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War in the Classroom

Niemeijer, Andrew James

2021

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citation for published version (APA)Niemeijer, A. J. (2021). War in the Classroom: A Qualitative Model for the English Literature Classroom. s.n.

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Download date: 31. Mar. 2022

I

A Qualitative Model for the English Literature Curriculum

ANDREW NIEMEIJER

IN THE CLASSROOM

2

DitproefschriftwerdmedemogelijkgemaaktdoordePromotiebeursvoorLerarenVRIJEUNIVERSITEIT

3

VRIJEUNIVERSITEIT

WARINTHECLASSROOM

AQualitativeModelfortheEnglishLiteratureClassroom

ACADEMISCHPROEFSCHRIFT

terverkrijgingvandegraadDoctorofPhilosophyaandeVrijeUniversiteitAmsterdam,opgezagvanderectormagnificus

prof.dr.V.Subramaniam,inhetopenbaarteverdedigen

tenoverstaanvandepromotiecommissievandeFaculteitderGeesteswetenschappenopwoensdag15september2021om9.45uur

indeaulavandeuniversiteit,DeBoelelaan1105

door

AndrewJamesNiemeijer

geborenteGroningen

4

promotor: prof.dr. D.M. Oostdijk

copromotor: prof.dr. D.H. Schram

5

TableofContents

ForewordandDedication 8

IntroducingWarintheClassroom.DesigningLiteraryCurricularAnswersinEducationtothePressuresofScience,PoliticsandSociety. 15

TheClimateofWarandthePathosFormula 17

InterventionsintheClassroomandMcLoughlin’sTropes 20

TheBeautifulRiskofInterveningintheClassroom 25

Society’sStakeintheClassroom 30

Politics’StakeintheClassroom 34

Science’sStakeintheClassroom 41

TeachersinCommand:CreatingEducationalAnchors 48

2.CanonisationintheClassroom:InventingTradition.TheShiftsinAnthologisingFirstWorldWarPoetrysince1914andtheLessonsTeacherscan

DrawfromThem. 53

2.1InventingTradition:Education,LiteratureandtheWarforMemory57

2.2InventingTradition(1914-1918):EstablishingtheVeteranPoets 61

InterventionI:SongsofWar 63

InterventionII:RefugeePoetry 69

InterventionIII:TheBattleforAuthenticity 73

2.3InventingTradition(1964-1968):AnthologiesforSchools 77

InterventionIV:OneWarPoemforAllWar 81

2.4InventingTradition(1984-1988):WherearetheWomenPoets? 85

InterventionV:AdoptaWarPoem 86

2.5CentenaryAnthologies(2014-2018):onGiants’Shoulders 95

3.FindingAnneFrank.DiscoveringthepitfallsandpearlsofusingTheDiaryofaYoungGirlinandoutoftheclassroom. 102

3.1TheDiary:TeachingaCanonPathosFormulaofWorldWarII 104

3.2TheDiaryandtheRoleofChildren’sLiteratureinEducation 107

6

3.3TheDiaryVersustheForceFields 109

3.4BeyondTheDiary:CreatingMemoryOutsidetheClassroom 111

Out-of-classInterventionStoppingPointI:Westerbork 115

3.5MagicalMoments:theCreationofanIn-ClassLiterature

Intervention. 118

In-ClassIntervention:SelectingTheDiary’sMagicMoments 124

MagicMomentI 125

MagicMomentII 127

MagicMomentIII 127

MagicMomentIV 130

MagicMomentV 132

Out-of-ClassInterventionStoppingPointII:TheRoadto

Liberation 135

Out-of-ClassInterventionStoppingPointIII:InaGermanWood 138

Out-of-ClassInterventionStoppingPointIV:AnneFrankPlatz 142

4.DirectingScenesofWar.BuildingBildung:VietnamWarMoviesinthe21stCenturyClassroomasGatewaytoPupilCitizenship. 150

4.1AddressingtheSensitiveIssues:LiteratureandCitizenshipinthe

Classroom 154

4.2EngagingTeenagers:IntroducingVietnamWarMovies 157

InterventionPartI:IntroducingImagesofWarinClass 162

InterventionPartII:CriticalEngagementwithVietnamWar

Movies 167

InterventionPartIII:PupilsDirectingScenesofWar 175

ImprovingtheIntervention 191

5.PupilsCravingfortheHurtLocker.AnalysingtheDynamicsofMeetingaVeteranintheClassroomUsingMcLoughlin’sTropesofWar. 195

Intervention:VeteranintheClassroom 199

EstablishingCredentials(PhaseI) 200

Laughter’sRelief 201

EstablishingCredentials(PhaseII) 202

7

EstablishingCredentials(PhaseIII) 204

War’sDurationI 206

EstablishingCredentials(PhaseIV) 207

Diversions’AdvertencyI 208

SeductiveDetailsI 209

SeductiveDetailsII&Zones’UrgencyI 210

SeductiveDetailsII 211

War’sDurationII 212

Diversions’AdvertencyII 214

Zones’UrgencyII 217

Diversions’AdvertencyIII 219

Zones’UrgencyIII 223

Zones’UrgencyIV&War’sDurationIII 224

War’sDurationIV 225

TropesUnite:Credentials,Details,Zones,Duration,Diversion&

Laughter 227

Intervention:BlogsofWarintheClassroom 228

ConcludingWarintheClassroom 238References 258

AudiovisualSources 279

AudioSources 280

Endnotes 280

Summary 299

8

Whocouldtellwhatthefuturewouldbelieve?Weexpecttoomuchofthefuture–hopingthatitwill

quarrelwiththepresent.

(JulianBarnes2016,48)

Beingyoungisakindofwarfareinwhichthegreatenemyisexperience.

(AndrewO’Hagan2020,3)

ForewordandDedication

There’ssomethingintheair.Itis2014,andaballoongentlydriftstowardsmyschool,a

monumentalbuildinginthe17thcenturytradingportofHoorn,departurepointformany

ofHolland’s infamous adventurers, sea-captains,warheroes. Passing across themany

mastsofthevesselsofourbravenewcentury,itsjourneycomestoahalt,rightabovethe

schoolyard.PeacefullyglidingtowardsDutchground,theballoondropstothesurfaceand

intothelivesofthepupilsofmyschool,theOSGWest-Friesland.Aseeminglyinnocent

children’stoy,yetthereisalabelattachedwhichbearsadarkreminderofdayslonggone,

oftheGreatWarthatpassedbytheneutralNetherlands.Thereisashoutasateenager

spotstheballoon,andagaggleofboysjumptotheopportunitythispresents.Astheymass

outside,inthecold,readyforawinter’smatchoffootball,theystopintheirwaystolet

Clemencepast,muchlovedandrespectedcustodianofourschool.Pickinguptheballoon,

sheopenstheletterattachedtoit.Readingit,thepupilsstandandstareather,frozenin

time.Theyseeateartricklinggentlydownherface.Suddenly,Clemencesnapsoutofher

tranceandisinstantlyawareofthehostofpupilswatchingherinawedsilence.Quickly,

rubbinghercheeks, she folds the letter,andwalkspurposefully through the throngof

pupilsandintothemainbuilding,toasmallbutcosyroomontheright-handsideofthe

150-year-oldbuilding,snuglyfitnexttotheFastLaneEnglishclassroom.IturnasIhear

herknockandreadthechildishlyscrawledlettershehasthrustintomypalms.

Theyshallnotgrowold,aswethatareleftgrowold:

Ageshallnotwearythem,northeyearscondemn.

Atthegoingdownofthesunandinthemorning

Wewillrememberthem.

(Binyon2014,43-44andonballoon-tag)

9

Interruptingmytentativedesignofacurriculumofwarliteraturethatquietwinter

morning, this message from across the North Sea, scribbled in a young pupil’s

handwriting,wrenchedmefrommywork.Thesecentury-oldcanonicallinesbywarpoet

LaurenceBinyon(1869-1943)magicallypropelledmetotheLastPostCeremonyunder

theMeninGateinYpres.There,visitingdignitariesareinvitedtocometothecentreofthe

HallofMemoryduringthedailyremembranceservice,andreadaloudthefourthstanza

ofBinyon’s‘FortheFallen,’apartoftheceremonycalledTheExhortation.LittledidIknow

then that some years from that moment, holding the blue balloon and watching

Clemence’stear-streakedface,Iwouldbeinvitedtodothesame,inhonourofmylong-

standingeducationaleffortsintheYpresSalienttowhichIhadtakensomanygenerations

ofDutchpupils.

Thiswarpoem’sairbornearrivalatmyschool,theOSGWest-Friesland,exactlya

century after the outbreak of World War I, revealed to me the incredible power of

literature, triggering tears from my colleague and shocking and awing an entire

schoolyardofDutchteenagersintostunnedsilence.Thisisthepowerofpoetry,scribbled

ontoapieceofpaperbyaBritishpupilandarrivingviaballoonfromthecountrysodeeply

embroiled in remembering and commemorating the Great War. Teachers have an

obligationtoengagewithhumanity’s(violent)past,andhereapoemhasforcedthatpast

uponmeasaneducator.Mypupil’smemoryislikethatballoonthatdriftedintotheirlives

thatday,‘unmoored’andpartofwhatAndrewHoskinsdefinesasthe‘carelessmemory’

ofthisage(Hoskins2011,19).Thisbookisaresultofmyresolvetobattlethis‘careless

memory’byusingliteraturetoanchormemoryinschools.

