Italian Great War museums #3: Museo storico "La zona Carnia nella Grande Guerra" in Timau (Udine)

"Portatrici carniche"
in 1915

The image beside shows a group of "portatrici carniche". With this expression we usually refer to the groups of women that during the Great War walked more than 1000 meters in altitude to refill with equipment the men fighting at the mountain front of the Carnic region. Inside that typical basket called "gerla" (plural: "gerle") they were able to stuff up to 40kg (almost 90 pounds) of munitions and food. These women were recognizable thanks to a red bracelet showing the number of the regiment to which they were destined. Their age was between 15 and 60. Their salary was 1,5 lire for each trip. The story of these bearers, a special chapter of the story of women during World War One, is one of the aspects you could stumble upon while visiting the Museo storico "La zona Carnia nella Grande Guerra" in Timau di Paluzza (Udine, region of Friuli), especially in the rooms 6 and 7. In the space of this institution founded in 1994 are now gathered finds and relics belonged to the Italian and Austro-Hungarian armies, all coming from the front line called "Zona Carnia", a portion of front including Cresta Verde, Cellon, Pal Piccolo, Freikofel and Pal Grande (see also the this link). Pieces that are worth a mention are a Skoda 75/13 Gun and a smart system of mirrors used by some Austro-Hungarian crack shots, an armor for assault infantrymen (the so called Italian "arditi"). Beside of the standard or extraordinary equipment (the First World War is also a strange story of small and smart handcrafted objects "designed" at the front!), the visitors will find here a substantial collection of letters, newspapers, documents, coins, medals, stamps, postcards and photos that have not been published yet. But what makes this Italian Great War museum unique is for sure its section dedicated to the "Carnic bearers".

"La Zona Carnia nella Grande Guerra"
c/o ex Scuola Materna 
via Nazionale n. 80 - Timau di Paluzza (Udine)
Italy

Opening time
June: Saturday and Holidays 09:00-12:00 / 14:00 -18:00.
From July to September: from Tuesday to Friday 14:30 -18:30; Saturday and Holiday 09:00 - 12.00 / 14:30 -18:30. 
August: open all days 09:00 -12:00 / 15:00 -19:00.
October: Saturday and Sundays 9.00-12.00 / 14.00-18.00
Closed from November to May.
Contact
T.+39.0433.779168 - 779292
E.: museotimau@alice.it
W: www.museograndeguerratimau.it
Free entrance / Access for people with disabilities

The Great War and the Moving Image (CfP)

The videogame "Commander"
inspired by the Great War

To talk about the WWI means also talking about the way we remember and represent it. It is therefore also a matter of shaping the “collective conscience”, and if we assume with Maurice Halbwachs that even the acts of memory are deeply influenced by the symbolic within a particular society, it is undeniable that visual culture played a crucial role both during and after the conflict, not lastly because of its immediate understanding and consumption. Let’s think about the illustrations in newspapers and posters or about the propaganda and the advertisement at the front and in the homeland, as the literature has already pointed out. But let’s think also about films and particularly documentaries and all other genres of moving image: which great power to influence the common view did they have? Which impact did they exert on society? How can we today seize their historical importance as human artifacts responding to special cultural, social and political needs? And last but not least, do moving images shape also our understanding of the WWI today? Which role do the new technologies play (lets’ only think about at the digitalization of documents and the possibility to share them on on-line archives)? How do we deal with them?

The topic is really important and could raise interesting questions about the relationship between past and present, the WWI and our memory of it. Therefore we are happy that some of these (in part still neglected) questions will be at the centre of an international conference of the University of Kent which will take place in April 2014. The organizers wish to discuss on all form of moving images in order to explore the complex process of popular understanding of the war and welcome both historical works and multidisciplinary approaches. You can find the text of the CfP also here.

The Great War and the Moving Image

15-16 April 2014, University of Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom

An international conference organised by the University of Kent in conjunction with the University of Southampton and in association with the Imperial War Museum.

The aim of the conference is to explore the Great War through all forms of moving images including cinema, television and computer games. We are particularly interested in the way genres have translated across media and how images were received creating popular understandings of the war and feeding into wider commemorative processes. The conference is particularly interested to explore the moving image in terms of circulation, distribution and representation.

While the conference is mainly historical in focus, we would like to encourage interdisciplinarity, especially the cross-fertilization of history with the wider military and media communities. This will be the first major international conference of its kind to explore these issues and will, we hope, identify further research synergies forming the basis for future collaboration.

Topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Home Front
• Combat filming
• The Colonial context
• The European context
• Landscape and battlefield
• The ‘other’ (women, orphans etc)
• The wounded, disfigured and disabled
• Battlefield tourism
• Cinematic culture
• The relationship between cinema and other forms of popular culture
• Multi-national productions

Proposals (no more than 300 words in length) should be submitted, together with a short CV, by 11 November 2013 to either:

Professor David Welch: d.a.welch@kent.ac.uk

Professor Mark Connelly: m.l.connelly@kent.ac.uk

Professor Adrian Smith: a.a.smith@soton.ac.uk

Dr Michael Hammond: m.k.hammond@soton.ac.uk

Piero Jahier and the Italian Soldier Songs

Piero Jahier

We won't get tired of stressing the importance of music during the First World War. If on one hand we find some great composers writing and orchestrating after the war, on the other we have the boundless universe of war songs generated during the war and coming from the hell of trenches. Many wrote about their importance and direct action on the spirit and morale of the troops and it’s not hard to believe them when framing the conflict as the “singing war”. (Some could even think of opening a new season of studies comparing the songs of the First World War, the "singing war" and the "silence" of the Second World War.) It’s not our intention today to write about La leggenda del Piave, known as La canzone del Piave (national anthem between 1943 and 1946), probably the most renowned Italian patriotic song, whose meaning played a strategic role in the national history not only during but also after the World War I.  We rather focus on with a book that the poet and novelist Piero Jahier assembled starting from soldier songs. Jahier (1884-1966) was a volunteer during the World War I and worked also in the making of the trench newspaper L’Astico, when he started collecting all these songs. His book entitled Con me e con gli alpini (With me and with the alpine troops) came out in 1920 is a key-book if your wish is to understand the impact of the Great War on the generation of Italian intellectuals that favoured the war.

The book Canti di soldati is one of the results of his experience at the front and was published immediately after the end of the war in 1919 with the pseudonym of "barba Piero" and thanks to the work of harmonization of Vittorio Gui. In Jahier’s introduction we learn the only criterion used to select these songs, which was basically a criterion of popularity among the troops. The merging of soldier and popular songs or pieces of grand opera is the peculiarity of this book, a real rarity in the Italian history of popular music. At the beginning we read “Sono italiano / e se non canto moro” (I’m from Italy / and if I don’t sing I am going to die). Here follows a list of the songs that the readers can find inside this precious book (as you can notice, not all songs belong the World War One period but go back to the Nineteenth Century): Inno di Garibaldi; All'armi! all'armi! Ondeggiano; Inno di Mameli; Inno di Oberdan; Canzone garibaldina, La Marseillaise, Dans le jardin, God save the King, Tipperary; Coro del Nabucco; Coro dei Lombardi; Inno degli sciatori; Rivista al corredo; 'O surdato 'nnamurato; Addio mia bella, addio; Licenza; Lettera, Stornelli dell'artiglieria; Canzone del bersagliere; E la violetta; I tuoi capelli; La sveglia degl'imboscati; Monte Rosso e Monte Nero; Come porti i capelli bella bionda; Arditi; Inno degli Alpini; Sul cappello che noi portiamo; Emigranti; O Dio del cielo; O Tirolesi mandeme a casa; Se te tocco; Reclute; Il 29 giugno; Il mio bene l'è andà via; Dove sei stato mio bell'alpino; Il mazzolin di fiori; Il testamento del maresciallo; La settimana della Leggera; Gobo so pare; Scherzo sulla morosa; L'è ben ver; Ai prèat la biele stele; In cil'ejè une stele; Ce bielis maninis; Ti ricuardistu ninine, dis-al; Olin bevi; O ce biel; O ce biel lusor di lune; Se savessis fantacinis; Sdrindulàile; Cheste viole.

"WW1 - dentro la Grande Guerra", a Tool of Knowledge for Everyone

Today you have the opportunity to read an interview with Emanuela Zilio, project manager of what is at the moment one of the most challenging projects in Italy. The name is simple: "WW1 - dentro la Grande Guerra" (WW1 - inside the Great War). Before going to the questions and answers, we let the projects speak with the words of the website:

"WW1 is an editorial platform that addresses the public through a wide interactive map of the War Front containing many so far unpublished contents: 360° interactive and immersive panoramas, emotionally involving videos, certified historical documents like the Albo d’Oro, the Army’s official reports on the Great War, the reconstruction of forts and trenches, the daily life in wartime. A large public will access these materials in a digital format and in both Italian and English.
WW1 opens the way to discover the present and the past through the web, personal mobile devices or touch screens located in railway stations, airports and cities.
WW1 is a live tool growing in time to share knowledge and culture and to make them available through the languages people use as their own. WW1 is a non-profit cultural and historical project."

