BLAST! and Format

The Scholes and Wulfman article nicely maps out an easy approach to read a modern magazine. One of the approaches I find to be very helpful is Format. In this, it is important to note key changes among different issues of the magazine.

The modern magazine BLAST was a short lived magazine, with only two issues, dedicated to Vorticism. In the first issue of BLAST, the Vorticists are attacking futurists for being too sentimental. The first edition predates WWI by two months. The cover is bright pink with BLAST written diagonally across. The first few pages are very dynamic in their use of space. It is very eye catching but also straight forward. The first issue includes artwork by Edward Wadsworth and Wyndham Lewis, to only name a few. The artwork is very abstract and looks very mechanical and industrial. A particular piece by Lewis titled " Plan of War" is very interesting because the war had not begun yet. However, it gives an abstract representation of how a war moves. It also suggests the war against establishment, which being a magazine dedicated to Vorticism would make sense because Vorticists wanted to set themselves apart from everyone else.

The second issue of BLAST is dedicated to supporting the war. The artwork on the cover is by Lewis and is reminiscent of some of the his art seen in the first issue of BLAST; very industrial and mechanical. The opening few pages attack the Germans for their ideas on Romanticism. The second issue is very aggressive, violent, and primitive. The articles, poems, art, etc. in the second edition speak to war, humanity, and art. This shows the change in purpose among the two editions. The first edition was working to set themselves apart, seen in the blast, bless, and curse lists while the second edition is working to show support for the war. Something that stays similar among the two issues is that there is no use of color and the art remains abstract.

This change among the two issues of BLAST, I believe, is due to the message each issue was trying to convey.

BLAST and Format

            I have made observations of the short-lived Modernist Magazine BLAST by using Robert Scholes and Clifford Wulfman’s sixth point of observation in their article “How to Study a Modern Magazine”, which is “Format”. In addition to observing dimensions, page numbers, and visual material of the magazine, Scholes and Wulfman also suggests to make observations of how these aspects change over time, or from issue to issue. Because BLAST lasted for only two issues, it was easy to see some of the most striking changes in the magazine. The changes in format between issues 1 and 2 of BLAST are quite drastic given the short lifetime of the magazine from 1914-1915. As we talked about in class, the start of World War I may have had a lot to do with the content of the magazine, but may have also had an impact on the decisions made while formatting the magazine.

The dimensions of BLAST can be compared to the dimensions of a contemporary magazine we might come across today. Issue 1 of BLAST has 212 pages while Issue 2 has only 112. In both issues, however, the page count could have easily been reduced by eliminating or utilizing blank space. The images in this magazine have their own individual pages, even if the size of the image takes up less than half of the space on the page. Each image page is followed by a completely blank page, and each section is separated by a blank page.

The artwork intersects some stories and sections of poetry, but seem to have little to do with the stories and poems themselves. The images represent the type of art the Vorticism movement would have been interested in or approving of. The images are in black and white and appear as though they were prints of the original drawings or paintings. The only color used in the magazine is on the cover of Issue 1, which is shocking pink with the title BLAST seemingly stamped on it in bold, black letters. Although Issue 2 lacks the bright pink flare of the first issue, the pink color seems to be replaced with one of Wyndham Lewis’ drawings to illustrate the magazine’s affinity for Vorticism with their Cubist and Imagist foundations.

BLAST and its Content

        I chose to look at the content of BLAST. The first thing I did was go through each issue and tally up the various types of work in them. I has seven categories; the introduction,poetry, plays, short fiction, opinion pieces, art, and advertisements. Then I totaled up the number of pages for each section and the total number of pages and found the percent that each category took up.
            In BLAST issue one the introduction, in this case the manifesto was 31 pages and made up 19% of the entire issue. Only 6 pages have poems on them for a total of 12 pages, only 3.5% of the issue. Advertisements also make up only 3.5% of the issue. The one play in the first issue is 27 pages and is 16%  of the issue. There are only two short stories in the issue, making up 18% of the issue. There are 23 art pieces in the first issue, making up 13%of the issue. the category that has the most space is the opinion pieces  at 46%. Most of these pieces were short papers about various topics the authors felt strongly about. 
          The second issue of BLAST is similar to the first in terms of composition even though it is much shorter than the first issue, but there are some major differences as well.The opinion pieces make up 57% of the second issue. Unlike the first issue the introduction in issue two is just a three page editorial. Poetry makes up more of the second issue- 16%, but there are no plays and only one two page short story.  Both issues clearly show the political and artistic beliefs of those involved in the making of BLAST. Each has many pieces that are just give the author's opinion on a certain topic or place. They are critical and unapologetic. The fact that these pieces make up so much of each issue shows the strong political opinions of those in charge of BLAST, opinions that they clearly want their readers to know about. This aggressiveness in their opinions being the right ones could be why BLAST only lasted two issues.

Scholes, Wulfman, and BLAST

The chapter on how to read a modernist magazine is actually very helpful for modern day readers who are trying to understand what the context of the magazines actually are. While reading modernist literature, this would always be useful to keep nearby, so the same will go when you read BLAST. 

By using some of the techniques that are demonstrated by Scholes and Wulfman, you can easily describe the short, 2 issue run of BLAST. By using the implied reader method, it does not take long to realize that this magazine was written with an intended audience of intellectuals. The magazine often makes references to romantic artists from other countries, something that the average person would probably not understand. For the content portion of the breakdown, you can quickly tell that this magazine relies heavily on the political values of the contributors, as well as their views on way of life. Lastly, the format of the magazine is actually quite different. The first magazine is a bright pinkish color and a pretty large size. However, the format of the pages is what seems to be the most interesting characteristic of the magazine. Especially on the "Blast" pages, the use of empty space is very prevelant, taking up almost as much room as the text itself.

Blast and Reading a Modern Magazine #6

For Blast, I believe one of the more significant parts of the magazine that can be studied involves number 6, the format. Examining the first issue closely, the size of Blast seems very large and thick compared to modern magazines but I believe that most magazines from the day were approximately the same size. The length of the edition is hard to judge because the actual journal says 160 but there are many blank pages at the beginning and end of it which may have been advertisements or just blanks pages. However, the size of the font changes drastically depending on which piece you look at. The font sometimes changes too; not in the middle of a story but when you compare the different ones to each other.