To the reader of this book, I wish to stress that the outset of my ambition to

foregroundliteratureandreframeitasacentraltooltoaddresstherisingtideofsociety’s

wishtoaddressurgentissuesatschool,ofwar,ofconflict,oftrauma,ofHolocaust,started

outmuchliketheballoon’sjourney.Inmanyways,IfeelliketheyoungBritishprimary

schoolpupilfromthevillageofWorksopnearSheffield,shakilyholdingthevulnerable

blueballoonbeforeitslaunchintothevastskies.1Thispupilhadchosentoarmhistender

vesselwithnothingmorethanapoemscrawledonapieceofpaperandsenditon its

perilous journey. With no exact outcome or trajectory, there was small chance of it

successfullylandinginthehandsofanyreader,letaloneanoverseasone.Littlecouldthe

youngster have dreamed that the fragile airborne poem would incite such far-going

reactionsinthepupilsandstaffofaschoolintheNetherlands.Likethepupilscribbling

10

Binyon’spoetryontheballoon-tagandlettingitgowiththewind,facingthegargantuan

gale-forceof science,politicsandsocietyand theirwish to influence theway teachers

teachabouturgentissues,suchaswarintheclassroom,Ichooseliteratureasmyweapon

todoso.

Thisdissertationwillshowhowteachersneedtoholdontomomentssuchasthese

when theyoccur and seekways to embedboth the event (balloon) and the literature

(Binyon’spoem) in theircurricula.Yet it ismyacademicreaderwhowillalsowant to

understandhowthisisdone,howurgentissuessuchasthetopicofwarcanbeaddressed

in the classroom in an innovative way. At various points in my research this will

necessitatemetobealiteraryhistorian,aneducationaltheorist,andateacheratthesame

time.Donningthesethreerolesitwillinstantlybecomecleartomyacademicreaderupon

perusingmydissertation that the tone and subjectmatter of this book are, therefore,

unusually personal. This choice is a conscious one, inmy effort to translateacademic

languageandconceptstoactualclassroomsituationsandviceversa.Thus,Iwillservemy

academicreaderbyanalysingandapplyingKateMcLoughlin’s(2011)tropesofwartoa

varietyofclassroomsituations,specifyingwhichliterarytropesworkwell,butalsowhen

andhow.Seekingwaysofestablishinganewmultimodalliterarycurriculumwithinwhich

tointegratemyresearch,Iinviteaveterantotheclassroom,IintegratewhatLennonand

Foley(2010)defineas‘darktourism,’andIshowhowtodesigninteractiveinnovations

to the literary curriculum which integrate canonical and non-canonical narratives.

Furtherbolsteringwhatisaliterature-basedformofresearchIwillapplyGertBiesta’s

academicvisiononeducation,inabidtomaketheseliteraryinnovationsculminateinthe

establishmentofBildung.Withthedailypracticetointervenein,thisbookisverymuch

theproductof a teacher researcher. I acknowledgemypersonal style isunusual fora

dissertation,yetIbelieveitisnecessary,tappingintomyknowledgeandexperienceasa

teacher and bringing it to benefit academic lacunae on this front, proposing how the

literaturecurriculumoughttoberenewedatDutchsecondaryschoolsandbeyond.

As an English teacher in the Netherlands, I am only marginally required to

integrateliteratureinmycurriculum.2Withthisbook,however,Iwilltakemyreaderon

a journeyforegroundingamultimodalbreadthof literature:poetry,prose,moviesand

blogs,artthathassprungfromtheashesofthemajorwarsofthe20thand21stcenturies,

WorldWarIandII,theVietnamWar,theIraqWarandtheWaronTerror.Doingsoisan

extensivebroadeningofmycurriculaandthusIwillmovefarbeyondtheremitofwhatis

11

required of modern language and literature teachers in the Netherlands. However, a

different,morecreativedesignofthe(language)curriculumisneededurgently,toriseup

to the increasing demands upon education, and the challenge of involving society’s

pressingissuesofcitizenshipatschools,andpartofthegeneralcurricularoverhaulinthe

Netherlands entitled Curriculum.nu. This book is aimed to function as a flywheel to

achievethis.Itistheresultofanextensivere-draftofmycurriculum,culminatinginthe

designofaqualitativeliterarymodel,whichemphasisestheimportanceofliteratureand

literatureeducationinschools.

In emulation of Clemence thatwintry day in 2014, picking up the balloon and

readingitspoeticmessage,Iherebyinvitemyteacher-readertopickupthisbookandlet

itinspirelikewise.Thoughmyfocusispurelyonwarliterature,Iwilldesignaseriesof

literaryeducationalinterventionsleadinguptoaqualitativemodelwhichallowsforeasy

thematicshiftstootherpressingtopicssuchas, forinstance,racism,genderorclimate

change.Moreover,Iwillalsoshowmy(teacher)readerhowIventuredtointegrateDutch

literature (in translation) in my English curriculum, thus showing that my literary

curricularsuggestionsarenotonlymultimodalandthematicallyinterchangeable,butalso

interdisciplinary.Totopthat,myjourneyincludesvisitingthebattlefieldsandplacesof

memoryandmourning,whichwillallowevenfurthercross-curricularenterpriseswith

subjectssuchasHistory,Geography,andtheArts.Thisdissertationistheproductofmy

rolesofEnglishteacherandresearchercommentingonmyownteaching.Itisatestimony

ofmypersonal journey andmy growth as a researcher and teacher of literature. The

qualitativeriskItakewillinevitablyallowquantitativelacunaetosurface.AndyetIaim

toconvincemyreaderthatmyuncommonstyleandapproachhaveallowedauniquely

broadscope.Thus,Ihopetoinspireafuturegenerationoflanguageteacherstofollowin

myfootsteps, its flawsanencouragementtoresearchmoreexactingreadingsfrommy

results.

Morethananythingelse,therefore,thisbookisanofferingtoallteachersandteachersof

ModernLanguagesspecifically.Yetwhatisateacherwithouthisorherpupils?Theresults

ofmy journey in this book could, logically, never havebeen achievedwithout several

generationsofstudents,severalofwhomfeatureprominentlyinthisbook.Allpupilshave

necessarily been anonymised throughout andwill remain so here. Amongst them are

12

thosewhofledthisnewcentury’s ‘school[s]amongsttheruins,’quotingAdrienneRich

(2004,22-25).To‘Natasja’fromtheUkraine,‘Sara’fromBaghdad,‘Sami’fromDamascus

and ‘Ceylin’ from Aleppo. To those who went to fight and rebuild those bombed-out

schoolslike‘Aagje’andmanypupilslikeher.Thisbookisdedicatedtothoseforwhom

ourschoolwastheirdailybattleandtheclassroomaliteralbattlefield,thedailyrotaa

marchthroughno-man’slandforsurvival,toall‘fightclass’pupilsandthoselikethem.To

thosewhodaredtomarchawaywithmetothedarkestcornerofhumanity,whodaredto

fillintheemptyspaceafterAugust1,1944,shoutingoutfromBergen-Belsentheirecho

inhistory,the‘Semi-Matured:’youknowwhoyouare,thankyouinallrespectsforthe

‘magic moments.’ To those many pupils who allowed themselves to succumb to the

‘insidiousdisease’ (Hislop,Brown, andBeaver2009, 45) that once swept through the

ranksof theBritish army,writingwarpoetry, ‘Brenda,’ ‘Anthonia,’ ‘Ingeborg,’ and the

manygenerationslikethem.To‘Hendrik,‘Margje’andallofyoudaringtoventureoutside

school, curriculum and timetable, meeting a veteran and engaging with him. To the

studentsthatdelveddeeper,youngresearchersofwarstories,losingthemselvesintheir

heartsofdarknessyetcomingoutattheotherend,like‘Petra,’‘Hendrika’and‘Andreas.’

Toallmypupilsofthepastandtothoseinthefuture,Isaluteyouall.

To the teachers that taught you, like Angeline and Jeanette, and to those who

taughtme,like‘MeneerLam’and‘MeneervanAs,’thankyouforsparkingtheflames.To

thosewhowillkeeponteachingyou,likeJacco,Maureen,Selma,ChiaraandMichael,with

whomIhavesharedsomuchinandoutsidetheclassroom,andteacherslikeGijs,Melanie,

Merwin, Nico, Richard, Marcel, Katharina, Tinka, Ryanne, Jamal and Hester,

notwithstandingthe flamesofourEnglishdepartment,Solomon, Jenny,Lynne,Lisette,

Richard,Joanna,PauletteandNathalie.Ihopethisbookwillinspireyoutokeepontaking

ourpupilsbeyondcurriculumandclassroom.Tothosewhosupportteachersdailysuch

asCarlo,Sandra,Sorcha,Kees,WimandmostofallTeun.ToWilly,Marnix,andaboveall

Marija:youdeservethemostspecialsaluteofall,safeguardingmyresources,checking

andupdatingmyarmament,reloadingmyrifleswhenIwaslost.ToEwoud,Jawek,Babs,

Roel,Alistair,Klarijn,ToniandTon,forprovidingthefinalpolishandpreparingmefor

thefinalpush.Totheteachersthatletmeteachthemandtestmyfragileweaponslike

Beatrice and Dick and fellow University teacher-teachers Anna Kaal and Sebastiaan

Dönszelmann.TotheNationalCongresofEnglishintheNetherlandsandAdrianBarlow

oftheEnglishAssociation(UK),fortheirtrust,allowingmetoinspire,explainandfind

13

freshteacher-recruits.Tothecelebratedteachers,theambassadorsofeducation,whose

passionforgoodteachingistheirarmourwhentheyfacetheforce-fieldsheadoninthe

limelight; Lucelle, Jan-Willem, Daisy, Rogier, Marjolein, Joke, Conrad, Mathijs, Jan,

Susanne,Diederick,DirkandmostofallJasper,Tingue,ChristaandMattijs.Inamebuta

fewhere,buttoallofyou,Isaluteyouandstandinawe.TothoseineducationIhadthe

great luck ofmeeting andwhohad the grace to teachme about leading teachers and

teaching an army, like Annet Kil-Albersen. To those who lead and safeguard the

communityofschools,likePeterSnoek,whosetrustinteachersisunflinchingandwhose

care for our school is boundless. To thosewho inspire teachers to come out of their

classroomsandintothelime-light,ofscience,ofpolitics,ofsocietyandclaimtheirrightful

spot behind educational policy’s steering wheels, like Lian Pattje, Fred Santing, Bert

Groenewoud, Audrey Wilschut, Pieter Leenheer and Alexander Rinnooy Kan. To my

formerSecretaryofStateforEducation,JetBussemaker,whohadthecommonsenseand

decentcourtesytosolveaproblembyaskingteachers. I thankherandtheMinistryof

Educationfortheirtrust.

