This book tackles cultural mobilization in the First World War as a plural process of identity formation and de-formation. It explores eight different settings in which individuals, communities and conceptual paradigms were mobilized. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, it interrogates one of the most challenging facets of the history of the Great War, one that keeps raising key questions on the way cultures respond to times of crisis. Mobilization during the First World War was a major process of material and imaginative engagement unfolding on a military, economic, political and cultural level, and existing identities were dramatically challenged and questioned by the whirl of discourses and representations involved.
"Mobilizing Cultural Identities in the First World War unites a wide range of insights and offers a useful reading for different audiences. Its multifaceted, transnational approach and the attention that is devoted to often overlooked aspects of the war are just two elements that contribute to the innovative character of the book. It is a refreshing and timely contribution to World War I scholarship which will undoubtedly inspire future research in the field of cultural studies and beyond." (Eline Batsleer, Annali d'italianistica, Vol. 40, 2022)
"The book showcases the vast range of scholarly work that the cultural study of the First World War can generate. If the richness of approaches may at times come to the detriment of the overall cohesion of the volume, this issueis widely compensated by the high quality of all of the contributions, wisely edited into compact thematic sections resulting in a book that solidly contributes to the interdisciplinary and intermedial ethos that informs today's scholarship." (Guido Bartolini, Modern Language Review, Vol. 117 (4), October, 2022)
"The book showcases the vast range of scholarly work that the cultural study of the First World War can generate. If the richness of approaches may at times come to the detriment of the overall cohesion of the volume, this issueis widely compensated by the high quality of all of the contributions, wisely edited into compact thematic sections resulting in a book that solidly contributes to the interdisciplinary and intermedial ethos that informs today's scholarship." (Guido Bartolini, Modern Language Review, Vol. 117 (4), October, 2022)