WWI Bridges: Italy first. What are the main goals of the project if we look at the national scenario?
Emanuela Zilio: First of all, WW1 - dentro la Grande Guerra aims to present the Anniversary of the Great War as a significant historical and social event which can promote knowledge and social improvement both nationwide and worldwide, starting from the Regions which were the set of the conflict.
The Great War interested more than thirty countries for a period longer than four years and still today is capable of moving a general deep pathos. Because of these reasons, it is a challenging opportunity for local Administrations, Institutions, Companies, as well as for individuals throughout Italy to promote the cultural heritage of their country while fostering large economic and social growth.
Second, we want the new technologies to be used as languages and tools to make valuable cultural contents accessible to all people. This will permit to re-discover our huge heritage and to equip Regions, Provinces, Municipalities with a platform suitable to promote knowledge and appeal for tourism, targeting both children and adults.
Last but not least, today we need to work to recover Italy's reputation abroad. We believe this can be done by producing quality projects and encouraging the creation of networks that facilitate the interaction of practices, languages and behaviors between public, private institutions and professionals at local, national and international levels.

WWI Bridges: Could you list the reasons why the international Great War audience should keep always an eye open on WW1 and its initiatives?
Emanuela Zilio: WW1 - dentro la Grande Guerra is a quite articulate project which does not aim to create a series of events that celebrate the past but rather to shape a useful tool to understand our present more deeply. More than “initiatives”, WW1 will make interesting contents on the Great War available by mixing and merging private, public and unpublished materials. People are invited to contribute ideas, project proposals, memories. The work schedule features several milestones with progressive releases, so everyone can add new services and opportunities in the process.
WW1 will host the projects people create themselves during the four years of the commemorations, both nationally and internationally. Specific guidelines will be provided to permit the highest degree of integration. 
WW1 is also working to obtain the highest visibility on the international media. This means the possibility to highlight all the projects connected to the platform, whether big or small, on maxi screens in airport boarding areas, railway stations, post offices. It is really challenging for everyone who wants to promote one's territory, the activities related to the Great War, Museums, and events.

WWI Bridges: If we move to the international scenario, WW1 seems to be the only project capable of  opening a dialogue on a worldwide basis. What is your growth/promotion strategy when looking outside Italy?
Emanuela Zilio: WW1 is an ambitious project, but for sure it is not the only one on a worldwide basis. Countries like France, UK, Germany, Poland, Ireland, Romania, etc. are already working hard to create interesting activities and services connected to the cultural and emotional tourism of the First World War.
Until now, Italy seems uncapable of promoting one of the richest heritage in the world, our politicians would argue that “culture gives no bread”, we rather believe the contrary. An educated and culturally aware country can produce value, tolerance, social and economic growth.
WW1 is an attempt to create a case in this sense. It wants to open the international dialogue, to learn and share knowledge with those Countries which have a longer experience and a clever approach to cultural dynamics. 
For these reasons, WW1 - dentro la Grande Guerra is firmly rooted in the European scenario through cooperating with Europeana, submitting project proposals, creating partnerships with Universities, Research Centers and Museums which are focusing on the same issue. 
An international media coverage is also planned.

WWI Bridges: Can you mention some First World War Centenary projects that according to your point of view stand out of the crowd? Why?
Emanuela Zilio: Yes of course. All around the world many projects are springing out. Some of these have a very interesting approach such as the "1914-1918-Online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War". Prof. Oliver Janz and his excellent team in Berlin are working on that project which includes several editors for each Country that took part in the War. According to personal skills and specializations, researchers, professors and experts are asked to write a chapter. Only in Italy, 40 people were selected for the project. WW1 is in touch with some of these authors.
“Europeana 1914-1918 - Your family history of World War One” (http://www.europeana1914-1918.eu/en) is another amazing operation which surprised even the project leaders because of the huge amount of memories people are bringing out all around Europe. Europeana DB is open and its contents, as well as WW1 ones, go under the Creative Commons Licence CC BY – NC – SA. 
WW1 will run a Collection Day for Europeana on Sept 21st, during the Book Fair “Pordenonelegge”.
The Imperial War Museum (http://www.iwm.org.uk/) is probably organizing the most relevant photographic exhibition on the Great War but it is also gathering a very powerful network of actors working on the same issue. In June 2013, The First World War Centenary Partnership reached over 1,000 members from 26 countries.
Apart from the big projects, the most impressive work comes today from the free initiative of individuals. In Italy no funding has been provided by the Government until now local projects and events related to the Great War. Nevertheless, normal people are working hard - many of them as independent actors or workers on voluntary basis - to create something important to commemorate that tragic period and the people who lived it. It is a rather interesting bottom - up approach which is giving birth to thousands of valuable projects such as Tapum, a two months long alpine war path from the Adamello mountain to Redipuglia.

WWI Bridges: "Only the braves", and here the last dangerous question: what is “the childhood dream" that has not been revealed so far, maybe just "to be wise and prudent”
Emanuela Zilio: “...or the fools”. WW1 is itself a childhood dream because it represents the strong will to make our Country create a new model of cultural management and to boost social awareness and economic growth. Abroad, when talking about Italy, it is never a question of place identity, history, beauty, social warmth or accueil but rather a problem of reputation. We need to do something really good to regain it. The Great War is an opportunity we cannot miss.