TotheveteransinmylifelikePeterVogel,whogavesomuchandwhosebeautiful

scars throb still, rubbing off on me, and the sons and daughters of veterans in the

classroom,like‘Jacoba,’whohavelearnedtolivewiththem.Totheveteran-teacherswho

gooutoftheirwaystoplaytheirsongsofwarinthemakeshiftclassroomsoftheworld,

likeBrianTurner,pleaseneverceasetosing.Tothosewhoplanandprovidehome,shelter

andguidancewhenteacherstaketheirpupilstotheroad,likeAlexisinEdinburgh,Stefaan

VanderstraeteinYpres,andEllenWeijandandEstherVisserinBreda.Tofront-lineguides

suchas IanConnertyand JanMatsaertof theLastPostAssociation inYpres,andtheir

buglerswhowillforeverplaytheirLastPost.TotheveteransandvolunteersofTalbot

HouseinPoperinge,forawarmfire,amugofhottea,apianoandasongofwartosheda

tearby,thankyou.Totheonemanwhoout-drivesanyHemingwaywartimeambulance,

takingmeandmypupils fromScottish toFlanders’ fields, toall thebusdrivers in the

worldliketrustedKoopSteenbergen,whonevertiretakingstudentstothebattlezone.

Toeducation’stirelesswar-reporters,suchasTondeJong,distillingbeautifultruthsfrom

themudandbloodofeducation.Tothemenandwomeninlife’sdressingstations,like

SyboltHakmanandEddyReefhuis,who lapup life’s soldiers, teacher-researchers like

myself,bindingtheirbodyandsoul’swoundsandlisteningtotheirstories.Tomyone-

14

timecomrades-in-armsAdrian,Dirk,Amrita,andtoMartijn,whosewoundsprovedtoo

deeptoheal.Tohislivingmemory:mayyourestinpeace.

ToDickSchram,forlendingthefinalandvitalhandtothebigpush.Tomycaptain,

myfriend,myinspirator,myco-pilotandmostofall,myteacher;DiederikOostdijk.But

formenlikehim,therewouldbenofuturescholarstoinspiretheworldandmakeita

betterplace.Totheteachersandveteranswhoraiseus,andthosewhoraisedme,my

GrandpaMackieandOpaNiemeijer,theirwivesGrannyandOma,andtheteacher-veteran

whose lifeand legacy lit the first flame,great-grandfatherRobertLairdMackie.Tomy

family,inallitswidth,inEngland,GermanyandtheNetherlands,withaspecialmention

ofthankstoAuntieRosemaryandsister-in-lawKerstinfortheirspecialsparkofsupport

andinspiration,andtoallthefamilieswhosufferwhenteacher-soldiersgotowar,penin

hand,andpatientlyguardtheHomefront,keepingthefiresburning.Tomybrothersand

sister,sharingparentswesharelife’sbattles,Janey,MileyandAlistair,thankyouforbeing

agiven.Tomybandofgentlemenbrothers,Floris,Jerrit,Jasper,Dirk,Stefan,Ingmar,Erik

andMichiel, for lettingmechooseyou to shareallof life’sbattleswithever sinceour

teenagedays,aswecontinueourmarchtogether.ThankstoRaoulandhisMarlies,for

beingasistertomeandoursoldieringgentlemanfriends.ThisbookIdedicatetoteachers,

and in doing so I dedicate it tomy parents, and the near century of shared teaching

betweenthem.Thankyou,mumanddad,forraisingusandteachingthem.

YetmostpressingofallIdedicatethisbooktothelookofrecognitionintheeyes

of the woman I love, our ancestors’ opposites in trenches and military march, now

togetheronourroadsasteachers.MydearAlexandra,youhavetaughtmemostofall,

inspiredme,youguardandlightmylife’sflame.Itistooursons,SeverinandTristan,who

runtrustinglyandheadlongontothestageoflifeanditsbattles,andallthefuturesoldiers

andteachersthatIofferthisbookmostofall.

15

Forpoetrymakesnothinghappen:itsurvivesInthevalleyofitsmakingwhereexecutives

Wouldneverwanttotamper,flowsonsouth

Fromranchesofisolationandthebusygriefs,

Rawtownsthatwebelieveanddiein;itsurvives,

Awayofhappening,amouth.

(W.H.Auden2009,89)

Forty-threeyearsoldandthewaroccurredhalfalifetimeago,andyettherememberingmakesitnow.

Andsometimes,rememberingwillleadtoastory,whichmakesitforever.That’swhatstoriesarefor.

Storiesareforjoiningthepasttothefuture.Storiesareforthoselatehoursinthenightwhenyoucan’t

rememberhowyougotfromwhereyouweretowhereyouare.Storiesareforeternity,whenmemoryis

erased,whenthereisnothingtorememberexceptthestory.(TimO’Brien1991,34)

1. IntroducingWarintheClassroomDesigningLiteraryCurricularAnswersinEducationtothePressuresof

Science,PoliticsandSociety

A drum, a drum, here they comewalking, shouting, gargling down the narrow school

corridors,bumpingintoeachothernoisily,raucously.Everyonetalkingexcitedly,bagson

thetable,friendssittingtogether,slappingeachother’sbacksboisterously,whilethegirls

letouthighpitchedwailsandlaughs,comparingsummertansandupdatingsocialmedia

statuses.Iamathirty-seven-year-oldteacherofEnglishandIfeellikeoneofthethree

witches,meetingonaneducationalheath.OrperhapsIamMacbeth,andthisgaggleof

teenagersarethewitchesmultiplied.LiketheScottishgeneraloflegend,withclosetoa

decadeworth of teaching done I am a seasoned campaigner in theDutch educational

battlefield.YetIfeeldauntedanddisorientated.IwonderifIwillbeabletoworkmybattle

magiconmystudentsthisschoolyear,becausetheeventsofthesummerhaveshakenme.

For,justonemonthpreviously,theDutchexperiencedtheirown9-11.OnJuly17,2014a

Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 was shot down by a Russian rocket across Ukrainian

airspace,killingallofitspassengersandcrew,amongstwhomwere196Dutchcitizens.3

Inaworldwheretraditionalglobalpowersseemtobecomedestabilizedbytheminute,

16

IslamicextremistterrorattacksandareturntoColdWarrelationsbetweentheWestand

Russiabeingrecentexamples,theshootingdownofacivilianaircraftoveraEuropean

war-zonemightprovetobefueltothefire.

Itwasagainstthisvolatileandviolentbackdropthatmysecondaryschoolpupils

returnedtoschool,andthisparticular6thformclasstomylong-establishedFirstWorld

WarpoetrycourseIhadtaughtforclosetoadecadeinVwo6.4Thehistoricalparallels

withthecenturybefore,1914,werestriking:thatsummeritwasexactly100yearsago

thataEuropeandeadlineexpired,plummetingallthegreatpowersintowar.Iwasnot

aloneinwonderingwhethertheshootingdownofflightMH17mightsetinmotionachain

ofeventscomparabletotheassassinationofArchdukeFranzFerdinandacenturybefore,

eventually leading toWorldWar I.5While this did not happen, at the time, suchdark

prophesiesmademeshiver.Despitemyexperienceintheclassroom,Ifeltanxiousabout

teachingmysameoldwarpoetrycourseafterthatsummer’scalamity.Forwhatplaceand

meaningcouldthepoetryofWorldWarI,orwarliteraturemoregenerally,haveinthe

livesofstudentslivingwithdailyimagesofwar,terrorandthetraumaticincidentofJuly

17,2014freshintheirminds?Inthewakeoftheseheatedevents,Iwasconcernedabout

theeffect, ifany, thecoursewouldhaveonmypupils.Puttingwarnarrativeson their

Englishcurriculum,whatroledoIplayasanEnglishteacherwhenIaddresswarinthe

classroominthesetroubledtimes?

Chanceswerethatthesepupilsinfrontofmemighthaveknownsomeoneonthat

fatalflightMH17,Irealized,surveyingthemastheybecamemoreandmoresilent.This

wasmycue.Itisthebenefitofbeingastudentandtheyknowit.Theirexpectanteyesall

fixedonme,hopingforacurriculumthatwouldinspirethemandateacherthatwould

guidethemsafelythroughit.Itisthefirsttimetheseboysandgirlshavecometogether

sincethesummer,readytosharetheirownexperiencesandlearnanew.Infact,thereis

nootherplaceinsocietywhereteenagersofalldenominationscometogetherlikethis:at

school.Althougheventsofcalamityandconflictsuchastheseostentatiouslyseembeyond

the remitof a teacherofEnglish languageand literature, I felt an acute responsibility

weighinguponmyshoulderstoovercomemyanxietyandaddressthesesensitiveissues.