As far as visual art goes there are many drawings, especially abstract ones, within the first edition. There is only one photograph of an abstract sculpture on page xvii, titled Stags in the magazine but towards the end there are a few drawings that are not abstract but what look like water-color paintings of society.

There does not seem to be any sort of order in which the pictures are displayed and they appear many times in the middle of the different stories. For example, in the middle of The Saddest Story, there are several abstract drawings of head and other things which do not relate to the story at all. The images all seem to be independent of the various stories and without them the journal would not really be much better or worse in my opinion.  The images are not in color but the cover of the actual magazine is bright pink with black writing.

Because of the length of time that Blast was being produced and the number of editions, there are not really any major changes that I can see other than the increase in what can only be described as war propaganda. There is much more in the second edition than the first as WWI becomes more and more inevitable.

Looking at the Content of Blast

             One of the suggestions that Scholes and Wulfman make when looking at a journal like Blast, is to look specifically at what kind of contents are in the journal. The first edition of Blast has 23 drawings, prints or other illustrations. It also includes a handful of poems by Ezra Pound, 2 short stories, 1 play and 1 book review. Then the bulk of the other pages with words on them, I am not even sure how to categorize. Those other pages contain a lot of short fragments of opinions and beliefs. The only advertisements in the journal are the advertisements at the end for the publisher, and the books that are new from that company. Even though there are far more pages with words on them, I think the focus of this journal is the art. I say this in part because there is so much of it, and in part because the book review is a book by Kandinsky who was a contemporary artist. And on many of the uncategorized typed pages, the words themselves are arranged artistically and talk about art, art forms, what the vorticists believe and/or are criticisms of other art forms. Wyndham Lewis is presenting his movement and the majority of the journal is examples (in one way or another) of what he is calling Vorticism.

               The journal changes from the first edition to the second edition. In the second edition there are only 17 drawings, prints or other illustrations, and where there were only a few categorized works in the first edition there are significantly more in the second edition. The second edition is only half as many total pages and there are a lot more poems – 15 I think.  The randomness of Wyndham Lewis also seems to be categorized into short essays a little bit more organized and a little less artsy in look than the first edition. While there is still a huge emphasis on art, as well as a review of contemporary art, by the second edition the journal definitely addresses the war. The writers make comments about war, the drawings and prints have war themes. It is clear that the war is a big part of everyone’s life. However, I still think that the journal’s main interest is art and its audience intellectual, artistic people.

History of Blast

         Robert Scholes and Clifford Wulfman wrote an interesting perspective on how to “tackle” a modernist magazine. These periodicals were written over a hundred years ago during a time of political unrest, national ideologies and movements and certain individuals did not mind publishing how they felt about it. “Blast” was a set of manifestos which supported art and literature. It would blast everything from the Victorian age to France, including other targets; and in the same breath, turn round and “bless” many of the same targets. One point that I thought was important that the authors brought out was knowing the history behind the magazine, well as much history as you can possibly ascertain. Sometimes this information can be hard to find when the data is over a century old, but whatever can be gathered will aid in the understanding of the publication.

            Blast was published only twice: July 1914 and July 1915. Britain declared war on Germany in August, 1914, so the publication, along with it being a very outspoken magazine, did not have a long shelf life. One of its main contributors Henri-Gaudier-Brzeska, who was also one of the original Vorticists was killed at the war trenches. Wyndham Lewis was its main editor along with a group of young writers and artist who shared his mentality and sentiments: Richard Aldington, Malcolm Arbuthnot, Lawrence Atkinson, Jessica Dismorr, Cuthbert Hamilton, Ezra Pound, William Roberts, Helen Saunders and Edward Wadsworth; although few of them took on a serious role. Ezra Pound is not included in the ones who took on a less serious role. He was very much involved. It was visually unconventional in its appearance as opposed to other conservative modernist journals of the time such as: “The Egoist, English Review, New Age and Harold Monro’s Poetry Reiew”. Blast was meant to be a “bold intervention in a rapidly changing art world”. There was high hopes for its circulation and influence, but then a Great War broke out and changed the course for the magazine.

 

Sources:

http://modjourn.org/render.php?id=mjp.2005.00.097&view=mjp_object

http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/21cc/counterculture/assaultonculture/blast/blast.html

Reading content in Blast 1 and 2

            In chapter six of their book Modernism in the Magazines: An Introduction, Robert Scholes and Wulfman offer specific lenses one can use to more thoroughly read a modernist magazine. Since modernist magazines are a collection of many authors, literary, and artistic works there is a special approach needed to see the magazine as a unified but not really unified text. As readers, we read the magazine as a whole and appreciate the different styles present while looking for some overarching thematic significance. To help readers arrive at a more complete understanding, Scholes and Wulfan offer a checklist of elements of a magazine to specifically examine on page 148.One area that is suggested that I feel is especially  important for reading a modernist magazine is too look at the composition of the different genres included. For example, in Blast there is a very close ratio between literary writing and drawings/pictures which certainly makes sense as Lewis and the other contributors sought to perpetuate the Vorticist artistic movement.  So in terms of numbers, it is evident that art and the discussion of art was the central focus for the authors as seen by the large percentage of entries revolving around art.

Also in terms of the number of times certain content is discussed, one could conclude that the looming (and later current) threat of global war is certainly represented in both Blast 1 and 2. As Scholes and Wulfman discuss, the proportion of war centered articles/art reveals that the idea of war and destruction were at the forefront of national attention. Lewis, Pound, and the other contributors all address (many times over) how the war will impact England and especially how a world war would threaten the development of the artistic movement. If one were to take a tally of how many pages of Blast deal with war/battle/fighting they would likely find that a large percentage of the content (especially in the second edition) deal with the conflict which was soon to change every element of life in England. So as Scholes and Wulfam suggest it is important to look at the content of a modernist magazine to determine what was the backdrop of the creation of the magazine was. To fully understand what is the “main goal” of the magazine is one should pay attention to what ideas are repeatedly discussed and what ideas seem to be outliers. 