The Photo Reportage about Monte Rite and Its Fort

As we announced in the previous post, The fort of Monte Rite and the “Museum in the Clouds”, here follows a photo reportage about that mountain excursion. We remind our visitors that the travel suggestion related to the following photo reportage is available at this link. 

We take the chance to remember that you can always send your WWI photo reportages to World War I Bridges (just type in the contact form beside). Let's use this platform as a place where to gather photo reportages about WWI places as they are today. Thanks in advance for keeping in mind.

   1.The ascending path

    2. The Group of Bosconero

    3. View on Group of Bosconero

    4. Approaching the fort

    5. The fort

    6. The top of the fort

    7. Val Zoldana with a cloudy Pelmo

    8. View at north, on the Lake of Centro Cadore and the Piave valley

First World War one day itineraries through Italy. Suggestion no. 11: the fort of Monte Rite and the “Museum in the Clouds”

View of the fort of Monte Rite

Not only an old fort of the WWI, but at present also the highest museum of Europe. It was 1977 when the renowned alpinist Reinhold Messner conceived the idea of restoring the fortification of Monte Rite (2.181m) and – after a long work, in renovating and transforming the architecture of the building – he inaugurated in the summer 2002 the “Museum in the Clouds”, which owes his name to the great 360° panorama that can be admired on its top: the view ranges over the clouds, starting from south with the Monte Schiara and Agner, the group of Sfornioi-Bosconero, then crosses over Civetta and Pelmo, overlooks the “royal pair” Marmolada and Antelao, catches even the Tofana of Rozes, move on the Marmarole and, to close the circle on the other side of the valley of the Piave River, gazes far on the northern horizon at the skyline of Tudaio and Cridola and finally turns to Spalti di Toro and the Duranno at east. The museum itself offers a lot, from the history of the region and its inhabitants through the centuries to collection of paintings and other temporaries exhibitions. It is open from 1^st June till the end of September and you can find the latest updates on the Museum Program here.

The museum is however only a reason to visit Monte Rite, and not the main one for us, who would rather suggest a simple, yet very impressive itinerary related to the Great War. Monte Rite is placed on the crossroad of three of the most important valleys of the Dolomites – Ampezzo, Cadore and Zoldana – and had therefore a high strategic importance. That’s why the Italian Army started to build a fort on its summit already before the beginning of WWI, since about 1911. The buildings, with the storehouse, the cooking area and barracks that could host about 500 men, were connected with the valley by a mule track, that run then to the summit, where a military observatory was placed. As the Great War started the fort was not completed, nevertheless it became a defensive position from June 1915. Yet he was never at the really frontline: after the rout at Caporetto it was abandoned.

There are many ways to reach the summit – the most interesting one it’s maybe the path n. 494, which starts about 1km before the Passo Cibiana arriving from Forno of Zoldo and runs constantly through the wood. We’d like to suggest you however the shortest one (the ascent on the path takes about 1 hours), with starting point Passo Cibiana, so that you can have more time to spend on Monte Rite and on the ring path of its summit. The itinerary is very simple and even inexperienced hikers can undertake it, walking on the large mule track or eventually taking the shuttle bus to the “Museum in the Clouds”, available during the opening season (for fee, timetables and contact, see here; think about that during the summer the parking in the valley, the museum, as well the mule track may be quite crowded). 

For those who want to have a walk, instead, and to enjoy so the landscape at full, we suggest to park near the Rifugio Re Mauro or in one of the many areas nearby (pay attention, some of them are with fee), then walk along the mule track for about 10 minutes till you reach two small wood-houses. At the next bend you’ll see on the left a signpost that indicates the starting point of the panoramic path (the n.479, also called “Sentiero Col de Orlando”) entering in the conifer wood. The trail is really narrow and steep, maybe slippery with rain or snow, but presents no difficulties and the view, especially on the Group of Bosconero, is great. As soon as you come out from the trees, you have to cross some meadows before reaching the mule track and then, short after, the Forcella Deona. This is the first panoramic point which directs immediately your look to Antelao. If you follow the mule track you can reach in about 15 minutes the refuge and the museum-fort, but we suggest to proceed first on the ring path of Monte Rite. An information panel at Forcella Deona describes the main features of the 6 km trail: it takes about 1.30 hours and some equipped passage facilitate the walk, that has however to be undertaken only with good weather conditions and by trained hikers. Follow the indications and walk the small trail that runs around Monte Rite: you can reach so the different panoramic points, especially the Col Sette Prede, the Croce del Rite (on the peak of Monte Roan) and finally the top of Monte Rite. On this ring path you will discover remains of the WWI, many information panels describe moreover the flora and fauna of the surrounding. If it’s a sunny and clear day, the 360° view from the top of Monte Rite is indescribable, as we said; and even in a cloudy and snowy day (as this year was oft in the Dolomites till June) you can enjoy the view, breathe and imagine with the clouds. Close then the ring path and descend to the near fort that host the Museum – a visit is worth. Before coming back home, you can eat something and rest at the Dolomites Refuge, just walk 5 minutes on the descending mule track. Way back to Forcella Cibiana always on the mule track on feet or with the shuttle bus. 