HavingtaughtgenerationsofpupilsFirstWorldWarpoemsthatare‘asfamiliartousas

hymns’(Duffy2013a),IfeltIcouldnotsitidlybyandleavethepervasiveculturallegacy

ofthewarpoetsunexplored.

17

Moreover, I was in a unique position to do something about it, having been

awardedaPh.D.grant for teachers fromtheDutchMinistryofEducation.Myresearch

would be a combination of educational theory, literary history and the daily teaching

practice.6ThefirstimmediatequestionthatsprungtomindwashowIcouldenticemy

studentstoexaminetherolewarnarrativesmightplayintheirdailylivesvis-à-visthe

realitiesofpastandpresentconflictsandcalamitiessuchasflightMH17?Leavingmybag

nexttothetable,papersandpenonmydesk,computerinstart-upmode,Ifacedthe31

pupilsinfrontofme.7“Ladiesandgentlemen,”Isaid,openingthelessonwithaclearvoice,

“we…are…at…war.”

1.1TheClimateofWarandthePathosFormula

Atthetimeofwritingtheheightoftheremembranceyears2014-2018hasjustpassed.

AnditisagainstthisbackdropthatItaughtthegenerationaboveandsubsequentclasses.

JustmorethanacenturyagothegunsoftheFirstWorldWarfellsilentonthekillingfields

of the Somme, Verdun and Ypres. Sadly, many guns have been fired since, on the

battlefields ofWorldWar II, Vietnam, Iraq and theMiddleEast in theWaronTerror,

provingWorldWarItobeanythingbutTheWarThatWillEndWarthatitspoliticians,

academics,andcitizenshopeditwouldbe.8Itisasadironythatwhilecommemorations

werebeingorganisedinmemoryof20thcenturywars,DutchandBritishairforcefighters

liftedofffromtheirNATObasestounleashtheirdeadlyloadonthewar-tornMiddle-East

intheir21st-centurybattleagainsttheIslamicState.Itgoestoshowthat‘warisnotan

occasional interruption of a normalitywe call peace’ as Samuel Hynes claims, ‘it is a

climateinwhichwelive’(1998,xii).Smallwonderthatcommemorativedatescrossour

collective Western calendar in a mishmash of events. Longstanding events such as

‘Memorial Day’ in the United States, ‘Remembrance Day’ in Britain, and ‘Nationale

Dodenherdenking’intheNetherlands,whiletheiroriginsspringfromtheAmericanCivil

War,theFirstWorldWar,andtheSecondWorldWarrespectively,haveallincorporated

morerecentwarstotheircollectivecommemorativegoals.

Andso,besidesthedailyimagesofconflictthatpupilshavetolivewithwhenever

they turnon theirTV, lookupon theirmobile-phone,oropenanewspaper, theyhave

war’swidevarietyofanniversariestocontendtoo.‘Anniversariesaregivenahardsell,’

FranBrearton(2014)claims,andrightlyso.The50thanniversaryoftheVietnamWarin

18

2008, the 10th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks in 2011, the 70th anniversary of the

liberationofAuschwitzandtheAlliedlandingsinNormandy(D-Day)in2014,allwere

markedbymultiplecommemorativeeventsandweretelevisedglobally.The‘hardestsell’

ofallwasgiventothecentenaryoftheFirstWorldWar.Itwasextensivelycoveredin

Britishmediarightfromthestartin2014,andDutchmediasoonfollowedsuit.Academic

publicationsandconferencesonthetopicsignificantlyincreased,aswellasanthologywar

poetry publications, (reissued) novels, films, documentaries, museal exhibitions and

theatre productions, notwithstanding a flourishing of war tourism in Ypres and the

Somme.Inshort,weareatpresentinthemiddleofwhatAndreasHuyssen(1995,5)calls

a‘memoryboom.’AccordingtoHuyssen,thecoreoftheblamelieswitha‘virusofamnesia

thatattimesthreatenstoconsumememoryitself’(1995,7).ThosewhosurvivedWorld

WarIIaredyingout,andallveteransandwitnessestothebattlefieldsofWorldWarIhave

passedaway.9Becauseofthis,weareonthebrinkofanewerainunderstandingtheFirst

WorldWarandthewaywerememberwaringeneral.

For generations of schoolchildren, Ypres and the Somme have been household

names,muchlikeWorldWarII’sD-Day.Thelegacyofthesebattleshasbeenpassedon

via thenarratives that sprung from them, in all theirpossiblehistorical, physical, and

literary forms. JanAssmann and JohnCzaplicka (1995, 125-33) explain there are two

formsofmemory:culturalandcommunicative.Itistothefirstthattheextinctvoicesof

WorldWarIbelongnowthatpersonalstorieshavediedout.ThenarrativesoftheFirst

WorldWarhaveshiftedfromcommunicativememoryintoculturalmemory:‘anumbrella

termforallthoseprocessesofabiological,medial,orsocialnaturewhichrelatepastand

present (and future) in sociocultural contexts’ (Erll 2011, 7). What follows is a vital

question:whoisnowpassingontheeyewitnessaccountsandexperiences,thenarratives

of(this)war,andaddingthemtoourcollectiveculturalmemory?Morespecifically,what

are the popular choices andwhomakes them, and inwhat form (poetry, prose, film,

blog?).Theanswerstotheseurgentquestionsarethestartingpointofmyresearch.For

when narratives or representations are all that is left of the extinct voices of

communicativememory,thenwhoeverchooseswhichnarrativesarehandedonandhow,

isatthesteeringwheelofdefiningtheculturalmemoryofwar.

Wheneverateacherplacestherepresentationsofmemoryculture,inthiscasewar

narratives,atthecoreofhisorherlesson,thenheorsheisintheprocessofmaintaining

and interpreting thesubstanceofmemoryculture.And thisprocess includeschoosing

19

fromaspecificsetofnarratives,whichresoundverystronglyinourcollectivecultural

memory.Narrativeswhichhavethe‘powertotriggermemories,’citingAbyM.Warburg

(1866-1929),quoted inErll (2011,19).ThesenarrativesofWorldWarIhavebecome

whatWarburg(citedinErll2011,19-21)calls‘pathosformulas’:symbolsthatfunctionas

a ‘cultural energy store.’ Moreover, ‘pathos formulas,’ Christopher D. Johnson argues,

‘helpustoseebackwardandforward intime’(2012,18).WarpoetssuchasSiegfried

Sassoon(1886-1967)andWilfredOwen(1893-1918)areattheheartofthecanonand

theBritishclassroom,much likeAnneFrank(1929-1945) isat theheartofDutchand

UnitedStates’education.Reasonenoughtomaketheirnarrativesthestartingpointsof

thefirstchaptersofthisbook.Mysuggestionisthattheircanonicalnarrativeshaveturned

into‘pathosformulas’oftheculturalmemoryoftheWorldWarsandallsubsequentwars.

Notonlydothese‘pathosformula’warnarrativesmakethememorywarcomealivein

the classroom, they simultaneously flash forward in time as a metaphor for current

experiencesofwar.UsingWarburg’stheory,thisbookwillexaminehowteachersmight

empower war narratives beyond their form in the 21st-century classroom, defining,

maintainingandpreservingmemory.

Inthis‘climateofwar’(Hynes1998)inwhichwelive,thewaywerememberour

pastwarsmay influencethewaywewriteabout, fightandcommemorateourpresent

wars.Teachersplayanimportantroleinthisprocess.AstridErll(2011,28)statesthat

culturalmemoryis ‘tiedtomaterialobjectivations’and‘maintainedandinterpretedby

trainedspecialists,’bywhomErllexclusivelymeans‘priests’,‘shamans’and‘archivists.’

This bookwill showwhy teachers need to be added to these authorities onmemory.

Becausetheartthathassprungfromtheashesofwar,itspoetry,prose,filmandblogs,is

whatteachersputontheircurricula.Giventheirpotentialpoweraspathosformulasthis

comesasnosurprise.Theurgentquestionthatarosewashowandwhy,consideringthe

fullmultimodalwidthofwarnarratives,hadIasateacherofEnglishcometoteachthe

specific set of FirstWorldWar narratives for almost a decade? This is why the first

tentativestepsinthisbookmostlyinvolvetheworkoftheliteraryhistorian.Iwillanalyse

theprocessof canonisationofWorldWar Ipoetry in the following chapter, aiming to

uncovertheinfluencesonandofeducationonthisprocess.ThisIhopewillallowmeto

reflectcriticallyonmycurrentcurriculumandthoseofmyfellowEnglishteachers,and

makeasteptowardsdesigningotherliteraturecurriculamyself.Iwillaimtofindtangible

20

linkstomycurrentdilemma,facingthechallengeofteachingFirstWorldWarpoetryin

the21stcenturyanditsconflictsandcalamitiessuchasthedowningofflightMH17.

This book is a testimony tomy continued quest for answers, startingwith the

above,andspanningouttowardsdifferentwarssince1914anddifferentnarrativeforms

beyondpoetryinsearchofwaystoteachpupilsaboutwarandthusbroadeningmyscope.

Atvariouspointsmyresearchwillnecessitatemetobealiteraryhistorian,aneducational

theoristandateacher.Iwillindicatewhythisisnecessaryateachofthejuncturesofthis

book.Fornow,itisimportanttoindicatetomyreaderthateveryso-called‘eerstegraads’

or first level teacher in the Netherlands is by law both an MA-qualified educational

theorist and MA-qualified in their field of teaching, in my case English language and

literature.Withoutthesequalifications, Iwouldnotbeallowedtoteachtheexamyear

upper level ‘Havo’ and ‘Vwo’ pupils at secondary school in this country. 10 Both the

academicskillsoftheliteraryhistorianandtheeducationaltheoristconvergeinmydaily

practiceof teaching.Theyare, tome, a symbiosis inmyprofessionwhichmy (Dutch)

teacher-reader will recognize. Yet for those readers outside of (Dutch) secondary

education,beggingtheirpatience,Iwillstrivetoseparatethethreedifferentroleswhich

oftentimes amalgamate easily in my teacher’s practice and thoughts, and thus in my

research.

