Cultural images of war

Images of emotions, emotions of the world – the war photographs of Rita Leistner - Kalina Kukiełko-Rogozińska, Krzysztof Tomanek

The aim of this article is to introduce a Canadian multimedia artist and war photographer – Rita Leistner – and her work. The first part of the paper deals with inspiration sources and reasons for creating her first book, Looking for Marshall McLuhan in Afghanistan, whilst the second part contains an interview with the photographer. The artist discusses her symbolic departure from everything encompassed as ‘human’ and the transition to the technological realm in modern war conflicts, as well as her own transformation as a result of witnessing somebody else’s suffering. Further, the artist analyses the current socio-political situation in the world and explores her approach towards modern art and, in particular, photography.

Hyper-masculinity in the Vietnam war as depicted in the popular American cinematography of the 1980s - Krzysztof Kula

The main subject of this paper is a depiction of the Vietnam war hero as portrayed in films of the genre. The article concentrates on the model of a male protagonist regularly employed in the 1980s and 1990s war pictures, through the analysis of the most important and fascinating characters of the discussed genre, in particular the “Rambo” series and “Missing in Action”. The paper also explores the issue of narrative changes, introduced through sequels, to address cinemagoers’ needs. The main character of a war film is depicted through the prism of the physical manifestation of masculinity and the Reagan politics permeating various media in 1980s. The study is based on the development of issues discussed and analysed by Zbyszek Melosik and other authors. It considers both convergent and divergent characteristics of the numerous protagonists of the genre appearing in silver screen productions. A muscular, powerful physique, together with a strong and determined personality, are the most emphasised and visible features in the film narrative. Also, quite noticeable is the role of violence, so characteristic of war films of the era. Regardless of the subject matter of the films, which tackle the first American war defeat, they often offer an overload of titillating violence. This aspect, which is strictly associated with the issue of building up a statuesque war film hero, is considered in the paper as well. The concluding section covers an analysis of the state of cinema, addressing the Vietnam war in the following years and a comparison of the 1980s male hero of the genre with a new type of masculinity promoted in modern cinematography.

Military shooters. The image of war and the Polish army in selected computer games - Tomasz Bednarz

The paper explores the subject of modern war and military computer games. The concept of the military-entertainment complex has been analysed together with its impact on the appearance and the subject of computer games. Further, the idea of ‘particular realism’ of computer war games has been discussed. This provides a context for attempts to place and examine the impact of games where Polish troops appear (such as Medal of Honor: Warfighter; SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs [SOCOM: Polskie siły zbrojne]) and games created by Polish production studios (such as Enemy Front, This War of Mine, Uprising). The main consideration here revolves around the question: how the form shapes the idea. The author attempts to address the question of how such works influence culture and pop culture. Is it a platform to convey merely clichés and propaganda or is there space for more in-depth thinking?

Milblogs: blogs of American soldiers – the alternative voice in the war reporting - Małgorzata Gajda-Łaszewska

Milblogs, war blogs, which started appearing at the beginning of the twenty first century, transformed the image of warfare in the modern world. The blogs of soldiers in active service during the Iraq War, which was known as Operation Iraqi Freedom, are the best example of this. On the one hand, they enable a direct insight into the everyday life of military personnel, whilst, on the other side, unbeknownst to the soldiers themselves, they can become a very efficient PR tool in hands of the army and traditional media. As a result, this independent voice from the frontline becomes the subject of rivalry between traditional war communication channels as each recognises the huge potential of milblogs used for their own ends.

Unknown image of the reality of the occupation: the issue of rubber plant cultivation in recollections of Auschwitz female prisoners, farmers and children - Sławomir Łotysz

Between 1942 and 1943 the Nazis conducted experiments in occupied Poland attempting to cultivate Kazakh dandelion, a rubber producing plant originating in Central Asia. Botanical and chemical examination of Taraxacum kok-saghyz were conducted in the agricultural research institute in Puławy and in the experimental research unit of KL Auschwitz, where laboratory and field work was carried out by female inmates, mostly botanists and agronomists. Polish farmers were forced to plant the Kazakh dandelion over thousands of acres of fields by the occupation authorities, whilst prisoners of labour and concentration camps, including wom - en and children, were forced to carry out arduous cultivation work. Polish patri - ots used every opportunity to sabotage such cultivations. This paper presents this little-known episode of the occupation reality, based upon recollections of labora - tory staff, farmers and children. At the same time, an attempt was made to embed this story in the context of contemporary technological, economic and military advancements.

