Memories and representations of war : : the case of World War I and World War II / / edited by Elena Lamberti and Vita Fortunati.

• Superior document: TextxeT : studies in comparative literature ; 58
• TeilnehmendeR: Lamberti, Elena.; Fortunati, Vita.
• Place / Publishing House: Amsterdam ;, New York, NY : : Rodopi,, 2009.
• Year of Publication: 2009
• Language: English
• Series: Textxet: Studies in Comparative Literature 58.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (343 pages).
• Notes: Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

The contributors to the present volume approach World War I and World War II as complex and intertwined crossroads leading to the definition of the new European (and world) reality, and deeply pervading the making of the twentieth century. These scholars belong to different yet complementary areas of research – history, literature, cinema, art history; they come from various national realities and discuss questions related to Italy, Britain, Germany, Poland, Spain, at times introducing a comparison between European and North American memories of the two World War experiences. These scholars are all guided by the same principle: to encourage the establishment of an interdisciplinary and trans-national dialogue in order to work out new approaches capable of integrating and acknowledging different or even opposing ways to perceive and interpret the same historical phenomenon. While assessing the way the memories of the two World Wars have been readjusted each time in relation to the evolving international historical setting and through various mediators of memory (cinema, literature, art and monuments), the various essays contribute to unveil a cultural panorama inhabited by contrasting memories and by divided memories not to emphasise divisions, but to acknowledge the ethical need for a truly shared act of reconciliation.

Table of Contents

Preliminary Material -- INTRODUCTION / Elena Lamberti -- WARS WE HAVE SEEN: LITERATURE AS A MEDIUM OF COLLECTIVE MEMORY IN THE “AGE OF EXTREMES” / Astrid Erll -- WRITING AS TESTIMONY IN THE EUROPEAN NARRATIVE AFTER THE FIRST AND SECOND WORLD WARS / Vita Fortunati -- MEMORY AND REPRESSION: PSYCHIATRIC SOURCES AND THE HISTORY OF MODERN WARS / Antonio Gibelli -- THE WORLD WARS AND THE HISTORY OF ITALY: PUBLIC, SHARED AND DISPUTED MEMORIES / Alberto De Bernardi -- URBAN TOPONYMY, CULTURAL MEMORY AND THE WORLD WARS / Roberto Balzani -- CONTAMINATED MEMORY IN GÜNTER GRASS’ MY CENTURY: LITERARY AND JOURNALISTIC ACCOUNTS OF WAR / Cesare Giacobazzi -- THE EXPERIENCE OF WAR AND THE SEARCH FOR IDENTITY IN US NARRATIVES OF WORLD WAR I AND WORLD WAR II / Elena Lamberti -- “STRANGE GROWTHS”: THE WORLD WARS AS AGENTS AND MARKERS OF CHANGE IN WOMEN’S WRITING / Daniela Fortezza -- WAR IN WOMEN’S EXPERIENCE AND WRITING / Annamaria Lamarra -- “I HEAR SOUNDS OF SPAIN”: FOREIGN WOMEN WRITERS AND THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR / Arancha Aránzazu Usandizaga -- WAR LITERATURE, BEARING WITNESS, AND THE PROBLEM OF SACRALIZATION: TRAUMA AND DESIRE IN THE WRITING OF MARY BORDEN AND OTHERS / Max Saunders -- SPECTRES OF THE PAST, INHABITATIONS OF THE PRESENT: JOCHEN GERZ AND THE PROBLEM OF COMMEMORATION / Jonathan Kear -- REPRESENTING THE EXTREME: REMINISCENCES OF NAZI GERMANY IN TRAS EL CRISTAL / Camila Loew -- FILM AND WAR IMAGINARY: THE HOLLYWOOD COMBAT AND CULTURAL MEMORY OF WORLD WAR II / Sara Pesce -- “GOD’S PLAYGROUND”: POLAND AND THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN WAJDA’S CINEMA / Gabriella Elina Imposti -- CHASMS OF SILENCE: THE LUFTKRIEG IN GERMAN LITERATURE FROM A REUNIFICATION PERSPECTIVE / Raul Calzoni -- DEATH AND MOURNING IN THE MEMORY OF WORLD WAR I IN ITALY / Oliver Janz -- THE DEAD HERO, THE DEAD BODY: ANTI -EPIC AND RESEARCH OF MEANING IN THE FICTIONAL REPRESENTATION OF WORLD WAR II / Alberto Casadei -- TARICCO’S MEMORY / Roberto Bigazzi -- NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS -- INDEX.