict that is regularly described as ‘haunting’ contemporary society
Rather than assuming that the ‘popular memory’ results from a vapid consumption of media, this study reveals through a critical analysis of political, media and public discourse, that the war itself provides a symbolic and potentially dissonant resource for society to assesses current issues
Martin-in-theField, London in 2008: There is no celebration of death here, just the knowledge of the pain it causes, the grief of those who remember and wait ‘and each slow dusk a drawing down of blinds’ (Holtam 2008). This is further demonstrated in the usage of Anthem for Doomed Youth to begin the memorial service at Halifax Minster for the six members of the Yorkshire Regiment, the 3rd Battalion, The Duke of Wellington Regiment, who were killed in Afghanistan in March 2012: This poem was written by Wilfred Owen, the great First World War poet, and is entitled Anthem for Doomed Youth, a reminder of how young some of the victims of war often turn out to be (Barber 2012)

Summary

Introduction

The hundredth anniversaries of the Great War in Britain will be an opportunity to engage in the meanings and memories of a conflict that is regularly described as ‘haunting’ contemporary society. Memorials, film, television and literature have been assessed for the way in which they shape and inform practices of remembrance (Hanna 2009; Todman 2005; Williams 2009) These cultural forms have been regarded as the means by which a current generation, far removed from the war itself and without the conflict’s last living witnesses, can access and interpret the significance of the conflict (Badsey 2009). Phrases and sayings that emerged during the conflict are still drawn upon almost a hundred years after their origin and constitute an identifiable and critical mode of expression (after Ricœur 2004: 129) By assessing this ‘war discourse’, the memory and connotations of the conflict within contemporary. Rather than assuming that the ‘popular memory’ results from a vapid consumption of media, this study reveals through a critical analysis of political, media and public discourse, that the war itself provides a symbolic and potentially dissonant resource for society to assesses current issues (after Fairclough 2001: 12)

The First World War and popular memory in Britain

War Discourse

Conclusions