Author: Larissa Allwork

On 3rd October 2016, Broadway Cinema, Nottingham in partnership with the Centre for Hidden Histories organised a free public screening of Lewis Milestone’s Oscar winning classic, All Quiet on the Western Front (1930).  Adapted from the novel by German First World War veteran Erich Maria Remarque, the film’s anti-war message and scenes of violence were controversial in the 1930s, leading the movie to be banned in Austria, Yugoslavia, Italy, Bulgaria and New Zealand. The film’s pacifist message also led to its condemnation by the Nazis and prohibition from cinemas in the Third Reich, while the movie’s association of French women with moral licentiousness led to its removal from French cinemas.

The screening at Broadway to thirty members of the public was accompanied by a question and answer session afterwards with University of Nottingham academics, Professor John Beckett, Professor Mike Heffernan and Professor Nigel Hunt. Topics discussed included the representation of soldiers in the film in relation to trauma, conceptions of masculinity and the experiences of soldiers fighting in conflicts since 1918.  There was also discussion of the historical strengths and limitations of the film, as well as the role that films such as ‘All Quiet on the Western Front’ have played in constructing contemporary public understandings of the First World War.

Audience responses included:

“The film and especially the Q&A afterwards were very informative and thought provoking.  It has certainly given me a more rounded and comprehensive take on the war and its impact on everyone around at the time.” (Chris Henderson, Age 39)

“It was a very important film that should be shown again. The Q&A session afterwards was most interesting and brought out some of the issues in the film which I might have otherwise missed.” (Martin Foulds, Age 63)

“Very interesting and informative. Particularly the range of expertise of the speakers.” (Anonymous respondent). 

 

On the afternoon of 25th August 2016, Mike Noble (Community Liaison Officer) and I met with community partners of the Centre for Hidden Histories at Edin’s Cafe, Broad Street, Nottingham. This session was convened to discuss the various ways in which being a part of projects associated with the AHRC’s First World War Engagement Centres had impacted on participants individual lives, organisations and communities. In our discussion we were joined by Professor Paul Elliott (The University of Derby), community artists, Jenny Anthony and Maureen Elliott from Spiral Arts and participant in Spiral Arts projects, Hazel Thompson. Dr Irfan Malik (Friends of Dulmial Society), Gertie Whitfield (Whitworks Adventures in Theatre) and Pauline Woodhouse and Marion Caunt from the Radcliffe on Trent and the First World War project were also present.

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Yesterday I was fortunate to attend the ‘Voices of the Home Fronts’ conference at the National Archives in Kew.  Convened by the ‘Everyday Lives in War’ Engagement Centre based at the University of Hertfordshire, Thursday’s programme featured a keynote lecture by Professor Adrian Gregory (Pembroke College, Oxford University) on consent and dissent among the British working classes during World War One.  In a panel session that followed on Literature and Poetry,  I saw Associate Professor Donna Coates (University of Calgary) give a fascinating introduction to the post-World War One Canadian national narrative of the Battle of Vimy Ridge and the efforts by recent Canadian novelists to problematize this image through a greater attendance to themes of ethnic diversity and gender.  In other papers on the panel, Jeff Taylor tackled the ubiquitous presence of German spies in representations of World War One era East Anglia, Viv Newman analysed the war-time grief poetry of A.E. Grantham and Professor Andrew Jackson (Bishop Grossetest University) introduced the often over-looked rural war-time writings of Bernard Gilbert, a Lincolnshire poet.  The second panel of the afternoon was equally interesting with Lucy Moore giving an overview of museums and galleries in Leeds during the war, Sonja Andrew introducing her textiles based responses to histories of conscientious objection and Lucie Whitmore discussing the emotional archaeology of First World War fashion.  Dr Jim Beech concluded the session with his detailed analysis of British First World War soldier, Vince Schuerhoff and Schuerhoff’s experiences of military training in Britain before being deployed on the Front Line.

The conference concluded with an evening of talks which featured Professor Maggie Andrews (University of Worcester) and author and TV producer Richard van Emden.  Emden spoke about The Quick and the Dead,  his study of the impact of World War One on families who lost loved ones during the conflict. A conversation with Paul McGann ended the evening, featuring the actor’s reflections on meeting World War I veterans and making the controversial BBC series, The Monocled Mutineer (1986).

The Centre for Hidden Histories has been represented at the conference.  ‘Beyond the Western Front’ speaker, Steve Lau spoke on Friday morning, Community Liaison Officer, Mike Noble chaired a session on Friday afternoon and Centre for Hidden Histories researchers Claudia Sternberg and David Stowe will be speaking on Saturday.