The First World War’s centenary generated a mass of commemorative activity worldwide. Officially and unofficially; individually, collectively and commercially; locally, nationally and internationally, efforts were made to respond to the legacies of this vast conflict. This book explores some of these responses from areas previously tied to the British Empire, including Australia, Britain, Canada, India and New Zealand. Showcasing insights from historians of commemoration and heritage professionals it provides revealing insider and outsider perspectives of the centenary. How far did commemoration become celebration, and how merited were such responses? To what extent did the centenary serve wider social and political functions? Was it a time for new knowledge and understanding of the events of a century ago, for recovery of lost or marginalised voices, or for confirming existing clichés? And what can be learned from the experience of this centenary that might inform the approach to future commemorative activities? The contributors to this book grapple with these questions, coming to different answers and demonstrating the connections and disconnections between those involved in building public knowledge of the ‘war to end all wars’.

The First World War’s centenary generated a mass of commemorative activity worldwide. Officially and unofficially; individually, collectively and commercially; locally, nationally and internationally, efforts were made to respond to the legacies of this vast conflict. This book explores some of these responses from areas previously tied to the British Empire, including Australia, Britain, Canada, India and New Zealand. Showcasing insights from historians of commemoration and heritage professionals it provides revealing insider and outsider perspectives of the centenary. How far did commemoration become celebration, and how merited were such responses? To what extent did the centenary serve wider social and political functions? Was it a time for new knowledge and understanding of the events of a century ago, for recovery of lost or marginalised voices, or for confirming existing clichés? And what can be learned from the experience of this centenary that might inform the approach to future commemorative activities? The contributors to this book grapple with these questions, coming to different answers and demonstrating the connections and disconnections between those involved in building public knowledge of the ‘war to end all wars’.

"War has been commemorated since ancient times. The recent First World War centenaries are proof that remembering conflict continues to produce strong feelings among people of all walks of life. But how, in the twenty-first century, can we do commemoration better? In particular, how can commemoration contribute to post-war reconciliation and reconstruction? In this book, a global roster of distinguished individuals - poets, an international human rights advocate, musicians, policy-makers, novelists, academics, a sculptor, a world-renowned architect, members of different faiths, composers, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and military veterans - debate these questions and ponder the future of commemoration. The book focuses on three modes of commemoration: Textual Commemoration - commemoration in writing and images; Monumental Commemoration - monuments, architecture, museums, sculptures, battlefields and sites of mourning; Aural Commemoration - music, sound and silence. Polemics and reflections together with poetry and creative prose movingly illuminate a subject that is sensitive and sobering but which also speaks to our common humanity"--

"War has been commemorated since ancient times. The recent First World War centenaries are proof that remembering conflict continues to produce strong feelings among people of all walks of life. But how, in the twenty-first century, can we do commemoration better? In particular, how can commemoration contribute to post-war reconciliation and reconstruction? In this book, a global roster of distinguished individuals - poets, an international human rights advocate, musicians, policy-makers, novelists, academics, a sculptor, a world-renowned architect, members of different faiths, composers, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist and military veterans - debate these questions and ponder the future of commemoration. The book focuses on three modes of commemoration: Textual Commemoration - commemoration in writing and images; Monumental Commemoration - monuments, architecture, museums, sculptures, battlefields and sites of mourning; Aural Commemoration - music, sound and silence. Polemics and reflections together with poetry and creative prose movingly illuminate a subject that is sensitive and sobering but which also speaks to our common humanity"--

Contains photographs of the commemoration service held at Paisley Cenotaph on 4 August 2014, and photographs and the order of service of the commemorative service held at St Mirin's Cathedral on 4 August 2014.

In a unique collection of international and interdisciplinary research, this book focuses on commemorative events around the world on the same day: 11 November 2018, the centenary of Armistice Day, the end of the First World War. It argues that we need to move beyond discourse, narrative and how historical events are represented to fully understand what commemoration does, socially, politically and culturally. Adopting an experiential reframing treats sensory, affective and emotional feelings as fundamental to how we collectively understand shared histories, and through them, shared identities. The volume features 15 case studies from ten countries, covering a variety of settings and national contexts specific to the First World War. Together the chapters demonstrate that a new conceptualisation of commemoration is needed: one that attends to how it feels.

This book explores how First World War commemoration events are presented, reported and mediated on the websites of mainstream daily newspapers from seven European countries. The book is the result of a research group – DIREPA-EUROPE (Discours, représentations, passé de l’Europe), part of Lemel research network – characterized by a shared interest in media discourse and online newspapers. It presents a fluid analysis chain on the commemoration discourse generated by the WWI Armistice Centenary in 2018, and will be of interest not only to scholars of discourse and media studies, but also of European history, cultural memory, journalism and conflict studies.