(Here is the photo reportage about this itinerary.)

Great War in East Africa (CfP)

A map of the African continent
in 1919

Few months ago we announced the constitution of an international network for the study of the Great War in Africa. Today we’d like to support another initiative which aims to examine in depth the relationship between WWI and the African continent. Paper proposals for a conference which has to take place in forthcoming November in London are welcomed on any topics relating to the general theme of the campaigns in Africa. Furthermore a research day in The National Archives or Imperial War Museum is planned besides the conference. Below the CfP that you can find also on the home page of the Association here.



The second GWEAA conference will take place on 9 November 2013 at The National Archives, Kew, London (same place as last year).

At the request of many, we will have a conference research day on Friday 8 November for those who wish to access archival material whilst in London (details below). On the Friday evening, there will be an opportunity for everyone to meet at The Coach & Horses between Berkeley Sq. & Bond St. (max 5 mins walk from Bond St / Oxford Circus & Green Park tube / bus stops).

Given the centrality of the East Africa campaign to the Great War in Africa more generally, there will, pending interest, be a second strand of talks dealing with the Great War in other African theatres.

As there is no pre-determined theme for the day, topics relating to any aspect of the campaigns in Africa are welcomed.

If you would like to present a paper or talk on 9 November, please send a short overview to Anne at thesamsonsed[at]gmail.com. Papers and talks will be published following the conference event.

In order to cover the costs for 9 November, there will be a charge of £60 for participants and attendees. This includes lunch and refreshments during the day. There will be an additional small charge for the event on Friday evening 8 November for those wishing to attend. This will be advised in due course, as will details on how to book your place at the conference.

Research Day
If you would like to participate in the research day on 8 November, please let me know which of the archives (The National Archives or Imperial War Museum) you plan to visit. This will enable me to let you have the necessary information to access the collections (the two archives have different booking and entry requirements). There will be someone from the GWEAA at each venue to welcome members and to arrange a common place for those wishing to meet over lunch that day.

More information on the Research Day and the Conference will be posted here, but please do get in touch in the meantime to express your interest etc.

Pilates and the Great War

Did you know that the invention
 dates back to WW1 years?

Pilates was recently ranked as one of the Wellness-Trends of the past decades, and we guess a description of this training method is therefore not required. Yet, this “system of exercises that promote the strengthening of the body, often using specialized equipment”, as its founder described it, is closely related to the Great War. It is someway funny to compare the image of all people that nowadays go to the training centers and stand on their comfortable exercise mats on the one hand, and, on the other, the image of the places where actually this sport was ideated: an hospital for German prisoners in the Isle of Man during the WWI.

Born on December 9^th, 1883 in a small village near Düsseldorf, Joseph Hubertus Pilates was the second oldest child of nine children. His father was a gymnast, his mother a self-educated naturopath, and they likely provided him the suitable environment for his early commitment with both Eastern and Western form of training, combined with the study of Greek and Roman Philosophy. Being during most of his childhood ill, Joseph Pilates tried in fact to overcome his physical illness developing his body with body building, boxing, gymnastic and diving. In his late twenties, after the death of his first wife, he moved to England, where he wanted to further his boxing-training. Here he was hired with his brother by a German circus troupe and toured through England.

But as in August 1914 the Great War broke out, he was submitted to the new policy of internment (in the United Kingdom, the “Aliens Registration Act” was introduced on 5th August 1914). With other German nationals he was confined first in Lancaster, then at the Isle of Man. It is not clear to which of the two Camps – the Cunningham’s Young Men’s Holiday Camp in Douglas or the Camp at the Knockaloe Moar Fram, established only by October 1914 – Joseph Pilates was sent. For sure, he spent almost five years of internment in the Isle of Man. And it was during this period that he started developing his new training method. First he offered wrestling and self-defense training to his fellow internees, then, in the fall of 1916, he began working in one of the hospital as a physical therapist. He tried to assure benefits also to those confined to a bed from illness or injury. Fixing bedsprings to the headboards and the footboards of the hospital beds, he enabled bedridden patients to exercises against resistance and offered so simple, yet effective instruments to train the patients and improve their strength and health. As the influenza epidemic that killed thousand in England in 1918 started to spread in the camp, he stated that most of the internees he had trained didn’t got sick.

