New Social and Cultural Histories of the First World War Home Front Social History Society, 40th annual conference , March 2016

Comics, Cartoons and Cultural Record Some new stories New sorts of evidence New ways of working Reflecting new and varied voices New aspects emerge through differing representations of experiences STORIES, VOICES, EVIDENCE, METHODS. REPRESENTATIONS

Cultural Record Argument: contemporary comics should be included in the palette of primary sources for the study of the past. Influences: Carr, Collingwood and Derrida Draws on New Cultural History democratisation in 2 ways: Extension of sources Comics themselves are a ‘democratic’ art form – both as popular culture and in their use by social movements

Categories of cultural record for close reading Subjectivity – subject location Verisimilitude – metaphorical aptness Dynamic Record Mentalité

Ryan Walker 1915 Subjectivity

Subject location Chronicles of the N.Z.E.F. CUL: WRB 1–2, reel 3

Listening Post, April 1918, vol. 30, p. 19. Verisimilitude

Big and Little Willie – Whitby 19 December 1914 Daily Mirror Metaphorical aptness

Dynamic record 1

Dynamic record 2

Mentalite Mentalité

Humour Humour as a diversion from violence and death in troop publications Slapstick Disparagement/superiority Relief theory Incongruity humour Collective humour Educational humour

IMAGE 5 Disparagement

Project findings This interdisciplinary, trans-national study recuperates currently unknown or neglected strips and demonstrates how these can be used for the study of both world wars, including Home Fronts, US, UK, Australian and Canadian studies, women’s history, and labour history.   It reveals how sequential illustrated narratives act as a cultural record by: Offering a barometer for contemporary popular thinking.  Using humour as a coping mechanism, and a way to criticise authority.  Promoting certain forms of behaviour and discouraged others.  Representing a deliberately inclusive educational strategy for reading wartime content and often a collective one.

POW’s , Agriculture and Cartoons: EVERYDAY LIVES IN WAR POW’s , Agriculture and Cartoons: Though negligible until 1917, the number of prisoners of war working in agriculture was almost double the size of the Women’s Land Army by the end of the war. This aspect of everyday agricultural life in south Lincolnshire breaks new ground by seeking to account for the role of POWs through the eyes of the enemy as recorded in the paintings and cartoons of a German prisoner working in south Lincolnshire.

Comics and the World Wars - further publications Chapman, (2015) The Aussie, 1918-1931: cartoons, digger remembrance and First World War identity. Journalism Studies Chapman and Ellin (2015)  ‘Dominion cartoon satire as trench culture narratives: Complaints, endurance and stoicism’ in: The British Empire and The First World War, ed. A. Jackson, Routledge, London Chapman and Ellin (2014) Dominion cartoon satire as trench culture narratives: Complaints, endurance and stoicism. The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs, 103(2) 175-192 Chapman (2014)  ‘Representations of female war-time bravery in Australia’s Wanda the War Girl and Jane at War from the UK’ in: Fashion and War in Popular Culture, ed. D.N. Rall, Intellect Books, Bristol Chapman & Ellin (2012) Multi-panel comic narratives in Australian First World War trench publications as citizen journalism, Australian Journal of Communication, Vol 39 (3), pp.1- 22 Chapman (2011) Comics and the representation of female war-time bravery in Wanda the War Girl (Australia)’Australasian Journal of Popular Culture , vol. 1, no.2, pp.153-163

Comics and the World Wars: A Cultural Record An AHRC funded project 2011-2015 with a five person team. This trans-national study recuperates currently unknown or neglected strips and demonstrates how these can be used for the interdisciplinary study of the world wars. Project page: https://lcrj.blogs.lincoln.ac.uk/comics-and-the-world-wars/ AHRC film: http://www.ahrc.ac.uk/News-and-Events/Watch-and-Listen/Pages/Comics-and-World-Wars-A-Cultural-Record.aspx TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlUe1P8K7vY