RECONSIDERING THE GREAT WAR: The Later Years (1916-1918) (NeMLA)

Panel in the NeMLA 2016 (Northeast Modern Language Association) convention in Hartford, Connecticut
http://www.buffalo.edu/nemla.html
This panel will focus on a wide range of cultural responses to the latter two years of the Great War, namely from the beginning of the Battle of Verdun in 1916 to the end of the war in 1918. Proposals on literature, film, painting, graphic arts, music, philosophy, and other cultural forms are welcome. Works from 1916-2015 will be considered. This panel is open to many themes and questions, including but not limited to the following: how have those two years of war influenced actual combatants or fictional characters? Do responses to the long war vary from writer to writer or from novel to novel? Did different countries/languages have distinct or overlapping approaches to representing war after it had been going on for two or more years? How are movements and attitudes toward peace portrayed in the later years of the war? How are particular battles portrayed in the various arts? How does the war affect personal or sexual identity as portrayed in the arts? What are the similarities and differences between combatants and civilians that are represented in the arts? How has the duration of that war affected artistic forms? How has the war affected popular and high culture? Have different cultures or nations reacted in different ways to the war? How is disability that was caused by the war portrayed in the arts? What methodological perspectives are best suited to grasp the Great War? Presentations dealing with non-English writers and works are especially appreciated.

Please contact the chairs Richard Schumaker (rschumaker3@gmail.com) and Marja Härmänmaa (Marja.harmanmaa@helsinki.fi)