After the war, Joseph Pilates came back to Germany, where he improved his exercise method combining it with the dance technique. Impressed by the results of his training, the German government asked Pilates to train the new German Army. But Joseph disliked the political climate of his home country and decided to move in April 1926 to New York, where he spent the rest of his life working and improving his techniques. Pilates’ history is for sure an adventurous one, and the training exercises and instruments he has invented and developed are for sure well known, and it is not up to us to talk about them. We referred shortly to Pilates, just to say once again, that we shouldn’t forget the even some of the most funny “trend” of our societies are rooted in the past, even up to the WWI Camps in the Isle of Man.

"Sur les pas de Wilfred Owen", the remembrance trail in Ors (Northern France)

Everybody knows that business-wise one of the most prominent points of the First World War Centenary is the worldwide tourism movement connected with it. Just to take the French case, every year millions of tourists visit the Somme battlefields. We have a similar situation in the Flanders fields. It's not the same with the Piave or Isonzo areas. Anyway, there's nothing wrong with the connection between the Centenary and tourism, provided that the touristic offer coming from WW1 tour operators is able to design always new and respectful paths and itineraries. Since the aftermath, the battlefields have always been the destination of people wanting to see and understand more about the battlefields where their beloved fought and too often died. So nothing is new on all fronts. We thank Delphine Bartier of ADRT NORD TOURISME for sharing with us the details, the press release and some pictures of the inauguration of the "Sur les pas de Wilfred Owen", a "remembrance trail" dedicated to one of the poets we already wrote about in this post. 

Here is the short introduction we read in the press release:

Ors, 4th November 1918, 05.45 hours: Second Lieutenant Wilfred Owen of the Manchester Regiment and his platoon launched an attack on a German position on the opposite bank of the Sambre-Oise canal. Under a hail of machine-gun fire, Wilfred Owen and 104 other men perished just one week before the signing of the armistice. One of the great names in modern poetry had fallen. 120 years after his birth, an audio-guided walk will take visitors in the footsteps of Wilfred Owen. Nord Tourism opens this walking trail and its associated interpretation panel on 2nd June 2013 along with Nord Pas de Calais tourism. Starting out from the Maison Forestière or Forester’s House opened in October 2011 and Simon Patterson’s work of art in his memory where he spent his last night, the trail passes through the woodlands of the Bois l’Evêque and the cemetery where he was laid to rest and on to the banks of the canal. An audio guided tour by Cambrai tourism office is also available free of charge. The 6 km trail (allow 1¾ hours) is also something of a nature walk taking in part of the woodland of the Bois l’Evêque and its history. The trail also speaks of the motivation of the mayor of Ors in paying to the poet, who was little known in France, the homage to which he is entitled.

Download the guide (from mid June in English):
www.tourisme-nord.com
www.remembrancetrails-northernfrance.com

The trail was officially launched on Sunday 2nd June, to see the trail in pictures:
www.facebook.com/GreatWarJourneys

More links:
http://www.patrimoinedefrance.fr/Sur-les-pas-de-Wilfred-Owen-son
http://nord-pas-de-calais.france3.fr/2013/06/03/ors-inauguration-d-un-chemin-sur-les-pas-de-wilfred-owen-poete-soldat-de-14-18-262775.html

And here below we are able to share some images of the trail we received.

World War One International Conference at Queen Mary, University of London

We are happy to share here below the news about the World War One International Conference at Queen Mary, University of London. This kind of conferences is getting always more frequent and as you see the approaches are different. The cross-fertilization is in our opinion one of the more relevant aspects to point out while posting about these academic initiatives:


To mark the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, an international, multi-disciplinary conference is being organised by the School of Languages, Linguistics and Film and the School of History at Queen Mary, University of London, the Open University, and the Department of German at University College London. The organizers are working in partnership with the Imperial War Museum, the German Historical Institute, the Leo Baeck Institute London, and the Centre for Anglo-German Cultural Relations (Queen Mary, University of London). The conference will be hosted at Queen Mary, University of London on its attractive campus in the East End of the city. The oldest Jewish cemetery in London is situated on site and the campus is close to the Olympic Park, Docklands, Victoria Park, the Regent's Canal and many other places of interest.The keynote speakers will include:

Professor Elza Adamowicz (Queen Mary, University of London)
Professor Christopher Clark (University of Cambridge)
Professor Jonathan Steinberg (University of Pennsylvania)
Professor Sam Williamson (University of the South)
Professor Jay Winter (Yale University)
Professor David Stevenson (London School of Economics and Political Science)
Professor Michael Epkenhans (Zentrum für Militärgeschichte und Sozialwissenschaften der Bundeswehr)

This conference will mark the outbreak of the First World War, which was named the "Great War" from as early as 1916, when it was already referred to as the "Great European War". The dates for this event match exactly the four days between Germany's declaration of war on Russia and the British declaration of war on Germany. Although the USA remained neutral at this point, the conference does not neglect its eventual involvement. Almost every nation involved in the World War will represented by our speakers: Germany and Austria, Great Britain, the USA and Canada, Ireland, the Middle East and India, Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand, the former African colonies of both Germany and Britain, the Balkans, Poland, Russia, Spain, Italy and Portugal. As well as national and regional perspectives, the following perspectives and topics have emerged: political and military perspectives; colonial perspectives; Jewish perspectives (cultural and religious); other religious and confessional perspectives; the perspectives of occupied territories; gendered perspectives; science, technology and medicine; and the arts.