Blast

The first thing I noticed in the first edition of Blast was the use of space. In a magazine today, there is not space left anywhere on a page. Space if filled with words or pictures. In Blast, especially in the first few pages, you notice the amount of white space on each page. It is very straight forward and simply, it seems that there is no need to sugar coat or add what is not necessary.

I found the Manifesto interesting because it goes through Blast, Curse, and Bless, and really lays out what this first edition is about and who it is for. In addition, several of the things they blast or curse, they also bless; England, France, humor, etc. I found the Manifesto humorous because it was so straightforward. Wether this was the point or not, I believe that this helps set the reader up, today or during the 1900s, to enjoy reading this magazine. As the reading goes on, I enjoy the fact that the magazine is full of stories, poems, and art as opposed to today's magazines which are full of basic nonsense. Also, the visual art throughout is very abstract. I particularly like "Head" and "Dancers".

The second edition of Blast is quite different than the first. The Editorial discusses the war and positions the magazine in support of the war effort. The majority of the Editorial discusses Germany's romanticism. However, they make sure to discuss it and explain it in full so that the reader does not think they are in alliance or support with Germany. The article "Artists and The War" is interesting to me because it seems to be discussing how artists have no means or reason to make art during the war because they cannot be paid (?). This article is also interesting to me given the amount of visual art throughout both the first and second editions. I really enjoyed the poem "Rhapsody of a Windy Night" by T.S. Elliot. To me, I see this poem as discussing the view of a neighborhood, even a street, by a lamppost. I thought that perhaps this is how an unlikely person, possibly a civilian, may be viewing the war; an outsider looking in. I believe the visual art stayed the same between both editions in terms of abstraction. However, the art titles such as "War Machine" "Progression", and "Combat" seem to be leaning towards the idea of war, which is clearly what the second edition is invested in.

Blast! The Difference in a Year

I think what struck me the most about this, was the difference in the first volume and the second volume. The first volume seems to be very much about explaining what Blast is, who the Vorticists are and who they are not. The second volume is very much about the war. It seemed to me that the first volume was much more pure. There was nothing hindering Blast. Whereas by the second volume they clearly are fighting for readers, as they Lewis notes that there are "a multitude of other Blasts of all sizes and descriptions" (pg 5).  Also in the way that Lewis focuses on explaining what he means by calling the Germans romanticists -- it really seems like he is probably being censured. Much of his editorial at the beginning seems to be alluding to censure.

Likewise, in the first volume, he has Blasts and Curses (though they are not formally named - they are covered under the manifesto I guess) at the beginning, one of the first things you read. These blasts and curses are followed by some blesses, but the focus seems to be on the blasts and curses. In the second volume they are tucked in the end and they are clearly titled Blasts and Blesses- leaving out the curses altogether - focusing on the positive note along side the blasts. And in the first volume, I think it is possible that some people may have found his blasts offensive and unpatriotic. He starts off cursing the weather, but he also slyly slips in a note about sins and vampires and this whole sucking theme- alluding to some aspect of British society sucking life (it seems) from the people and the artists. In volume 2, his blasts and blesses are lists, with no explanation at all- again giving the feeling that he is being censured.

In volume 1 Lewis gives the readers a manifesto (or 2). He lists out a variety of things that Blast believes in and supports.  In volume 2, he gives the readers an editorial which explains a lot of the changes. Then at the end right in front of the blasts and blesses, he writes Wyndam Lewis. Vortex No 1. Art Vortex.  Be Thyself.  This seems similar to his manifesto(s) in Volume 1, but it's tucked in at the end, and with a title that seems to be hoping someone overlooks it.  The first line of that "You must talk with two tongues if you do not wish to cause confusion" seems to be alluding to his attempts to get around censure. I could be way off, but that's how it seems to me. 

In general both Blasts are very interesting. They both are very much geared towards art but Lewis takes a huge turn in the second one towards writing about the war. It is even called War Number. A lot of the artwork in it seems to be war images. By the second volume it almost seems to lose a little bit of the push towards individuality because the war is such a nationalistic effort.

Some Thoughts About the Readings

        Ezra Pound is an interesting individual. There was not much this man did not have his hands in one way or another, especially if it meant going against the "standard norm". If he could have started a Revolution that would have took, I believe he would done so with all true conviction. The material presented this week was cumbersome as it offered a wealth of information. Many concepts of which I think begs for more in-class conversation was presented. The information was dense and moved very fast and some of the terms were not clearly defined in my opinion. It was almost as if the authors assumed the readers knew what they were talking about and in essence, that may not be the case. Terms such as: "Les Imagistes, Vorticism (the movement itself, what it entailed, etc.), polemics, avant-garde", are just some of the terms that were constantly repeated, but the text was moving so quickly, there was not a real clear understanding. You can kind of piece together what is being said in context, but you are not sure if the path you are on is correct or if you have digressed in a total different direction, just to say a word about the Angel readings.
     The title, "Blast", says a great deal. It tells the reader even before they open the magazine that within the pages there is going to be something astronomical coming your way. The word itself packs a powerful punch. Immediately you are put on notice to brace yourself for whatever you are about to encounter and that is exactly what happens when you begin to go through the pages. The juxtaposition of wording alone on the "Blast and Bless" pages is enough to overwhelm the reader. The authors truly had some strong feelings politically and they were not afraid to share their thoughts about it. The authors were not afraid to share their thoughts about much period. There was no censorship, no being politically correct and if someone did not like it, then it was just too bad. Of course that would explain why it did not have a long shelf life. The images were abstract, very geometric (cubism at its best) and there was a great deal of contrast between light and dark from what I could see. They also seemed to be a bit grainy. I am not sure if that was due to it being copied as a pdf. Blast is definitely a magazine that was outspoken and did not mind being that way. Now, would a magazine like this be allowed in society today? Let me just say, I have yet to see one.