1.2InterventionsintheClassroomandMcLoughlin’sTropes

“We…are…at…war.” Back in the classroom I realise that the shock of my opening

statementhasawedmyclassofDutchsixth-formstudentsintototalsilence.Their‘Vwo’

exam is the only in Dutch secondary education the passing ofwhichwill allow them

universityentry,andwithjusttwofifty-minutelessonsperweekinaclassofmorethan

thirty students, I haveno time to lose.The statement to them feels like anuntruth, it

upsetsthem:theyceasetheirwhispersandareallears.Behindme,thebeamershows

photographsof theMH17piecedtogether inaDutchhangar,andaDutchF-16 fighter

aircrafttakingofftocontributetoaUS-ledcoalitionbombingIslamicStatetargetsinSyria

andIraq.AsIletthevisualconfrontationwithDutchwar(s)intheairsinkin,Ihandout

twopoemswritten by former Poet Laureates,DutchAnneVegter (1958-) andBritish

CarolAnnDuffy(1955-).IexplainthatDuffywroteherpoem,‘LastPost,’asaresponseto

thedeathofHarryPatch, the last livingBritishveteranof theGreatWar.Meanwhile, I

21

confront them with the present ‘memory boom,’ introduce Huyssen’s theory and its

academic,politicalandsocial implications. ‘Andwhileyouweretanningyourselveson

Europe’s beaches,’ I add, ‘the newspapers you carelessly browsed throughwere filled

withspecialsontheFirstWorldWarcentenaryandimagesoftheMH17disaster.’

Bynow the sweatwasdropping steadilydown thebackofmyspine.Until this

moment,myclassroominterventionwasbasedonmyexperienceasateacherthatshock

andawetacticsliketheexampleabovetendtomakeaclassreceptive,oratleastmeek.

Yettheseweretemporarymeasures,andcouldbackfirejustaseasily,especiallywhenI

pushedthewrongbuttonsandmadepupilstooemotional.FormynextstepIcoulddraw

onmyexpertiseasaliteraryhistorian,choosingthetwopoemsbyVegterandDuffyinthe

hopethethese‘pathosformulas’wouldsomehowmagicallydotheirwork;myfirststeps

asaresearcher.Basically, Iwasactingonahunchasateacher,andthustreadingway

beyondmyremit,straightintono-man’sland.Mypurposewastocreateacontrasttowhat

Isupposedwastheirsummeridylluntil17July2014,byreadingVegter’s ‘MH17.’The

poemwaspublishedinaleadingDutchnewspapertwodaysaftertheMH17wasblasted

fromthesky,andwould later thatautumnbereadoutbyDutchPrimeMinisterMark

Rutteduringatelevisednationalcommemorationservice:11

Watchingthenewstwentytimesandstillitremains

true:flownintosomeoneelse’swebofwar,justlikethat.

[…]

Watchingthenewstwentytimesandstillitremains

murder.Searchingforthefabricofthissuddenstory.Youfind

theword,whocareswhetheritexistsorno.Globalsorrow.

(Vegter2017,mytranslation)

DuringmyveryfirststepsoutsideofmytraditionalcurriculumofFirstWorldWar

poetryIclungtothehopethatWarburg’stheoryofthe‘pathosformula’wouldwork.The

powerofthepoembyVegterasatriggerofmypupils’collectivememoryofwhatwas,

arguably,anactofwar,wastangible,theirindividualattentionthusfarhighlystrung,I

felttheirsilencepierceme,theireyesbetrayingemotionssimmeringunderthesurface.

Goingonahunch,thiswasmorethanIhadhopedofthisclassofteenagersintheirfinal

examyear.IhadchosenaspecificsetofwarnarrativestoachievethisbecauseIhoped

22

they would ‘trigger memory,’ quoting Warburg, thus empowered beyond their form,

releasingtheirenergyintothe21st-centuryclassroom.Havingmadeourfirststepsina

war poetry curriculum, I followed this up by carefully engagingmy pupilswith some

theoretical background – Huyssen’s ‘memory boom’ – and confronted themwith the

pervasive‘climateofwar’(Hynes1998)inwhichtheyliveandhavegrownup.Next,Iwas

anxioustobroadentheirviewandextendtheiremotionalengagementtothepoetryof

WorldWarI.‘Thenarrativesofwarsofthepastmighttellyousomethingaboutwarinthe

present,’ Iexplain, illustrating thisbyhandingoutCarolAnnDuffy’s ‘LastPost,’which

openswiththeselines:

Inallmydreams,beforemyhelplesssight

heplungesatme,guttering,choking,drowning

Ifpoetrycouldtellitbackwards,true,begin

thatmoment[…].

(Duffy2013b,112-13)

Andendswiththese:

Youleanagainstawall

yourseveralmillionlivesstillpossible

andcrammedwithlove,work,children,talent,Englishbeer,

goodfood.

Youseethepoettuckawayhispocket-bookandsmile.

Ifpoetrycouldtrulytellitbackwards,

thenitwould.

(ibid.)

PoetsinDuffy’spoemarepowerfulandnonemoresothanWilfredOwen,whoselines

from hismost celebrated poem, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est,’ literally open ‘Last Post’ and

figurativelycloseitasthepoetcloseshisnowblank‘pocket-book’withasmile.Sincethere

arenomorelivingwitnessesofWorldWarIwhocantelluswhatitwasliketofight,suffer

andkillinthetrenches,mypupilsandIhavetorelyonDuffy,andherembeddedOwen.

Becausetime’sarrowisredirectedin‘LastPost,’thestorytold‘backwards’bymovingthe

23

narrative toa fixedpointofpeacebefore thebattle, theeffectonthecharacters in the

poem,Britishsoldiersandthepoet(soldier)intheirmidst,istwofold.Firstly,thusfixed

intimeforeverthesoldiersmayliveanddreamoftheirfuturelives.Secondly,thepoetin

the poem can ‘tuck away his pocket-book and smile,’ for poetry is not needed now,

implying both that peacetime neither evokes poetry nor has a need for it, whereas

wartimedoes.ThepoweroftheBritishPoetLaureate’spoemisthatshereplacesthelost

voicesofWorldWarIwithbothherown(poetic)voiceandthatofthebest-knownpoet

oftheGreatWar,WilfredOwen.HerpoemimpliesthatitisthroughOwenandherpoetry

thatthestoryoftheveteransofwarliveson,beyondthedeathofHarryPatch,thelast

livingveteranoftheGreatWar.Thatlegacyiscarriedintothe21st-century.

By this time, I was in need of more reinforcement to back up my very first

interventionsintheclassroom.Thefirstlessons,engagingwithDuffyandVegter’spoetry,

hadshownWarburg’stheoryofthepathosformulatohaveitseffectintheclassroom.Yet

theseexamplesofliterarypathosformulasweregenrespecific,questionssurfacingfrom

theuseofthesenarrativesofwarduringtheinterventionrevealedtheyneededacademic

answerscharacteristictotheirgenre(war)andform(poetry).Iwasgratefulforthetime

affordedmethroughmyteacher’sPh.D.scholarship,formyacademicresearchintothe

workofKateMcloughlingavemevaluablenewinsightsintoapplyingwarliteratureina

secondaryschoolsetting.McLoughlin(2011,17)hassuggestedthatsinceallwarsshare

specificcharacteristics,war literaturerevolvesaroundsimilar tropesof ‘epistemology,

scale, space, time, languageand logic.’This tantalising claim immediatelyopenednew

multimodalregistersformeasateacher.Nolongerboundbytheformofmytraditional

curriculum,Iwouldbeabletostartusingnovels,diaries,andmovies,perhapseventhe

blogsofwar.

Moreover, if my first steps buildingmy newwar literature curriculum proved

successful,Icouldbroadenmyscopeandventuretodevelopvaryingtopicstoasetofwar

literaturecurriculafordifferentschoollevels,featuringdifferentconflicts.Thequalitative

choice to do so is purposeful and supersedes the benefits of a quantitative approach.

Besides enablingmy teacher-reader to pick and choose from the plethora of literary

interventionsthatIpresentinthisbookfortheirownbenefitintheclassroom,Ihopeto

inspire future teacher-researchers to gain more exacting readings from their own

experiencesandwiththequantitativeresearchthatmyinitialexplorationsdeserve.

24

Withthesemultimodalliteraturecurriculaburgeoninginthebackofmymind,I

wentbacktotheinterventionathandtoputoneofMcLoughlin’stropestothetest.By

telling the story backwards, ‘Last Post’ does not tell the story that Owen’s ‘Dulce et

DecorumEst’does:agraphicaccountofasoldier’sslowdeathasaresultofagasattack

inthetrenchesoftheWesternFront.In‘LastPost’theattackneverhappens,andbynot

writing about war Duffy’s soldiers are ‘released from History.’ 12 This deliberate

‘circumventing[of]thedirectdepictionofconflict,’KateMcLoughlinargues,isa‘literary

means of intentional avoidance,’which she defines as a ‘diversion’ (2011, 139).Duffy

makescleveruseofsucha‘diversion,’creatingspaceforanalternatereality,a‘million

livesstillpossible,’andthusindirectlyaccentuatingthehugelossesofthewar:millions

of livesof thesoldiers ‘crammedwith love,work’andtheirpotential ‘children’.13Iwill

returntoMcLoughlin’stropesofwarthroughoutthisbookandshowwhereandwhenthe

technicalities of her tropesmight benefit teachingmypupilswar literature. Iwill use

McLoughlin’s tropes to connectallwar literatureaspartofmymethodology,marking

theirusethroughouttothebenefitofmyteacher-readers.

