Representation of War

The article examines the centuries-old relationships between the world of war and the world of spectacle. It analyses different examples of sham fights and mock sieges, which belong both to Roman times as well as the medieval and pre-modern periods. The aim of this analysis is to show how over the course of time these military events remained essentially unchanged, being tied by common organisational and ideological threads. The ritualised exhibition of war in the ancient and late ancient world is thus reflected in the ethos of the medieval ‘bellatores’, remaining almost entirely the same up to the emergence of the better known examples of the gentleman soldier and the official of pre-modern armies. The festive and spectacular aspects of such performances consolidated the military world’s resilience to change, surviving the countless transformations that might have questioned its identity.

The War Illustrated brought news of The Great War into the home. The war illustrators provided visually entertaining images of major battles, of acts of heroism, and of moments of drama and pathos. Increasingly, however, photographs were also used and, while it was not yet possible to take cameras into the thick of the action, photographers did capture something of what life on active service was like for the soldier.

Photographs and images of the soldier and his horse also allowed the British public to imagine war. For example, images of the soldier’s care for his horse provided reassurance and comfort, because they implied that he had not been de-humanised by war, and that his capacity for compassion, and kindness survived. The horse was a safe medium through which to portray the aftermath of battle, and to deal with difficult subjects such as death and wounding. Conversely, humorous photographs and illustrations of soldiers and their horses also provided opportunities for some much-needed light relief.

This paper considers how portrayals of the soldier and his horse altered as the War progressed and as public feeling shifted; from dramatic scenes of bravery, to the more contemplative mid-war images of 1916 and 1917. The War Illustrated allows us a privileged glimpse into the emotional lives of the British people as they lived through The Great War.

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Key Words
Soldier, Horse, Bond, Relationship, Representation, The War Illustrated, The Illustrated Press, The Great War, Morale, Humanity, Photography, Emotion.

In this paper my aim is to study Gore Vidal’s novel Hollywood, published in 1990, in order to examine how the writer associates the capital of American politics with the capital of popular entertainment and how the historical novel becomes a controversial medium/space for the representation of war and its interaction with film. I am particularly interested in analysing how Vidal discusses the major political and ideological role played by cinema, so that American people could be persuaded to give support to the country’s participation in the unpopular First World War. Moreover, I intend to discuss how Vidal addresses the ideological consolidation of the American empire and its political implications through the screening of history, thus questioning how literature and movies might be considered contentious political instruments.