BLAST Off: Nationalism in a New Age Magazine

When I began BLAST  I did not except to read a magazine that placed a nationalistic and an English-centric mindset throughout the pages of the magazine. BLAST applied the tropes one constantly encounters in a nationalistic magazine; it constantly references the nation’s greatest writer; speaks on its greatness and how their country continue that traditions yet, the “BLAST manifesto” carry out these tropes in an unoriginal way. It just reiterated its superiority. BLAST claims, “The Modern world is due almost entirely to the Anglo-Saxon genius-its appearance and its spirit” (39). I except that the magazine is not only trying to clarify that they are developing a new ways of letting the world be, however, the English are specifically can understand the way that everyone in Europe-and soon the world-should view things. Especially the different subjects, like art, that is supposed to be mastered by another country, but the English can do it better.  

It is strange and alarming that this sense of nationalism sprung up at the time because it seems that modern writers constantly maintained and wanted to be disconnected and alienated from their sense of time and space. The jump from feeling outside the norms and trying to find their place in the world is very stark from the Manifestos. It is hard to draw the conclusion that the writers at the time found their identity by remaining nationalistic, even the American Ezra Pound. I find it weird that a purposefully and blusterous type of magazine of BLAST that want to be on another plan from all people relies on nationalism, the most generic way of expressing oneself to do it. 

Organization and Imagery compared to Modern Magazines

Blast and several of the other journal editions that I've read have made me realize just how different the magazines of today are in comparison to those written in the past. Media and commercialization have basically taken over the business and we no longer see stories about the problems with the government and actual literature. Also, the pictures in Blast are completely different from any of the magazines we look at today other than perhaps one specifically about art. The art in Blast also does not seem to pertain to the magazine at all. For example, in the middle of The Sad Story, there are six seemingly random pictures of heads and other things which I believe do not relate to the story being told in any way. Also, in modern magazines, normally any pictures shown have a description beneath them or at least some sort of caption, but in Blast many of the images are simply label "Drawing" with no indication whatsoever of what the artist was actually trying to illustrate. The few that can be recognized or are photographs and have captions that make sense are in a completely different art form than the rest of the magazine.

There also seems to be an excessive amount of white space between the images and each piece of literature. At the beginning and ends of the journal there was a lot of blank pages too and not many advertisements. I'm wondering if this is how the magazine actually was or if the advertisements have simply been cut for some reason or another. Overall the organization of the paper seems to be a complete wreak.

Blast

                To say that reading both volumes of Blast was an interesting experience would be an understatement. As someone reading these works in 2015, I found myself thinking “you can’t say that/write that” in a magazine that was to be published and circulated. The reason I felt this is presumably because I have been indoctrinated with the idea that when discussing politics and the economy one must maintain some degree of respectful political correctness. Wyndham Lewis and the other contributors of Blast certainly did not feel the same way. In terms of diction, both editions maintained the use of caustic accusatory language. This was especially prevalent in the extensive manifesto and “blast and bless” list in the first edition.

While I was confused by much of the content and opinions recorded in the first edition of Blast, I would definitely say that the preliminary blast and bless list left me with the most questions especially as it was the first thing I read in this journal. It begins by blasting England for its climate and extensively explained how the air and sky made England a dreadful place. Later when it came to the bless section, England was lauded for its superior ships, seafaring people, ocean ports, and hairdressers (??) (11-28). For someone trying to speculate on the authors’ feelings about the topics mentioned on the lists, I found that the blasts and blessings seemed to contradict each other. Even after reading both volumes, I am still unclear as to where the authors would situate themselves in terms of allegiance or nationality.

One thing that definitely was clear to me when reading both editions is that art is VERY IMPORTANT to the contributors and Wyndham Lewis. On page 38 of the second publication, Lewis gives a very extensive (and opinionated) editorial on the different types of contemporary art that were prominent in the early 1900s (Vorticism, Futurism, Cubism, Caricature, Realism...). While I am not an art critic in the least, on thing that struck me was the type of art that was featured in these journals that were so focused around the importance of art in society. Many of the drawings and paintings featured were relatively simplistic abstract geometric shapes. Not to belittle any type of art, but Lewis and the other authors spoke so highly of the value and power of art and I found myself wondering if these works were really “all they were cracked up to be”. As someone who is not that well versed in close reading and understanding abstract art it seemed that Lewis and co. we’re making a “big deal” out of what seems like shapes and rigid lines that don’t even seem to go together. One piece of artwork that stood out from the rest was “Types of the Russian Army” by Kramer on page 31 of the second edition. This caricature drawing seems like something that would be considered “off limits” to publish in a time of war as anti-Russian propaganda. As we have discussed in class, the government in basically all of the countries involved in the war regulated (or attempted to) what the general public would see as to prevent resistance to the war. With that being said, I can understand why there are only two editions of Blast ever published with their sharp words and unapologetic criticisms. 

Christmas Dinner

This image of an Italian woman aiding in the plucking of turkeys for the Christmas dinner of the soldiers was the most appealing to me. I feel like an image like this would be especially striking to anyone who was back home in England in this time period. Not only is the photo demonstrating to the English people that there are people who are willing to help their boys in this war, but it also shows to the viewer that although these soldiers are facing extreme trauma on an almost daily basis, they still cling to cultural norms that are present in their home land. A picture like this may give hope to some British citizens that although these soldiers are seeing and experiencing such horrible things, they may still be normal in the sense that they still partake in socially normal activities.

Photos like this are still circulated today, especially in our culture. And although it has been nearly a century later, these types of photos still have a very strong impact on the people who view them.

The Loneliness of War

I chose this picture because unlike so many of the other images I feel that it shows the loneliness of war. Sure the men have their comrades, but at the same time they are alone. Every soldier experiences war differently, and in that way they are alone. The soldiers are also away from home, which is different for every one of them as well. Some of them may have hated being at home, and are glad to not be there, but others could have been forced to leave a family that they love dearly, and everything in between. all of their individual experiences show how lonely it could be out on the front. This soldier is literally alone with his weapon. The caption talks about the great loss of men that France suffered on August 22,1914. This brings up another way that soldiers are together yet alone. They are friends, but at the same time they never know when someone will be killed. Even if the men did become close when one was lost every soldier handled that loss differently. That is why services for veterans are so important- not just physical care, but also mental care- so that each soldier can deal with what they saw and felt in war in the best way possible without feeling judged.