Meanwhile,backtotheinterventionintheclassroom,armedwithMcLoughlin’s

tropes,theemptyspacetheBritishPoetLaureateleavesinherpoemalertsmypupils’

inquisitivemindsandtheystartfillingintheemptyspaceDuffy’s‘diversion’hasleftthem.

Questions start to formas they interweave thememoryof twowarswith eachother.

Ironically,mystudentswanttoknowwhatdidhappen,beforetheyweredivertedaway

fromdeathandthesoldiersinthepoem‘walkaway,’feelingliketheyarethe‘younger

brothers,’whodo‘notenter[…]thestorynow,todieanddieanddie’(Duffy2013b,112-

13).Inadvertently,theseteenagersareattractedtothatmomentthat‘shrapnelscythed

[…]tothestinkingmud,’andwanttocontinuetellingthestoryforwards,tobecomepart

ofthesecret,togainknowledgeofwhatitwouldbelike,tobethereinbattle,tofightand

to kill (ibid.). Parallel to their unexpected reactions to ‘Last Post’ is the equally eerie

fascinationamongstmypupilswhentheytrytopicturewhatitmusthavebeenliketofall

tenkilometresfromtheMH17aeroplane,tobeblastedoutofthesky.Unabletokeeptheir

curiosityunderwraps,somepupilsevenaskedwhetherpassengerswerestillalivewhen

theyfellfromtheplane.Wasthisreactionduetocatastrophebeingmuchclosertohome

thanWorldWarI?Therewerethreepupilsinthatclasswhoknewsomeoneontheplane,

andonegirlwasaRussianrefugeefromwar-tornUkraine.14Asforallofthem,despite

25

theirsummerholidaying,theywereprofoundlymovedbythelivetelevisingofthefirstof

theDutchvictims’bodiesarrivingatEindhovenmilitaryairport.

1.3TheBeautifulRiskofInterveningintheClassroom

ThepoemstwoPoetLaureateshadwrittenincommemorationofconflictstruckachord

withmysixthformpupils.WhenIsawthemaweeklater,theywerephilosophisingloudly

astheyenteredmyclassroomonthepossibilityofWorldWarIII,stillfillingintheempty

spaces the poetic ‘diversions’ (McLoughlin 2011, 139) had left. Pupils seemed both

horrifiedbyandattractedtocalamity,inallitsgruellingdetail.Itwastimetochannelthis

opennerveofwar,pervasiveyet justbelowtheskininDutchsociety,andthedichotic

attitudeofmypupilstowardsit.WithaforwardpushIhandedoutthepoems‘MH17’by

ArnoudvanAmerongen(19-)and‘Aftermath’bySiegfriedSassoon(1886-1967).15Van

Amerongen’s‘MH17’isapoeticreactiontothedowningoftheMalaysianAirlinesflight

and its 196 Dutch passengers, with an aggressive anti-Russian undertone.16Siegfried

Sassoon’s‘Aftermath’waswrittenafterthewarhadendedandSassoonhadofficiallyleft

thearmyinMarch1919,thoughinrealityhehadbeenbackinEnglandsincetheprevious

summer(MoorcroftWilson1999,525).Thecentury-oldwarningwordsofaWorldWarI

veteranagainsttheonsetofwaramnesia:

Butthepastisjustthesame–andWar’sabloodygame…

Haveyouforgottenyet?...

Lookdown,andswearbytheslainoftheWarthatyou’llneverforget.

(Sassoon1983a,143)

Ideliberatelycontrastwiththeveryrecent‘MH17’bytheangryvanAmerongen:

HowlongwilltheWestremainnaïve

corruptedbyeconomicinterests

intoxicatedbyRussiangas

itkeepslongingfordiplomacy.17

26

‘There canbenoareaofhumanexperience,’ JonStallworthywritesat the startof the

centenarycommemorationsinthatsametumultuousyear(2014,xxi),‘thathasgenerated

awiderrangeofpowerfulfeelingsthanwar.’HowtruethisisInoticeimmediatelyinthe

effectofthesetwopoemsonmypupils.ManytakeoffencewithvanAmerongen’sjingoist

tone, calling it a ‘childish’ and ‘aggressive’ poem, with ‘simplistic metre and rhyme

scheme’which should ‘not be taken seriously.’ Others voice their outrage at Sassoon,

refusingtoletacentury-oldwarandadeadpoet’spoemactassomekindofwarningto

their21st-centurylivesand‘thosebastardRussianswhoshotdownMH17.’Drawingon

AssmannandCzaplicka(1995),Sassoon’s‘Aftermath,’awarnarrativefromthecanonof

‘culturalmemory,’canbebroughtindirectdialoguewith‘MH17,’awarpoempartofvery

recent‘communicativememory,’mediatedviamypupils.Theresultisthatanemotional

cocktailofanger,apathy,shock,sadnessandworryhasrisenduringthisEnglishliterature

class.ThefourwarpoemsIhavethusfardiscussedinclasshaveuncovereda‘climateof

war’(Hynes,1998)prevalentundertheskininDutchsociety,anationnotknownfortheir

emotionalforwardness.

Havingbittenthebullet,Iovercamemyanxiousnessbychoosingtoinvolvecurrent

events of conflict. I was convinced I was on the right path. The newly awakened

engagementofmypupilswithcurrentconflictandthepoetrythatsprungfromithada

positiveeffectonthewaypupilsengagedwithFirstWorldWarpoems.Actingwithout

anyclearsetof instructionsyet feelingas if Iwasrequiredtodosoanyway, Iwishto

emphasisetomyteacher-readerthatIcontinuedtostruggleinwardly,likemanyteachers

do,withnotionsofworthiness,credibility,scope,impartiality,andrelevance.Ofcourse,

thepathosformulasmademytentativeliterarystepsintheclassroomfeelrelevant,and

McLoughlinprovidedthenecessaryscopeandimpartiality.Theinitialsuccessofbothin

theclassroomincreasedmycredibility,andfeelingsofworthiness,providingmewitha

drivingforcetocontinuealongmychosenpath.Yetfeelingsofmisgivingalsocontinued

tolinger.WhatifIhadstirredahornet’snest,andwasstungformytroubles?Whatwould

IundertakewiththispotentiallydangerouscocktailofdivergingreactionstothepoemsI

hadsetinclass?ThiswasthemostexcitingandproblematicpartofthecourseIhadset

andtaken.Itwouldprovetoughtoguidemystudentsastheyanalysethesewarpoems’

literary,emotiveandperhapsevenpoliticalquality,andthevastarrayofindividualtruths

this exercisemight subsequentlyunlock.At thispoint in time, I hadno ideawhat the

27

outcomeofthecoursewouldbe.Iwastakinganenormousrisk.Anditispreciselythis

‘beautifulriskofeducation,’quotingGertBiesta(2013),whichisunderseverescrutiny.

Reflectingonmodern timesand itsactsofwarwithinmyEnglishclassonwar

poetryismyanswertowhatforteachersoftentimesfeelslikeanavalancheofcritique

fromavarietyofsocietal,politicalandacademicforcefields.‘Theywanteducationtobe

strong,secure,andpredictable,’Biestaexplains,‘theywantitriskfreeatalllevels’(Biesta

2013,1).Society,specificallythegeneralpublic,increasinglydemandsfromteachersand

schools that they solve ‘all their children’s problems.’ 18 Politics, and its Ministry of

Education, isardent in itsdemand for teachers toshed theiranxiousnessandaddress

difficult subjects such as Holocaust, trauma and war in their classrooms, as well as

detectingradicalismatanearlystage.Science,inthiscaseliteraryhistorians,iscriticalof

theway teachers supposedlyenforcestereotypesorevenmythsofwar,by teachinga

specific set of canonical poems. In otherwords, as a teacher of English I am not just

supposedtoteachalanguage,‘policymakers,politicians,thepopularpress’requireme

todosomuchmore(ibid.)Yetbesidesbeingtoldtotake‘theriskoutofeducation,’the

frustrationteacherslikemyselffeelisthattheyaregivennoclearinstructionswhatsoever

how to achieve all this (ibid.) For any first step to solving any societal, political and

scientific issuesmyself,withoutneglectingmycore tasksof teachingmyDutchpupils

English,willinvolverisk.MytentativestepaddressingthetraumaofflightMH17andthe

legacy of (the Great) war by putting a specific set of poems onmy teacher-designed

curriculumisacaseinpoint.

ThelessonsaboveinterweaveWorldWarIandthecentenarycommemorationsa

hundredyearslaterwith21stcentury’sbloodyrepetitionsofconflictsuchastheUkraine

andnewcommemorationsthatspringfromwar-tragedieslikethese.ThepoetryofPoet

LaureatesVegterandDuffyisconsciouslypublicisedattheheartofcommemoration.The

BBCaskedDuffytowritearesponsetothedeathofHarryPatch,andpoliticianssuchas

DutchPrimeMinisterRutte readoutpartofVegter’spoemduring thenationalMH17

commemoration.19Thus therepresentationsofmemoryandthose thatcreate them, in

thisparticularcasewarpoemsandtheirpoets,haveplayedandstillplayamonumental

role indefiningourmemoryofwar, present andpast. ‘Educationonlyworks through

weak connections of communication, of interruption and response,’ Biesta (2013, 4)

explains,andhereinliestherisk.Whatevertheuseofthesepoemsinclassmightleadto,

28

andwhateverthebuildingpressureandscrutinyschoolsareunder,thetaskwefaceas

teachersismassive.

