Smith, Richard W. P.. 2019. '‘From empire to multicultural nation: memory and forgetting during the First World War centenary commemorations’'. In: Legacies of the First World War Diversity Festival. Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham, United Kingdom 23 March 2019. [Conference or Workshop Item]

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Abstract or Description

This keynote explores how questions of national belonging and military service have been addressed over the WW1 centenary period. There is a particular focus on how narratives of front-line heroism, embodied in figures such as Walter Tull, have a tendency to exclude the range of experiences and contributions to the war effort, particularly in an imperial context. The dominance of front-line narratives presents a conditional model of citizenship for contemporary multicultural Britain, overlooks opposition to war and tends to collapse the imperial relationships of 1914 with the present, partially eliding other struggles for national independence and equality.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Keynote)
Keywords:	WW1 centenary, national belonging, military service, imperialism, multicultural Britain
Departments, Centres and Research Units:	Media, Communications and Cultural Studies
Dates:	Date Event 23 March 2019 Accepted
Event Location:	Midlands Arts Centre, Birmingham, United Kingdom
Date range:	23 March 2019
Item ID:	26266
Date Deposited:	24 Apr 2019 10:29
Last Modified:	24 Apr 2019 10:29
URI:	https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/26266

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