Memories of war on the urban fringe: The Great War and the Paris “zone” during the interwar years
Journalists and novelists of the interwar period often compared the outskirts of Paris, in particular the “zone”, to the battlefields of the Great War. For literary flâneurs, it was the zone’s topographical or social elements that were most suggestive of the Front. For avant- garde writers, the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The University of Western Australia
2019-10-01
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| Series: | Essays in French Literature and Culture |
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| Online Access: | https://essaysinfrenchliteratureandculture.com/james-cannon-memories-of-war-on-the-urban-fringe-the-great-war-and-the-paris-zone-during-the-interwar-years-essays-in-french-literature-and-culture-56-2019/ |
| _version_ | 1828190503453065216 |
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| author | James Cannon |
| author_facet | James Cannon |
| author_sort | James Cannon |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Journalists and novelists of the interwar period often compared the
outskirts of Paris, in particular the “zone”, to the battlefields of the
Great War. For literary flâneurs, it was the zone’s topographical or
social elements that were most suggestive of the Front. For avant-
garde writers, the zone confirmed the existence of an unconscious
death drive, originally posited by Freud in an attempt to understand
the blood-letting of 1914-1918. The revolutionary Left was more
concerned with renewing the zone’s pre-war political vocation to
condemn bourgeois militarism and capitalism while energising
the working classes. For a variety of reasons, the zone thus
became a significant site of counter-memory at odds with official
commemorations of the war that tended to glorify the sacrifice of
French soldiers while ignoring their lived experience. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T08:23:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c75d19a4010a4e6b9faed3ff3de4ef7f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1835-7040 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T08:23:29Z |
| publishDate | 2019-10-01 |
| publisher | The University of Western Australia |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Essays in French Literature and Culture |
| spelling | doaj.art-c75d19a4010a4e6b9faed3ff3de4ef7f2022-12-22T03:40:30ZengThe University of Western AustraliaEssays in French Literature and Culture1835-70402019-10-0156167183Memories of war on the urban fringe: The Great War and the Paris “zone” during the interwar yearsJames Cannon0La Trobe UniversityJournalists and novelists of the interwar period often compared the outskirts of Paris, in particular the “zone”, to the battlefields of the Great War. For literary flâneurs, it was the zone’s topographical or social elements that were most suggestive of the Front. For avant- garde writers, the zone confirmed the existence of an unconscious death drive, originally posited by Freud in an attempt to understand the blood-letting of 1914-1918. The revolutionary Left was more concerned with renewing the zone’s pre-war political vocation to condemn bourgeois militarism and capitalism while energising the working classes. For a variety of reasons, the zone thus became a significant site of counter-memory at odds with official commemorations of the war that tended to glorify the sacrifice of French soldiers while ignoring their lived experience.https://essaysinfrenchliteratureandculture.com/james-cannon-memories-of-war-on-the-urban-fringe-the-great-war-and-the-paris-zone-during-the-interwar-years-essays-in-french-literature-and-culture-56-2019/paris20th centuryworld war1914-1918memorymarginalityzone |
| spellingShingle | James Cannon Memories of war on the urban fringe: The Great War and the Paris “zone” during the interwar years Essays in French Literature and Culture paris 20th century world war 1914-1918 memory marginality zone |
| title | Memories of war on the urban fringe: The Great War and the Paris “zone” during the interwar years |
| title_full | Memories of war on the urban fringe: The Great War and the Paris “zone” during the interwar years |
| title_fullStr | Memories of war on the urban fringe: The Great War and the Paris “zone” during the interwar years |
| title_full_unstemmed | Memories of war on the urban fringe: The Great War and the Paris “zone” during the interwar years |
| title_short | Memories of war on the urban fringe: The Great War and the Paris “zone” during the interwar years |
| title_sort | memories of war on the urban fringe the great war and the paris zone during the interwar years |
| topic | paris 20th century world war 1914-1918 memory marginality zone |
| url | https://essaysinfrenchliteratureandculture.com/james-cannon-memories-of-war-on-the-urban-fringe-the-great-war-and-the-paris-zone-during-the-interwar-years-essays-in-french-literature-and-culture-56-2019/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jamescannon memoriesofwarontheurbanfringethegreatwarandthepariszoneduringtheinterwaryears |