Takingthebeautifulriskviaawidevarietyofqualitativeliteraryinterventionsin

theclassroom,thisbookwillshowhowIresponded.Clearlymarkingthemformyteacher-

reader throughout, these interventionsarebothexplorativeand intuitive, fruitsofmy

explorationtoseekwaysofusingEnglishliteratureasagatewaytooltoaddressingissues

ofcitizenshipconcerningwar,traumaandtheHolocaust.Doingso,Ipurposefullychoose

nottolimitmyselftoasingleintervention.Thusmyresearchwillnotquantitivelytestand

measureeffect,butrather,qualitativelymeasureanddescribeclassroomeffect.ThusI

chooseamoreintuitiveandwiderscope,thegreatbenefitbeingthatitwillallowmeto

examinemultipleclasses,generations(1stto6thyearstudents)andlevels(Havo,Vwoand

FastLanestudents).Moreover,itwillallowmetoexplorebeyondwhatIhaveknownand

taughtformanyyears:FirstWorldWarpoetry.Theresearchinthisbookwillallowmeto

breakthroughtheglassceilingofmydoubleMAdegreesinEnglishandEducationand

move beyond a tradition or even groove of teaching war poetry. By exploring the

multimodalpossibilitiesliteraryandnon-literarytextsofthewarthatfollowedtheGreat

War, I aim to break free in more ways. Though my approach is from the outset a

qualitativeandexplorativeone,Iwillaimtomaketentativestepstowardsthedesignofa

literarymodelbywhichtomeasureandoutlinemyliteraryinterventionsforthebenefit

ofmyteacher-reader.

Importantly,thisresearchplacesliteratureattheheartofeducationasahands-on

toolinabidtofacethesteadilyrisingcriesofhelpfromtheforcefieldsofsociety,politics

andscienceindealingwithconflictandwar,anddebatesaboutmemoryormythmaking.

‘Attempts to separate individual memory, tradition, history or fiction from memory,’

Astrid Erll (2011, 7) argues, ‘prevent us from seeing the threads that connect such

phenomena’.Itisthese‘threads’betweenthedisciplinesthatrunthroughthecorridors

andhallwaysofschools,aspupilsfollowtheseunmarkedthreadsfromdoortodoorevery

workingday.Thesearenot justthe interdisciplinarydoorways,whicharewovenwith

eachother throughanaveragepupil’sdaily rota.As theexamples from the classroom

abovehaveshown,fromtheindividualdoorofeverystudent,tothecollectivedoorofthe

school,memory,whetheritispersonal,culturalorsocial,convergesatschool.Teaching

language and literature is, therefore, an integral part of memory culture, ‘all those

29

processes of a biological,medial, or social naturewhich relate past and present (and

future)insocioculturalcontexts’(ibid.)Itisatschoolsthattheseprocessesunite.

Schoolsarethelastbastionsofsharedculturalexperienceintheworld.Thereis

no other roof, in this age of secularisation and individualisation, under which all the

coloursofoursocietyconverge.Inthepast,peoplehadchurch,government,andmedia

totellthemwhattothinkandtoteachthemcivictasks.Nowthereisjustschool.What

followsistheover-archingargumentofthisbook,thatschoolsareasuper-structureof

memoryculture.Collectivememoryisa‘sociallyconstructednotion,’MauriceHalbwachs

explains.‘Itis,ofcourse,individualswhoremember,notgroupsorinstitutions,butthese

individuals, being located in a specific group context, draw on that group context to

rememberorrecreatethepast’(Cozer1992,22).Teachersplayacentralanddefining

rolewithinthisstructure.The‘sociallyconstructednotion,’ofwhichHalbwachswrites,is

createdbyteachersatschool,whoIarguebelongtothe‘trainedspecialists’onmemory

thatAstridErll(2011,28)singlesout.Thisbookwillshowthatthe‘specificgroupcontext’

oftheschoolremembersandrecreatesthepast.Thisexplainswhy,forthevariousforce

fields outside of education, the stakes are incredibly high to influence education. For

whoevercontrolsmemoryandthepastcontrolstodayandthefuture.Whatfollowsisan

analysisofthewaytheforcefieldsofscience,politicsandsocietyinvadetheclassroom,

specificallymovingtoinfluencehow,what,whenandwhereweteachaboutwar.

30

1.4Society’sStakeintheClassroom

Thinkonlyofinternationalterrorism,warintheMiddleEastandtherefugeecrisis,MH17

and the Ukraine War, set against a background of growing populism and economic

inequality,anddestabilizingtraditionalglobalpowers.Thetwenty-firstcentury ‘looms

likearepetition:oneofbloodynationalismsandtribalisms,ofreligiousfundamentalism

andintolerancethatwethoughthadbeenleftbehindinsomedarkerpast’(Huyssen1995,

8).Itseemsclearthatoneofsociety’smostpressingandperpetualconcernsisconflict.

Setagainstthisbackground,society,thatistosay,thesocialcommunityorgeneralpublic,

isinsearchforacollectivefocalpointwhereandwithwhichtodiscussandperhapssolve

issuesofconflict,terrorandextremismthathaveoflaterisensostarklytothesurface.

Understandably, ithasturnedtotheuniversallysharedculturalcollectiveorganisation

calledschoolforhelp. ‘Thehumanitariananddemocratictraditionisatthecoreofthe

teaching profession,’ Fred van Leeuwen (2016) argues.20Schools are the last place in

societywherepoorandrich,ChristianandMuslim,gayandstraight,nativeandrefugee

converge.Acompletemirrorimageofthegeneralpublic,schoolsaretheonlyplacewhere

31

pupilsfromallwalksoflifecometogether,sharingandcreatingexperienceswitheach

other.21

Tocastalookuponaclassofschoolpupilsasteachersistohavesociety’sconcerns

mirroredbackatyou.Thisisoneofthemostdelicateanddauntingfeaturestoateacher’s

work.Moreover, as I have argued above, theseworries that pupils face coincidewith

society’ssocialcalendarthatislitteredwithwarmemorialevents,makingtheclimateof

warinwhichtheylivecomplete.Asifthiswasnotenough,Dutchsocietyseemedtobein

theprocessofappropriatingtheBritishculturalmemoryofWorldWarI,whichowingto

Dutchneutrality,wassomethingofaforgottenwar.SincetherearenoDutchveteransof

WorldWarI,logically,therearenoDutchnarrativesofthiswartorelate.Yetinemulation

of British media, Dutch media have focussed on the historical, political, cultural and

literaryaspectsoftheGreatWar,withthecommemorationpoints inthecalendarasa

guidethroughthesefouryears,takingover,forexample,manyofthe2,500hoursofBBC

televisionandradiobroadcastsat thestartof thecommemorationperiod.22Moreover,

the World War I themed production War Horse (Elliot 2014) transferred to the

Netherlands,screeningsofWorldWarIfilmssuchasPathsofGlory(Kubrick1957)were

organised in the Dutch Film Museum, and, to mark the centenary, a leading Dutch

magazineprovidedaguidetoBritishFirstWorldWarnovels.23

Inshort,whentheseBritishnarrativesofWorldWarIswampedtheNetherlands

attheonsetofthecentenarycommemorations,sodidthememoryoftheFirstWorldWar.

Thepointhere is that this, in turn,haspervadedDutcheducation.Anever-increasing

numberofsecondaryschoolsintheNetherlandshavestartedtoincludeFirstWorldWar

poetryinthecurriculumoftheirEnglishlanguageclasses.Moreover,recentresearchinto

whattheFlemishcall‘commemorationtourism’ofYpresanditssalientsurroundings,the

so-calledWesthoek,hasshownadoublingofthenumberofvisitorstotheareain2014.24

Unsurprisingly,theBritishformthegreatestgroupofforeignwartourists.Yetthesecond

biggestgroupofforeignnationalstovisitthesitesofWorldWarIcommemorationinthe

west of Flanders are,more surprisingly, theDutch.25And themajority of theseDutch

visitsareschoolrelated.Atthestartofthecentenary,Ihadalreadytakenadecade’sworth

ofpupils to the formerbattlefieldsof theYpresSalient.As Ihave statedabove, in the

followingchapterIwillanalysetheanthologisingandcanonisationofWorldWarIpoetry,

andtheinfluenceofandoneducationinthisprocess.Afirsttentativestep,myaimisto

re-evaluateandre-writeaFirstWorldWarpoetrycurriculumforthe21stcentury.Given

32

theprecedenceofBritishmemorialeventsinDutchsocietyalongsidetheirown,Ivowed

tointegratethecomingfieldtriptoYpresasclassroominterventioninthisprocess.

ThelandscapesandmemorialsoftheFirstWorldWararestorytellersoftheirown:

fromtheYpresSalienttotheSomme,wartourismisflourishinglikeneverbefore.The

thousandsofmemorialsthathavebeenerectedinthechurchandtownsquaresofBritain

andacrossthebattlefieldsofEuropehavebecomeimportantrepresentationsofmemory

withtheirownspecificnarrative,especiallyduringcommemorativeyearssuchas2014.