“This is one of the few photographs which shows the moment of an attack.  It shows an officer of the Scottish Rifles leading his men out of a trench for a raid on German trenches near Arras on 24 March 1917.”

I found this image on the Grafton Galleries website, the link which was provided on angel. I chose this image because of how rare it is; capturing the powerful, overwhelming moment of men leaving the trenches to go into battle.

During the war, soldiers lived in the trenches. Life in the trenches was described as “one of the most sustained onslaughts of the human sensorium. It thrust man’s fragile body between the ooze of primordial slime on the one hand and the terrors of shellfire on the other…” (Das). I found this poignant because it gives me the sense that soldiers lived in fear day to day. They never knew what to expect and as this photo captures, even crawling out of the trenches they do not know what to expect. They do not know what is on the surface, and as a viewer of the image, neither do we. This image would have made the civilian at home use their imagination as to the terror present beyond what is shown. Something else I notice about this picture is how they soldiers are in a line, just waiting to crawl out of the trench and fight. This may present a somewhat negative connotation that the soldiers were made to live in these narrow, obviously unexplainably dirty trenches, to be filtered out one by one to fight. I don’t believe that this is the intent however, it is a thought that came to mind.

I believe civilians living at home who would have seen this image would have been filled with grief, horror, and worry. The soldiers in this image are brothers, sons, fathers, husbands; loved ones. The lack of identity being shown leaves the viewer wondering if this is someone they know? Is this my loved one? Not having that answer I can only imagine as one of the worst feelings. However, during World War I being able to stay in touch with family while on the front was a priority. Soldiers were able to write home to their families and give them a sense of what the war was like however frequently they wanted. Therefore, the worrying of family members was able to be subsided eventually. They were not left wondering if their loved one was dead or alive for an extreme extended amount of time.

The strongest message I take from this image is the lack of identity. None of the soldiers faces are shown which, as already discussed, leaves you curious as to who these men were. It also makes the connection between all civilians being soldiers and fighting the war. Just because civilians were not on the front, they were making great efforts at home to support the cause.

Onward and Forward: Summoning Nationalism

           

26 A British officer leads the way "over the top" amid the bursting of German shells. (John Warwick Brooke/National Library of Scotland) #

I believe that this picture truly exhibit the bravery that soldiers demonstrates in war, however the picture also demonstrates the images that the British government wanted to circulate throughout the newspapers and war pamphlets. The line of helmets do not display the faces of the men entering the battlefield; the photo to be impersonal. The soldiers display unity because every member is moving forward. Additionally, even with the photo capturing a moment it is not hard to not imagine that the soldiers’ pacing is unified. For the viewers that want to feel the individual feeling of war the silique of the lone soldiers does establish a level of individuality. The picture itself can be used a propaganda for people to join the war, but to contribute to the war. The faceless soldiers, but the strength that they display does not jar the viewer against the war. To the contrary, the picture can represent nationalism. The picture exploits nationalism because the caption solidify that the men are moving towards the German. Your enemy for the average British citizen. It’s hard not the feel at home a need to support these men in a positive way.  Basically, the secondary motive of this picture is to recruit bodies. The main objective is to make people want to contribute back home. The picture summons this idea of marching into glory. Overall, the photos prompts the citizens of Britain to remain connected to heroic aspect of the men on the front line however, distance from the personal turmoil’s of each individual soldier. 

British Bombard on the Western Front

In Britain, the government would restrict information civilians were privy to concerning the war. They did not want to scare off any future soldiers and wanted to keep the women handling much of the foot work by way of supplies, making of materials such as clothing for the soldiers, etc. It was also a way for the government to control the food rations. It is worth mentioning the idea of public time when dealing with the war.

The civilians who were left back at home only had public time to operate with. They sent their husbands, sons, nephews, cousins and various loved ones off to fight in this war and all that remained was the their knowledge, amongst other documents of weddings, births, deaths, etc. that linked them to these individuals. In essence, all of them were operating in this public time, this open community knowledge base. If these residents at home had seen a photo or a postcard such as the picture below it would have transferred them into the world of their loved ones. They would have had that one impression of a discrete moment that gave them a sense of private time.

In Britain it was one thing to know what was going on as everyone knew what the word “war” meant. It was the 1900’s. War was not a new phenomenon that plagued the world and everybody was trying to figure it out. A picture like this would have made it real, it would have brought it home. “Here, Bullet,” by Brian Turner is a book of poetry about his experience as a soldier in Iraq. It is always more of an experience when you can share on a personal level. This picture would have allowed the natives in Britain to connect with the situation at hand. It may have disturbed them, but it would have given meaning. They would have a greater appreciation for making the clothes and boxing the supplies. When people can identify with a situation, they tend to be more open and understanding.

The picture below although it shows the gruesomeness of war and what it can take from you, it also shows them why they are doing what they are doing and gives them a reason for it.

British artillery bombards German positions on the Western Front. (Library of Congress) #
http://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/changing-lives-gender-expectations 

Christmas on the Western Front

This image depicts British soldiers eating Christmas Dinner on the Western Front in 1916 and I found it on the Imperial War Museum webpage in the First World War Gallery.

I believe this would have been an image that may have been seen in England during World War I. Personally when I look at this photo I see war propaganda. In looking at this photo I see camaraderie, death, filth, scarcity and discomfort. But I also see guys sitting around shooting the breeze, enjoying a cigarette and generally looking peaceful. There is also an overwhelming barrenness in the trenches, but I don't see fear. I don't see "we shouldn't be in this war."