All great wars - Agnieszka Haska, Jerzy Stachowicz

The paper reflects on various visions of a global military conflict in fantasy literature of the 1870s. The authors of the article, through the analysis of different genres and approaches to the subject – from invasion literature, war tales with a predominate role of inventions, to dystopias and alternative histories – present how war fantasy narratives influenced readers’ imagination. Such literature was used twofold. It served as patriotic propaganda or to promote the interests of other, specific, groups, but it also incited an overwhelming feeling that conflict is inevitable and will lead either to the creation of a new, better world or to an absolute disaster.

The world on the edge… Contemporary wars in the media discourse - Urszula Jarecka

The article begins with establishing the cultural context for the threats facing civilisation relating to war and their media portrayal. The rhetoric of peace employed for war narratives hinders a potential understanding of the problems experienced by local communities in the war afflicted areas. The next section of the paper considers problems of the ‘slithering war’ – spreading and fighting terrorism and the trivialisation of threats in the media. The final part discusses the rhetoric of peace in the context of the everyday media reality.

Who is a civilian? - Waldemar Rapior

Pursuant to Art. 52 of Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, “civilian objects shall not be the object of attack or of reprisals”. Such objects include hospitals, market squares, schools, residential buildings or modern urban life institutions. Reports on attacks on civilians make us realise the fragility of human beings. How shall we understand the category of ‘civilian’? How does this category function nowadays, and why is it so important for the modern lifestyle? These questions will be addressed through the exploration of the Civil March for Aleppo case study. The march that started in Berlin on 26th December 2016 is an inherently apolitical initiative which was organised by civilians for civilians. However, since it started there has been a discussion among the marching Syrians and Europeans on political issues surrounding the march and the ‘illusion of objectivity’ – whether other, engaged parties’ viewpoint should be taken into consideration in the march. I joined the march twice, for a few days, had a lot of conversations with the participants and took part in discussions that sometimes turned into aggressive, hourslong, argumentative exchanges. The words of one female activist saying that “peace without justice is just an empty word”, I treat as a starting point for my exploration of the notion of aptness in the combining of politics with humanitarianism. On the one hand, campaigners, such as Linda Polman and David Rieff, politicians, such as Colin Powell, and philosophers, Giorgio Agamben, criticise the ‘neutrality of humanitarianism’ rule, because strict following of this principle results in the cooperation of NGOs with authoritarian regimes and losing the credibility of peace keeping missions. On the other hand, philosophers specialising in armed conflicts, such as David W. Lovell and Igor Primoratz, point out that the civilian’s immunity is not categorical. This criticism is not without merit, but participation in the march made me understand how important it is to pose questions, from both the faraway, overseas, civilians’ perspective and from the European one. Namely, are we – the outsiders – capable enough to understand the complexity of the Syrian conflict and take one of the sides? Or, the only thing we can do is not adopt a particular political stance but adopt a distinctive humanitarian attitude. Should initiatives such as the civilian March for Aleppo remain neutral or, rather, should they be against something (whether it is the Assad rule, Russia, or European decision-makers or somebody else entirely)? Is it possible to be impartial without being neutral? All these questions are significant due to the fundamental separation of politics and war from the civilians’ life.

War contained in 140 characters – the civil war in Syria in images and narratives of the Twitter social space - Hussein Bougsiaa, Lucyna Kopciewicz

The purpose of the article is to analyse the ways in which the Syrian war is portrayed in the Twitter domain. It is not concerned with the recreation of the truth of the violent conflict documented in text messages, photographs and films published between 2015-2016 by Syrian organisations home and abroad, as well as activists. Instead, the idea here is to establish a strategy for the creation and dissemination of narratives – texts, images and films – in communication spaces. In other words, it refers to the ‘creation’ of war and its components (enemies, victims, destruction, massacre sites), the ‘translation’ of the war for Western and Arabic audiences (a comparison of differences in communication and visual strategies – a war translation analysis done by 7-year-old Bana Alabed seems very interesting) and the ‘negotiation’ of war and its elements in the Twitter space.

Compelling beauty fighting with the Islamic State. the analysis of visual depictions of Kurdish female fighters in Syria - Karolina A. Dobosz

The aim of this paper is to analyse the internet popularity of Kurdish fighters, whose images were widely broadcasted due to their involvement in the war with the Islamic State. The author explores the consecutive development of power relations. She uses critical visual methodology derived from, among others, the feminist psychoanalysis tradition in culture research and Foucauldian discourse analysis. The author describes the process of fetishizing of Kurdish female soldiers’ images and discursive practices associated with it. Therefore, she presents how, through the use of visual strategies embedded in culture, a biased image of the Kurdish involvement in war in the northern Syria, is spread.

Neighbours. Illustrate with a woman – the image of war in Wojciech Smarzowski’s films - Katarzyna Taras

This paper addresses the question why the director Wojciech Smarzowski makes females the main character of his war films, following the course started in the Polish cinema in 2008 with Mała Moskwa (Little Moscow) by Waldemar Krzystek. The key issues here are: what is the difference between Smarzowski’s mothers and other leading female characters in Polish films, and what is the difference between the depiction of war in his and other directors’ films.

