Home/Fronts : Contemporary War in British Literature, Drama, and Film

In recent years, the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq have had an impact on the UK, rivalled only by the Brexit and the global financial crisis. For people at home, the wars were ever-present in the media, yet remained distant and difficult to apprehend. This study offers an analytical survey of British contemporary war narratives in novels, drama, film, and television that seek to make sense of the experience. The study shows how the narratives, instead of reflecting on the UK`s role as invader, portray war as invading the British home. Home loses its post-Cold War sense of »permanent peace« and is recast as a home/front where war once again becomes part of what it means to be »us«. Cover Contents 1. Introduction 2. Contexts and State of Research 2.1. War 2.2. Home 2.3. Home/Front 3. Theoretical Framework 3.1. Yuri Lotman’s Semiosphere 3.2. Cultural Notions of Trauma 3.3. Michel Foucault’s Heterotopia 4. Novel 4.1. Exploration: New Home/Fronts in British Prose Fiction State of Research 4.1.1. Urban Protest: The Run-Up to War The City at War in Ian McEwan’s Saturday 4.1.2. Rural Frontlines: The Country at War Invading the Pastoral in Pat Barker’s Double Vision 4.1.3. In the War Zone: Soldiers and War Correspondents Young and Female Perspectives in David Massey’s Torn 4.1.4. Histories of War: Memory and the Past Old and New Conflicts in Andrew O’Hagan’s The Illuminations 4.1.5. Private Wars: Embattled Families Home Unguarded in Ali Smith’s The Accidental 4.2. Close-Up: Home/Fronts in Graham Swift’s Wish You Were Here Origins: The Family Home Rites of Belonging: The Communal Home Alternative Homes: Holiday Spaces A Place of Refuge: Belonging and the Military The Journey: Rethinking Home The Revenant Brother: Confronting War Returning Home: New Perspectives The Home/Front in Wish You Were Here 4.3. Findings: Narrating the Home/Front 5. Stage Plays 5.1. Exploration: New Home/Fronts on the British Stage State of Research 5.1.1. Homecoming Soldiers: The Return of War War Games in Jonathan Lichtenstein’s The Pull of Negative Gravity Departure and Return in Roy Williams’s Days of Significance 5.1.2. Border Spaces: Between War and Home Blurring the Boundary in Morgan Lloyd Malcolm’s Belongings Inclusion and Exclusion in Cat Jones’s Glory Dazed 5.1.3. Fact-Based Drama: The Reality of War Performing War in Gregory Burke’s Black Watch Theatre as Therapy in Owen Sheers’s The Two Worlds of Charlie F. 5.1.4. Civilian Perspectives: Private Lives at War Special Relationships in David Hare’s The Vertical Hour Home Politics in Sarah Helm’s Loyalty The Broken Promise of Home in Mike Bartlett’s Artefacts 5.2. Close-Up: Home/Fronts in Simon Stephens’s Motortown Space and Movement: Structures of Return The Point of Departure: The Unhomely Home Ghosts of Home and War: Traumatic Patterns A Day’s Journey: From Home to Home/Front Access and Excess: Performing War at Home Homecoming: A Sense of Defamiliarisation The Family: Community as Complicity The Home/Front in Motortown 5.3. Findings: Performing the Home/Front 6. Film and Television 6.1. Exploration: New Home/Fronts on British Screens State of Research 6.1.1. War Films: At the Frontline Exploring Battlefields in The Patrol and Kajaki: The True Story 6.1.2. Docudrama: Records of War Public Affairs and Private Matters in 10 Days to War Running against Blair in Reg Alternative Hypotheses in WMD and The Trial of Tony Blair 6.1.3. Domestic Film Drama: At the Home Front Hidden Truths in Verity’s Summer 6.1.4. Soldier Films: Traumatic Returns Justice and Trauma in The Mark of Cain Female Fighters in Our Girl and In Our Name 6.1.5. Genre Films: War Action, War Crime Home Invasions in Route Irish Serialising War in Silent Witness 6.2. Close-Up: Home/Fronts in Peter Bowker’s Occupation Starting Points: Critique and Title Exposition: Invading the War Zone Homecoming: Embattled Returns Spoils of War: Deceptive Fantasies Ends of War: Conflating the Spheres Home/Fronts in Occupation 6.3. Findings: Screening the Home/Front 7. Conclusion: Fictional Home/Fronts in Contemporary Media 7.1. Media Perspectives on Home and Contemporary War 7.2. Transmedia Perspectives on British Home/Fronts Opposition: The Spheres of Home and War The Breakdown of the Boundary: Home as Home/Front Autocommunication: Holding Up the Mirror Home/Fronts: Addressing the Current State of Britain Works Cited Prose Fiction Stage Plays Films and Audiovisual Material Sources In recent years, the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq have had an impact on the UK rivalled only by Brexit and the global financial crisis. For people at home, the wars were ever-present in the media yet remained distant and difficult to apprehend. Janina Wierzoch offers an analytical survey of British contemporary war narratives in novels, drama, film, and television that seek to make sense of the experience. The study shows how the narratives, instead of reflecting on the UK`s role as invader, portray war as invading the British home. Home loses its post-Cold War sense of »permanent peace« and is recast as a home/front where war once again becomes part of what it means to be »us«. Britain,Media,Culture,War,21st Century,Literature,Film,Theatre,British Studies,Theatre Studies,Cultural Studies,Literary Studies "In recent years, the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq have had an impact on the UK rivalled only by Brexit and the global financial crisis. For people at home, the wars were ever-present in the media yet remained distant and difficult to apprehend. Janina Wierzoch offers an analytical survey of British contemporary war narratives in novels, drama, film, and television that seek to make sense of the experience. The study shows how the narratives, instead of reflecting on the UK's role as invader, portray war as invading the British home. Home loses its post-Cold War sense of 'permanent peace' and is recast as a home/front where war once again becomes part of what it means to be 'us'."--Back cover

In recent years, the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq have had an impact on the UK rivalled only by Brexit and the global financial crisis. For people at home, the wars were ever-present in the media yet remained distant and difficult to apprehend. Janina Wierzoch offers an analytical survey of British contemporary war narratives in novels, drama, film, and television that seek to make sense of the experience. The study shows how the narratives, instead of reflecting on the UK`s role as invader, portray war as invading the British home. Home loses its post-Cold War sense of »permanent peace« and is recast as a home/front where war once again becomes part of what it means to be »us«.