Our focus is the soldiers, sitting around in a circle eating their Christmas dinner. There is mud and rocks all around. They are eating (for the most part) on the ground sitting around a tiny makeshift table of some sort. The actual food, if you zoom in seems scarce, nothing like Christmas dinner.  You see a few pieces of what looks like bread, but that's all you can really make out. There is one guy eating, or drinking out of a tin pot- I picture stew. Some of them are eating with their bare filthy hands, some with mittens on. Everything looks dirty. If you look closely you can also see a grave in the background which gives a sense of the seriousness to the war. But at the same time, there is one grave and twelve men very much alive. I would almost bet that this photo was staged. The photo seems to be asking the viewer to feel sorry for the men on the front. They have no comforts. This photo seems to be shouting "Support our Troops!" But while it's asking the viewer to take war seriously, because in war people do die, it doesn't seem to be asking them to be overly alarmed or afraid for their brothers, husbands, fathers, etc. who are there. It's asking them to reach out to the family of the one who was killed. A couple of these guys are actually smiling, sitting back smoking cigarettes. It's a hard day's work, and their filthy, but they are ok. They have a minute to sit back and relax, enjoy a smoke and a good joke with the guys. 

For me, it seems like the real war story is in the background. There is nothing on that horizon, nothing but mud and rocks. War is lonely. War is barren and empty.

Blue Skies

This photo was number 38 on The Atlantic website, depicting the Allied soldiers on the Western Front. According to the caption, it was an experiment with color photo technology known as the Paget Process, which is partly why I chose this photo for this assignment in the War and Technology unit. It represents technological advancements not limited to war technology. Although it is a primitive attempt compared to the other advances in color photography, the impact of the Paget Process on this photograph in particular is interesting to think about. I have to believe civilians at home would have been impressed by the color technology used for the photograph. Any photograph of the soldiers looking content and safe at the very least would have been of some comfort to those at home. In the case of this photo, I cannot tell if the three blankets are covering bodies or just lying on the ground, but the rest of the soldiers look fairly content, and a few appear to be smiling. Imagine being a mother, sister, or wife looking at this photo with bits of color, recognizing the technological progress, and contemplating how precious a colored photo of their loved one’s face would be. If during this catastrophic moment in their lives they were to lose a loved one, at least they may have had the hope of treasuring a colored picture of them, just as they are remembered. Although only the sky is represented in color in this photo, perhaps the hope of further advancement resonated with the civilian people.

            The contrast of the blue sky in particular against the grey of the rest of the photo would have caught the attention of the civilians. Blue skies are associated with sunshine, which would have been clouded by the battle smoke. The clouds are even visible if one looks closely, and there is almost no possibility of the sky being that blue in reality. But this photo, whether by Paget Process accident, modern color enhancement by the Atlantic website, or something else, is suggesting that light was cast on this dark moment in the civilian’s loved one’s lives. The sky at home is probably as grey and dismal as the sky on the battlefield due to the proximity of the war front. The image of an exaggeratedly blue sky above the Western Front must have been a refreshing and hopeful sight.

British soldiers in Lille, France

This photograph, which was number 42 on theatlantic.com, was captured in 1918 in Lille, France which had been had been under the control of the German for four years, according to the caption of the photo, and was being taken back with the help of the arrival of British armies. Also according to the caption, "As Autumn approached, the end of war seemed inevitable." I'm not sure whether or not any of this was included in the actual caption of the photo released at the time, but if it had been many people most likely would have felt very happy and optimistic about this news.

This photo is definitely one that the government would have wanted people to see. The men seem to be in good spirits and the young boy who is carrying one of the soldier's guns looks very excited that the men are there. This picture also shows the men in a place outside of combat and could even show a regiment that had not fought before, or at least many of the ones in the front. The men, for the most part, look quite young and their equipment appears very clean and new as if it had not seen any actual fighting yet.

The child is also barefoot so it shows that the people in this town could not afford such simple items for their children as socks and even simple shoes. People would have felt pity for the child and supported the war against the Germans more because of how this portrays them treating the people that they had conquered.

By showing this picture in the last year that the war was expecting to be fought, people's spirits would have been risen and they would have been excited about the "inevitable" end. Even though many probably would have rather the war already been ended by the British or other allies, they would have seen the men and thought that the ally's chances were very high and continued to support the war effort for a little while longer.

I found this picture on one of the websites that Dr. Karl provided to us on Angel (theatlantic.com) because I thought it provided an interesting opportunity for close reading and connections to what I already know about World War 1. On the website this photograph is accompanied by a description that says “1915, British soldiers on motorcycles in the Dardanelles, part of the Ottoman Empire, prior to the Battle of Gallipoli.” This picture features soldiers on motorcycles which I find interesting because when I think of technology involved with war during the early 1900s I do not necessarily think of motorcycles. Instead, as the photo suggests, these soldiers are more or less “hanging around” waiting around for the actual battle to begin. The fact that they have such a number of these (what I would assume to be expensive) motorcycles reminds me of the immense finances spent on WW1, especially since the fighting included many types of modern technology that were surely expensive as well.

Dr.Karl asked us to pick a photograph that we feel British people who were removed from the fighting would have seen, and I certainly feel that this photo would have been circulated. Rather than showing people the gravity of the war through pictures of trench warfare and wounded soldiers I believe that the British government would circulate this photo as if to say that the soldiers were well taken care of and in good spirits. When looking into the background of the photo one sees a relatively nice camp with a great number of what I assume to be British ships. This portrays the idea that the British troops were well prepared for the battle that was soon to commence. The photo even seems staged which would suggest that some photographer wanted not only to capture the soldiers on their bikes, but also the scene of preparedness and strength of the British army/navy in the background possibly as a way to convince British civilians to support the war. 

In my reading of  this novel, I found the point of view to be the most interesting part. Traditionally in texts relating to war or trauma, you will see that the point of view is usually that of the soldier who experienced the brutalities. By using the cousin as the point of view in this novel, West allows for the reader to see into a world that was much less common; the effects of war on the home front. As everyone most likely knows, World War I was an incredibly horrendous war, as it was a mix of modern technology and classic fighting styles. The trench warfare style of fighting that took place has been well documented to be the cause of many psychological disturbances that afflicted soldiers in the war, but with this novel, West allows you to see that the soldiers were not the only ones who would suffer as a result of this brutal war.