The tender place for reminiscence (Róża directed by Wojtek Smarzowski) - Kinga Siewior

The basis for this article is the film Róża (Rose), directed by Wojtek Smarzowski. The author reads the aforementioned film as a historic tale of the ‘Recovered Territories’ (territories that became part of Poland after the Second World War), and, at the same time, the representation of the Other, post-war autochthonic experience of Masurians. Where, in the memory discourse, does the film place Masurians? In what way does it bring their tragic history back to the Polish collective memory? Who benefits from recovering this collective memory? Whilst searching for answers, the author uses the notion of melodrama as a sorting key for cinema image notions.

The comics images of war. A brief study of the biographical war narratives analysis - Paweł Ciołkiewicz

The article examines war comics containing biographical narratives of people who experienced war trauma. Three publications provided the material for the analysis. These are, namely, Maus by Art Spiegelman, Yossel by Joe Kubert and Footnotes in Gaza by Joe Sacco. Despite the fact that each one of them describes war differently, they all attempt to depict it from the viewpoint of ordinary people, witnesses and victims of terror. The author starts with the analysis of the characteristics of the discussed publications, especially in their biographical aspect. This is followed by the formulation of a theoretical – analytical reference framework using the interpretative sociology method, whilst the main body of the text is a reconstruction of the biographical narratives of the main characters. Conclusions on the narrative strategies characteristics used by terror witnesses and suggestions for further work are included in the summary.

Polish narrative Second World War museums after 1989 - Bartosz Korzeniewski

This text explores the issue of the form Second World War museum collections were taking after 1989. The author establishes and examines the main tendencies in the ways of depicting war in the Polish narrative museums, especially within the context of modern trends in world historical museology.

The annihilation of book collections as a rationale and a measure of the intelligentsia crisis. The case of Kalisz as an exemplar for Poland - Przemysław Pawlak

In August 1914, the Germans destroyed about 90% of residential buildings in Kalisz. One form of Germanisation used in the Second World War was to fill Balbinka – the canal of the Prosna river – with book collections. At one time, Kalisz was a capital of the kingdom, nowadays it is only a regional county urban centre. Generation by generation, the city has been experiencing a brain drain to the three large academic centres: Poznań, Wrocław and Łódź. It also became a victim of economic migration. To what extent have the wartime cultural artefact losses been an underlying reason for the current demise of the status of the oldest city in Poland? Is the destruction of a community’s book collections a harbinger heralding its marginalisation?

On the modern Polish identity - confrontations - Dorota Dąbrowska

One way to analyse modern Polish society is through the spiritual foundations that shape it. These fundamentals are the subject of interest of many authors who, employing a variety of categories, touch upon issues which are important from their point of view, that provide a rationale and meaning for ongoing change. The aim of this article is the exploration of three characteristic visions of Polishness, followed by their confrontation in order to demonstrate to what extent they are coherent. The main idea here is to address the question whether Ewa Thompson’s notion of the postcolonial character of Poland is compatible with Ryszard Legutko’s concept which emphasises the crucial, for contemporary Poles, experience of disembedding. Agata Bielik-Robson’s opinion suggesting the illusory character of the Polish group and the complex relationship between the author’s diagnosis and the postcolonial narratives will be considered here, too.

Restoration of Poland’s sovereignty in 1918 in the collective memory of Polish society - Piotr T. Kwiatkowski

The restoration of Poland’s sovereignty as the Second Polish Republic after the First War World is the subject of historical research and political discussion. However, this article focuses on the question of the place of this event in the informal collective Polish memory. An important data source are the results of the “Niepodległa ’18” research conducted by the National Centre for Culture, Poland (NCK) and TNS Polska in 2016. This paper focuses on four areas: (1) transmission of knowledge on the sovereignty restoration, (2) images of notable people (3) significant events of the time and (4) perceptions of Polish society attitudes at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Results of the ”History enthusiasts” NCK/Ipsos survey - Zuzanna Maciejczak

The article discusses and presents a preliminary interpretation of a survey on the microsocial level of perception and experience of the past. The target group of this qualitative research, conducted by the National Centre for Culture, Poland (NCK) and the Ipsos research specialists, consisted of amateur ‘history enthusiasts’ who identify themselves as ‘people with a vast interest in history’. The aim of the research was to establish the fundamental motives and reasons for taking an interest in history and ways of discovering it. One of the most prominent academics of memory studies, Jeffrey K. Olick, suggests that mnemonic practices should be used as a research subject as they are central planks of modern and postmodern life, and this provides a context for the discussion on the NCK/Iposos survey.

View at the online bookstore

Table of contents