Rethinking War. Is there anything new that can be said about the First World War? (CfP)

Canned food for Italian soldiers

As we saw this CfP, we were captured by its title, cleverly turned into a question. And in addition, a very simple, and therefore incisive, question: Is there anything new that can be said about the First World War? What is new about a topic on which people discuss since a century? We could direct the answer to a twofold direction. There’s for sure still a lot in the object that can be discovered, new insights and more details could be seized in studying the Great War, sharing our personal – cultural and national – knowledge and interests. But there’s maybe also something new on the subject: we are new. The way we examine the historical facts, the topics on which we direct today our attention, the methods and techniques we use to achieve a new comprehension of WWI, they all differ much from those of few decades ago. If there's something new on the things we look at, there's surely something new first in our look, even if we do not perceive it. On the eve of the Centenary, such a question enables us to realize maybe that if we can say a lot about WWI, also the Great War has a lot to say about us, about our history and the cultural attitude toward it that we acquired during this century.
The organizers – the Stout Research Centre for New Zealand Studies, with the support of the Ministry for Culture and Heritage – direct however their interest on a precise theme: WWI, New Zealand and its home front, pointing out that a lot has already been discussed and explained along a century; yet still many aspects of this topic can be better specified, revisited or contextualized. This is the aim of the conference, that has to be held in November 2013. Paper proposals are welcomed till 1st June 2013.

Information also here.

Rethinking War
Is there anything new that can be said about the First World War?

The Stout Research Centre for New Zealand Studies, in association with the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, is holding a multidisciplinary conference, 28-30 November 2013, on rethinking 'the Great War' especially New Zealand's connections with and contribution to it. So much work has been produced on the Gallipoli landings, trench warfare, the ANZAC symbolism, war memorials etc that there might seem little else to say. But long experience tells us we don't know what we don't know, especially on the home front; and there must be plenty of space for revisiting the events of 1914-18 almost a century later. We invite papers on any topic related to New Zealand and the First World War or that may contextualise the Great War more generally and provide fresh ways of thinking about it.

A preliminary list of topics is suggested below, but any proposal (title, and abstract no longer than 300 words) is welcome.

Alcohol and drugs
Animals
Children
Dissent
Equipment
Family memory
Fashion
Flora and Landscape
Food
Games
Labour movement
Letters and postcards
Literary byways
Māori role
Material culture
Medical history
Opposition and resistance
Patriotic movements
Policing
Politics & Religion
Post-memory
Propaganda
Representations
Toys
Trained to kill
Travel
Uniforms and equipment

Please submit abstract to: deborah.levy@vuw.ac.nz by 1 June 2013.