Something that I found very interesting in The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West was the point of view from which the novel was written. As expressed in other posts, I too am currently taking a course in soldier and trauma literature with Dr. Haytock, in which the novels, articles, and stories we have read thus far were written by veterans or people who did extensive research and interviews with veterans. In addition, the stories are also accounts of the war and life at home following. Also, the stories are all written by men. What immediately stuck out to me in this novel is that it really does have to do with a soldier and the women and relationships that his being in war affects. We see this story through the eyes of Christopher’s cousin Jenny. In this, we gain the insight into two different types of trauma; trauma faced at war and trauma at home. The trauma of Christopher’s PTSD is juxtaposed with that of his wife, Kitty. Out of the three female characters, Kitty seems to be the only one who cannot cope with her husband’s amnesia. Kitty is much dissociated and the trauma of Christopher’s amnesia is a reminder of the trauma faced when their son, Oliver, died. Kitty’s behavior, her temper and detachment, show her character as continually facing and going through the trauma; it never leaves her.

Another way to read this juxtaposed trauma, if we choose to read it that way, is that it shows the different ways that genders deal with and experience trauma. However, despite this, the trauma Kitty faces at home is overshadowed by the trauma Christopher faces upon his return from war.     

Technology and Warfare

Rebecca West gives us a very unique look into the lives of the shell shocked veterans that were, in their own right, luck enough to make it back home. The presence of World War 1 shaped the new and far more brutal way that war and technology coexisted. Prior to this war such things like biochemical weapons and trench fighting were only acts of fiction. The gruesome reality that a war could be won not by the amount of enemy territory captured, but by the sheer number of fatalities is a harsh thought in itself. When modern technology was brought into the military, for the simple reason to kill the enemy in any way possible, the world saw the worst of what man was capable of. Now what West does that makes this story unique is using a point of view that reflects the change in the men who went to fight. The abence of detailed war acts leaves the reader in a state of unknowing possibilities. I think that this absence of detail directly correlates with the loss of memory that we see in Chris. Its as if Chris is so distraught by what he has seen that he relinquishes all thought from his mind. West does an amazing job at capturing the brutal technological advancements that faces the solders of World War 1. In my personal opinion World War 1 was the most profoundly brutal war this world has ever seen.

Point of View

I really enjoyed reading this book. I definitely liked it much more than the first two books for the class. I like reading about both world wars, and stories from that time period. For this particular novel I felt that it was interesting that West chose to tell the story from only Jenny's point of view. I have read many war texts bot fiction and non-fiction in Dr. Haytock's Soldier, Identity, and Trauma class and on my own, and most often they are from the soldier's point of view. This novel gives the view of the story from someone on the outside. She has no experience with what Kitty is going through due to the fact that she is not married.She also cannot really say how Chris is feeling, she can only base what the reader is told on what she sees and what the other characters tell her. This definitely leaves some gaps in the story. The reader never gets to know what is truly going on inside Chris' head even though the story is about him and his journey back to his current life. It would have also been interesting to hear the story from Margret Grey's point of view. She was content with her life the way it was, and then all of  sudden a boy she once planned on marrying, who is now a grown wounded soldier is searching for her. This likely pulls her back into the like she at one time dreamed of having with him, and knowing what was going through her mind every step of the way would be interesting.

Fragmented Impressions within the Time Continuum

        Jenny, the cousin of Chris Baldry, in Rebecca West's "The Return of the Soldier," towards the end of the novel makes an interesting statement which I think sums up nicely the theme of the novel. She says: "I knew quite well that when one is adult one must raise to one’s lips the wine of the truth, heedless that it is not sweet like milk but draws the mouth with its strength, and celebrate communion with reality, or else walk for ever queer and small like a dwarf. Thirst for this sacrament had made Chris strike away the cup of lies about life that Kitty’s white hands held to him, and turn to Margaret with his vast trustful gesture of his loss of memory" (pgs.87-88).  This quote encompasses the terms we have been discussing in class: public vs. private time, fragmentation and impressionism. Chris who has been fighting in World War I has been hurt and is now suffering from "shell shock." This in turn has caused him to regress back fifteen years prior when he was in love with a woman named Margaret Grey; however he is currently married to Kitty and has this life in a beautiful home located on beautiful land but that is not what he remembers. He has this fragmented impression of a life long ago.
           As the reader we are allowed to move through this continuum of time with Chris in private time as he goes through these fragmented scenes from his past of a life with a woman he in present reality has no connection with. His discrete moments rest in their happiness as a couple who had a firm foundation of love. His perception is affirmed when they meet and they share an almost kismet union (p.59).  The other characters are operating in the reality of public time. They are aware of marriages, births, deaths and more importantly, the war. The war which plays such a pivotal role in the context of the novel and not just as the catalyst for the story line, but as a major historical event. Women, not being privy to the combat side of the war but having to deal with the aftermath, gives a different perspective as we can recognize from the novel. Also, men having to return home after succumbing to the horrors and effects of war and then bringing that baggage to their families, can be difficult to handle as well, which is also evidently expressed throughout novel. 
           The fragmented impressions which presents this objective reality the reader experiences as they move through this time continuum allows them to get a greater sense of this private and public time as seen through Chris's eyes and the rest of the characters. Although Margaret at times seems to enjoy bathing in Chris's fragmented sense of reality because there is something real within the fragmentation between them, at the end she realizes that he has to know the truth (pg. 88). Unfortunately life operates in the present time not a distorted sense of a subjective reality.

Rebecca West, The Return of the Soldier

I don't know why but the colors were not working well for me and were previewing as white text & white highlights, so I apologize for the grey & white. The Return of the Soldier might be one of my favorite texts so far this semester. I wish I could talk about everything I loved. Jenny takes us through her intellectual and spiritual journey and teaches us about love, happiness, human suffering, and sacrifice in her observations of Chris and Margaret, which  the reader transcends to the context of World War I itself. Although we are presented with fragments of sentences, disruptions of memory, dream world versus storyworld, and past versus present, I found the story as-told-by Jenny to be linear and goal oriented as she takes us through her own recollection of the sequence of her discoveries, participating in West's representation of the catastrophes of World War I from a domestic space.