Where and when
Queen Mary, University of London
1-4 August 2014

Programme
The conference committee is currently planning a programme based on some 150 abstracts that have been submitted. We will post a provisional programme on the site as soon as possible. A number of cultural and social events will also be included on the programme.

Funding and fees
Our university will be able to provide some funding, but cannot promise to fund the entire event or pay speakers' expenses. We will therefore have to charge a fee to cover our internal expenses, but we will keep this as small as possible. We will charge a reduced fee for students.

Publication
We cannot promise to publish all conference papers, but we do intend to produce one collection of refereed articles. We are currently negotiating with a number of publishers and will announce any developments as soon as they become concrete.

Enquiries
Felicity Rash
email: f.j.rash@qmul.ac.uk
Falco Pfalzgraf
email: f.pfalzgraf@qmul.ac.uk

The First World War and language (CfP)

A poilu's letter
about the Battle of Verdun

Only a few days are left to send a proposal and we wish this opportunity won’t be lost. Under the title “The First World War and language” the organizers of this conference wish to study the WWI from an unusual, yet interesting perspective: that of the languages and not only of the French one. Was the Great War also a linguistic event? How and in which extent did the conflict shaped the spoken and written communication? This is just a couple of aspects which linguists, historians and specialists of literature are invited to discuss privileging a multidisciplinary approach.  You find below the English text of the Call for Papers with all the indispensable information.
(The text of this Call for Papers is available also in French at this link.)

In the context of the upcoming commemorations of the First World War in 2014, the purpose of this conference is to bring together the research by linguists, historians and specialists of literature around what happened to the French language – and to other languages – during the conflict. For some, the First World War is a turning point in the history of the French Language. This standpoint raises the question of the coincidence between language change and historical change, and of the possible use of periodization. Furthermore, the history of the French Language during the 19th and 20th century has not been much explored recently, as these times may appear too near to us for the diachronic approach to be deemed necessary.

As a matter of fact, the First World War seems to have fascinating potential for sociolinguistic enquiries, as some of its language material still remains unexploited, and may reveal a fruitful case study for some of today’s most important issues in the linguistic field – the question of variation and language use, for example.

Indeed, while the quantity of written material that remains from some more ancient periods can prove scarce and frustrating, this is not the case with the First World War. An enormous quantity of sources is available – some of them even oral sources -, constituting a rich heritage, and there is no doubt that during this period of commemorations, some of them will be more systematically explored. Through digitization, new corpora will be made available for researchers.

While existing studies mostly put a stress on literary testimonies or the use of argot on the front lines, the purpose of this conference is to open up the range of possible linguistic issues and raise a number of questions that have not been so far dwelt upon in much detail.

Proposals on the following aspects will be particularly considered:

The First World War as a landmark. Is the First World War a real turning point for the French language? On what grounds is this thesis defended?
The use of dialects. Is the First World War the moment when, as soldiers sent to the front had to adopt French as a vehicular language, the use of dialects began a phase of serious decline? Were the soldiers bilingual in their every-day life? Did the First World War play a role in the perception of French as a « national language », attached to military values, to the ideas of unity and cohesion of the nation?
The use of argot and neologism. Was there such a thing as a « parler poilu »? Behind all the picturesque aspects developed by a significant literature, often published during the war itself, and tending to to promote clichés and stereotypes, what are the facts? What kind of sources can be used : dictionaries, newspapers, songs…? To what extent did the new ways of speaking spread into the civil society after appearing on the front? How were these new forms of speech regarded? What were the private and general attitudes towards them?
Language contact. During the war, the practice of learning a foreign language, of translating, of interpreting, was significantly increased. Who were the interpreters? What was their education, their capability, their experience? How did the different languages involved interact with each other? How did the joint staffs work? In which contexts did translations take place? Did nationalist ideas and ideologies play a role?
The use of writing. During the war, a number of individuals (soldiers and their families) had to write in French, perhaps for the first time ever, but certainly for the first time on that scale. Is there a linguistic specificity to those written productions? Did the level of literacy evolve? Can we observe a change in the expression of emotions? Was the expression of intimate matters altered by the war?
Language and education. The very functioning of schools was severely affected during the years of war. So far, there has been little research on this fact by historians.  How did the school system adapt to the new regime imposed by war? Was the teaching of the French language altered? Can we speak of a gap in transmission? Did the linguistic and cultural norms change during those years?
The purpose of this conference is to show that, by examining such an event as the First World War from the specific viewpoint of language matters, we can reveal its entanglement with cultural, social and political issues. The conference would also like to be an opportunity for historians and linguists to bring together their questions and methodologies, and promote new approaches around a common and engaging object.

