War Discourse

Abstract

This chapter examines how the First World War is still talked about in Britain within political, media and public discourse. Before the centenary of its outbreak, the First World War was a regular feature within parliamentary debates, newspaper columns and a variety of political, social and local interest groups. These particular arenas frequently utilize a set of common responses to engage with, describe and remember the war. Terms such as ‘sacrifice’, ‘stoicism’, ‘futility’ or ‘slaughter’ are evoked in these circumstances to frame the conflict for contemporary society. However, alongside these traditional narratives of the war, alternative concepts of ‘celebration’, ‘community’ and ‘legacy’ have been used across a variety of media to structure the war’s remembrance in order to mark the centenary. Through an analysis of the political debate during the approach to the anniversary in 2014, a specific ‘war discourse’ will be identified. Using the methodology of critical discourse analysis, this way of talking about the war will be assessed as a form of social practice, reflecting issues of identity, power and politics within contemporary Britain. With the passing of the last veterans of the conflict the war has now moved beyond individual remembrance; however, despite this, the commemoration of the war is maintained and structured through language. This chapter demonstrates that far from the war having receded into history, the way in which it is talked about maintains its presence and its effect for British society. In this manner, through the study of the ‘war discourse’, language mobilizes the past for the present.