At each critical point in Jenny’s recollection she cultivates another step in her discovery. Upon meeting Mrs. Grey, Jenny highlights the difference social status, which will be imperative to Jenny’s “reading” of Chris and Margaret later in the narrative. The first time Jenny sees Chris in his shell-shock state, she establishes the motif of darkness and how Chris is separated from Jenny and Kitty by this darkness, “He watched her retreat into the shadows, as though she were a symbol of this new life by which he was baffled and oppressed” (24). This motif is cultivated further in Chapter 3 when the reader is almost taken out of Jenny’s recollection of her world of darkness and placed for a moment in Chris and Margaret’s world. Although the chapter seems to move through time, to the past, the more important aspect to me is that Jenny the narrator is looking back at her reception of Chris’s memories, so that the reader, and Jenny (as narrator), are in the present during the whole chapter. The storyworld Jenny is occasionally lost inside her vision of Chris and Margaret’s world, “There were only two real people in the world, Chris and this woman . . . and I was absorbed in a mental vision of them” (46-7), but remains largely as one of the necessary, “unconscious deliberate” (71) participants like Margaret, Kitty, and Chris who make things work the way they do in her world, however heartbreaking.

What Do You Want from Me: The Usages of Hyphens and Ellipses in The Return of a Solider

Rebecca West, the author of The Return of the Solider uses throughout the book hyphens and ellipses. The first piece of dialogue in the novel have hyphens in the sentence. "Ah, don;t begin to fuss!" wailed Kitty, "If a woman began to worry in these days because her husband hasn't written to her for a fortnight-!"(3). As the reader, it is hard to even guess what to next line is going to be because we are introduced to the speaker, but not who the speaker is chastising.It can even be said, that our speaker is talking to herself. West tries to make that unclear. In the next lines we, the reader, learn the meaning of “in these days”(3). West is referring to a war as the following lines read, “‘Somewhere in France’ ”(3). Once again, the initial lines are hard to decipher because the specific name of the war is not clarified. Later in the story West writes, “he would smile secretly to us,as though he knew we would not cease in our task of refreshing him; and all that he did on the morning a year ago, when he went to the front…” (6).  In essence, West purposefully has the character give limited information. Therefore, West intentionally have the characters know more about the setting and time rather than the reader. West continues this hierarchy between the reader and the characters by including hyphens and ellipses. The ellipses imply that something has been left out because the reader should already know what should be said. The hyphens censor the reader’s ability to understand what is going on. The second piece of dialogue is censored therefore the reader remains ignorant.  West has dual expectations for her reader to both understand the content, but remain in the dark about the full story.  

Good and Evil in The Return of the Soldier

This book upset me for many different reasons. For one, a lot of the characters seem either perfect or imperfect. For example, in the beginning of the book, Kitty seems like a normal, likable character. However, by about halfway through her and Jenny's talk with Mrs Grey, Chris' past lover, a conceited, more vicious part of her comes to light and we start to take pity on Mrs Grey because of this. Mrs Grey is on the other side of this spectrum, though, for even in the end of the book when she could try to keep Chris for herself, she does not. Mrs Grey is the perfect character who could do no wrong and Kitty is the evil wife who is separated from her husband and everything she loves. Deciding whose side to be on seems easy but for me, I pitied the wife more personally. Mrs Grey messed up and lost him where Kitty almost lost him because she did not try harder to find him. This is the only actual flaw that I see in her character. I would not be able to imagine letting my husband who I had already had a child with anywhere near another woman with the intentions that Mrs Grey had or might have had, even considering the circumstances. I would have at least tried to fix him myself first.
Another thing about this book that confuses me is why didn't anyone really try to just tell him everything in his life that had happened since his last memory? Yes, Mrs Grey would not have wanted to but it was selfish to anything else. She was married to someone else; did she think that if his memory did not return, she and Chris would be able to run away and be happy together? If she did, this would have been the worst thought that anyone could have had, especially for someone with a character as perfect as hers was portrayed as being.

 Last week in class we discussed the distinction between public time and private time and the narrative value of the separation between the two. In addition to the space that is created between public and private time, readers of Rebecca West’s The Return of the Soldier also see an interesting dynamic between  past and present time. When Chris Baldry returns from war we as readers see that his “shell shock” causes him to revert back to his life 15 years ago-where he was presumably much happier. Chris becomes hopelessly fixated on the time he used to spend on Monkey Island in love with a woman named Margaret. So Chris’ mental injury from war does not cause him to become a different person as one may expect, but rather urges him to attempt to repeat his past life. The present time in the book seems to represent everything in Chris’ life that has gone wrong. This would mainly be characterized by his wife Kitty, her preoccupation with adherence to social norms, the absences of Margaret, and the death of his young son Oliver. West writes “All the inhabitants of this new tract of time were his enemies, all of its circumstances his prison bars” showing how Chris felt victimized by the fact that he was thrust back into a timeframe that he couldn’t understand (29). I feel like this example can add to our discussion of public and private time as we see that the war and the historical context of the story become highly secondary to the personal story of Chris and Margaret. Beyond mentioning that the war was the trigger that elicited Chris’ problems, West does not mention much more about any events that would be deemed as public time. We rather focus on two dimensions of private time: the present and 15 years ago.  As we also discussed last week, time seems to be gendered, especially as seen in this novel. Public time is what we could label “male time” where  the intimate moments of private time would earn the label “female time”. Applying these ideas to The Return of the Soldier makes me think about how Chris is emasculated by his injury as shown by his permanent presence in private time during the course of the narrative. If we think of the time distinctions as physical places Chris returns from public time and takes up a seemingly permanent residence in private time. I hope to further discuss these ideas in class and determine what authors such as Woolf and West are doing when they create these multilevel “times”. Are they saying that private time is more important?