Submission guidelines

Papers proposals should be sent in electronic format word, rtf or pdf to colloque-langue14@listes.paris-sorbonne.fr

not later than June 30, 2013.

Proposals must include the author’s name and his status, the title of the paper, a 350-word or a 1000 signs abstract.

They will be examinated by the members of the scientific committee.

Scientific committee

Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau (directeur d’études à l’EHESS)
Hélène Baty-Delalande (maîtresse de conférences en littérature, université de Paris 7)
Annette Becker (professeure d’histoire contemporaine à l’Université de Paris-Ouest Nanterre La Défense  / IUF)
Gabriel Bergougnoux (professeur de linguistique à l’université d’Orléans)
Sonia Branca-Rosoff (professeur émérite en linguistique à l’université de Paris 3)
Bruno Cabanes (associate professor en histoire contemporaine à Yale University)
Jean-François Chanet (professeur d’histoire contemporaine à l’Institut d’études politiques de Paris Sciences Po Paris)
Jean-Claude Chevalier (professeur émérite, université de Paris 8)
Jacques Dürrenmatt (professeur en Langue française, unievrsité Paris-Sorbonne)
Jacques Guilhaumou (directeur de recherche émérite, CNRS, section 34)
John Horne (professeur d’histoire contemporaine à Trinity College Dublin)
Jean-Marie Klinkenberg (professeur émérite en sémiologie et rhétorique à l’université de Liège, président du Conseil Supérieur de la Langue Française de Belgique)
Peter Koch (professeur, Romanisches Seminar, université de Tübingen)
R. Anthony Lodge (professeur émérite en Langue Française, University of St Andrews)
Marie-Anne Paveau (professeure en analyse du discours, université Paris 13)
Gilles Philippe (professeur de linguistique, université de Lausanne)
Christophe Prochasson (directeur d’études à l’EHES)
Frédéric Rousseau (professeur en Histoire contemporaine, université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3)
Odile Roynette (maîtresse de conférences habilitée en histoire contemporaine à l’Université de Franche-Comté et chercheure associée au Centre d’histoire de Sciences Po)
Jean-François Sablayrolles (professeur de lexicologie, université Paris 13)
André Thibault (professeur en Langue française, université Paris-Sorbonne)
Carine Trevisan (professeure en littérature du XXe siècle, Paris 7)
Jay Winter (professeur d’histoire contemporaine à Yale University)

The poets and the World War: "Valmorbia" by Eugenio Montale

The Italian poet
Eugenio Montale in 1918

Today we go back to poetry with the world renowned Italian poet Eugenio Montale (Genova 1896 - Milano 1981), Nobel prize in Literature in 1975. Montale was a soldier of the Great War in the Trentino region. As far as we know, he wrote only one poem about his experience at the front and this appears in his debut book entitled Ossi di seppia (Cuttlefish bones, 1925, Piero Gobetti Editore Torino). It's a recollection of memories happening some years after the war has ended and therefore something completely different from the poems Ungaretti wrote live and kept in his haversack. The translation we offer is a brand new one and is a team work of the editors of World War I Bridges. For a better location of the region you can have a look at this page. A curiosity and an advice for people willing to deepen their knowledge of the Italian poetry: the title of the best anthology of Italy World War I poetry today available borrowed a verse of this poem: Le notti chiare erano tutte un'alba (edited by Andrea Cortellessa, Bruno Mondadori Editore, 1998).


Valmorbia, blossoming clouds of plants
held forth on your bottom at the puffs.
World's oblivion flowered in us
doomed to the blind chance.

In the lonely lap the shots fell silent,
nothing but the gruff Leno resounded.
A rocket bloomed on its stem, faint,
letting tears flow into the air.

The bright nights were all a dawn
and brought foxes to my cave. 
Valmorbia, a name - and now in the pale
memory, land where the night never falls.

The valley entitling the poem in a photo of the war time

 
Valmorbia, discorrevano il tuo fondo
fioriti nuvoli di piante agli àsoli. 
Nasceva in noi, volti dal cieco caso, 
oblio del mondo.

Tacevano gli spari, nel grembo solitario 
non dava suono che il Leno roco. 
Sbocciava un razzo su lo stelo, fioco 
lacrimava nell'aría.

Le notti chiare erano tutte un'alba 
e portavano volpi alla mia grotta. 
Valmorbia, un nome - e ora nella scialba 
memoria, terra dove non annotta.