AndreasHuyssen(1995)callsthese‘mnemonicconvulsionsofourculture,’whichinhis

viewhavebecome‘chaotic,fragmentary,andfree-floating.’AccordingtoHuyssen(1995,

7),theyareevidencethatsocietyisinneedofwhathecalls‘temporalanchoring,’when

‘inthewakeoftheinformationrevolution,therelationshipbetweenpast,present,and

futureisbeingtransformed’.Teachersprovidesuchtemporalanchors,notjustintheir

classesatschool,butespeciallywhentheyintegrateafieldtriptocommemorationsites

suchasthoseinandaroundYprestotheircurriculum.Thishugeincreaseinvisitsto‘sites

ofmemory’ and ‘sitesofmourning’ as JayWinter (1995) calls them,or ‘dark tourism’

quoting Lennon and Foley (2010), is no surprise. Against the background of unstable

moderngeo-politicallandscapes,whichinturnhavehadadestabilisingeffectonWestern

society, landscapes and memorials become the ‘temporal anchors’ of which Huyssen

writes.

BoththeincreasingevidenceinsocietyofwhatAndreasHuyssencallsa‘memory

boom’andsociety’sprevailinganxieties,focusprimarilyonconflict.Establishingavalue

driven curriculum, in which teachers address these concerns, is challenging, yet the

importanceof the landscapesofwarandmemorial events, combinedwith its cultural

outputintheformofnarratives,maybeusedtoachievethis.Inthisrespect,theDutch

playasingularroleinteachingBritishFirstWorldWarwriting.DespitetheNetherlands’

neutrality during World War I and its ensuing scarcity of cultural output, the Dutch

speakingandwritingpartofBelgium,namelyFlanders,doeshaveacollectivememoryof

the FirstWorldWar.What follows is that Flanders’ cultural output ofWorldWar I is

significant and because Dutch is the shared language between the two nations, these

narrativesareeasily incorporated intothebroaderDutch-speakingworld.Underlining

thisdevelopmentistheFlemishauthorStefanHertmans(1951),authorofWorldWarI

novelWarandTurpentine(2016),whoin2014wonthemostprestigiousliteraryprizein

theNetherlands,the‘AKOliteratuurprijs.’Itisnarrativeslikethese,throughthebedside

33

tablesofDutchsociety,thatfindtheirwayintotheliteraturecurriculaofDutch(literature

andlanguage)teachersintheNetherlands.

However,teaching(British)FirstWorldWarpoetryintheNetherlandsislikelyto

happenthroughtheimageofexistingBritishtraditions.Englishistoanincreasingextent

theDutchsecondlanguage,furtherenablingthisprocess.Whereasitcomesasnosurprise

thattheculturaldividesbetweenFlandersandtheNetherlandsaremoreeasilytraversed

than other nations because they share the same language, multiple bridges between

English-speaking countries such as the UK and the Netherlands are being built and

crossedatthetimeofwriting.In2014,Englishlanguageandliteraturewaspromotedto

a so-called ‘core-subject’ (kernvak) by the Dutch Ministry of Education, one of three

subjectsbesidesDutchandMathsthatarethusforegrounded.26Besideswhich,current

trendsinDutcheducationalinnovationpointtorecommendationswhichincludeteaching

children English from a very young age, at primary school.27With the crossing of the

language barrier thismeans that, inevitably, culture crosses alongwith it.28Thus the

Britishculturalcalendar is, toacertainextent,addedtotheDutch,especiallywhere it

alreadyoverlappedwithBelgium’scalendar,suchastheremembranceofWorldWarI.

Themishmashofmemorialeventscanleadtoablurringoftheculturalinheritance

ofdifferentwarsindifferenttimes(WorldWarI,WorldWarII,Vietnam,IraqWarorthe

War on Terror) and different cultures (British, Dutch, Belgian, American), all

amalgamatingintoone.AsIhavearguedabove,nationalmemorialeventsintheUnited

States,BritainandtheNetherlandshaveall incorporatedotherwarstotheircollective

commemorativegoals.Whatfollowsisthatculturalexpressionofthesewars,andinthis

casespecificallythepoetrywhichisoftenembeddedwithinthesememorialservices,such

aspoemsbyPoetLaureatesAnneVegterandCarolAnnDuffyIhaveusedinclass,come

to stand for all conflict. In otherwords, the smaller part, a poem on the effect of the

Russian-UkrainianconflictandthedowningofflightMH17uponanationinmourning,or

thedeathofWorldWarIveteranHarryPatch,lastlivingBritisheyewitnessofWorldWar

I,comestostandforthewhole:allwarsandalllossasaresultofconflict.Similarly,an

excursiontoYpresprovidesasolid,physical,geographicalbackdrop,notjusttotheFirst

WorldWar, but to war in general. Visiting the place which inspired the well-known

literarynarrativetruthsofculturalmemory,maycometotellpupilsofthe21stcentury

somethinguniversalaboutwar,aboutthefearsandheroicsitinspires,aboutitshorroras

wellasitsbeauty.

34

‘Today’seducationisaboutgivingpupilsareliablecompass,’AndreasSchleicher

(2016)argues.‘Educationisessentiallyaboutvalues.’Needlesstosay,itisimpossiblefor

aschoolvisit to the Iraqi,AfghanistanandSyrianbattlefields,nor the Israeli-Palestine

conflict zone. This necessitates the search for a battlefield as a metaphor for all

battlefields, to open up a platform for society’s concernswith regard to conflict,war,

traumaandHolocaustintolessonsatsecondaryschool.ThisiswhyinthenextchaptersI

willintegratefieldtripsasclassroominterventions,puttingmyeducationalandliterary

historicalresearchtothetest.Takingthebeautifulriskandtrustingteacherslikemyself

toinvestigatethesepathsisthewayforwardtoreformswithintheeducationalsystem.

Involving teachers in their design, according to Schleicher, is essential. He bases his

argument on four pillars of education: behaviour, cognition, content and character. In

otherwords,teachers’behaviourandpupils’learningoutcomeareconnected;teachers

arethoughtfulandsentientbeingswithcharacterisedintentions,strategies,decisionsand

reflections.Stressingtheimportanceofthenatureandadequacyofteacherknowledgeof

thesubstanceof thecurriculumbeing taught, it is significant thatheunderscores that

teachersserveasmoralagents,deployingamoral,pedagogicalcraft(ibid.).Myresearch

isanintegralpartofthisdevelopment,andthisbooktheresultoftheseefforts.

Therefore, in the wake of what Huyssen (1995) writes is ‘society’s need for

temporal anchoring,’ this book will offer much needed anchors. Yet teaching war

narrativesstillallowsamultiplicityandfreedomofinterpretation,letaloneeffect.Within

the field of (war) literature, I aim to show how these so-called convulsions express

themselves,andhowtheymaybeshapedinsuchawaywithinEnglishliteraturelessons

atsecondaryschool.ByreadingVegterandDuffy’spoetryinclass,Ihaveestablisheda

gatewaybetweenpastandpresentculturesofwar.IndoingsoIaimtocreateaplatform

for societal concerns to be addressed and discussed in class, not a set of ready-made

answerstobedictatedtopupils. Inmyview,societyreachingouttoeducationtohelp

curetheconcernstheirchildrenface,hopingteacherswillprovideameasuredantidote,

issymptomaticofthe‘mnemonicfever’whichhassocietyinitsgrip(Huyssen1995,8).

Societyis,understandably,inneedofanswersandcertainty,thechaosofthemodernage

needsitsfixedmarks.Thispartlyexplainstheexplosionofmemorialeventsinsociety,

becausewhat is created through remembering is a ‘sense of sameness over time and

space’(Brearton2014).Society’spreoccupationwithmemoryeffectuatestheintegration

ofthesememorialeventswithinschools’walls.Designingcurriculawhichintegratethe

35

landscapeofwaroutsideoftheschoolwallswillofferachancetocreatethefixed,value-

drivenmarkssociety’schildrensodesperatelyseek.

1.5Politics’StakeintheClassroom

In oneof theNetherlands’ leadingnewspapers, an article appearedat the start of the

commemorationyearsin2014.Itwasfittingly,ifsomewhatscathingly,titled‘TheBritish

hardlyknowwhatit istheyarecommemorating’(Ketelaar2014,mytranslation).This

DutchnewspaperarticlereferredtoaheateddebateinBritishpolitics,focussingonthe

waytorememberwar:aretheBritishcelebratingthevictoriousdead,orremembering

theunheroicfallen?Strikingly,itwasaformerSecretaryofStateforEducation,Michael

Gove,whokick-startedit.Inhisarticle‘WhyDoestheLeftInsistonBelittlingTrueBritish

Heroes?’publishedintheDailyMailattheverystartofthecentenarycommemorations,

Gove(2014)arguesthattheculturallegacyofsatiricaltelevisionprogrammesandtheatre

playssuchasBlackadderandOh!WhataLovelyWar,showaone-sidedviewofWorldWar

I.29Accordingtothethen-SecretaryofStateforEducation,theseculturalnarrativeshave

helpeddeterminethewaytheBritishinterpretit:‘asamisbegottenshambles–aseries

ofcatastrophicmistakesperpetratedbyanout-of-touchelite.Eventothisdaythereare

Left-wingacademicsalltoohappytofeedthosemyths’(Gove2014).Asitturnedout,it

wasteachersandtheircanonicalFirstWorldWarpoetrycurriculaatsecondaryschools

atwhomthefullblastofthecritiquewasaimed.

The‘gutless’and‘cowardlyCaptainBlackadder,’underthe‘misguidedleadership’

of‘GeneralMelchett[…]isstillshowninschoolstohelpchildrenlearnaboutthewar!’,

TimShipmanraged(Shipman2014).Addressingateachers’conferencein2014,Jeremy

Paxmanarguedthat‘servingupthepoemsofWilfredOwenandSiegfriedSassoonwas

too easy a way of covering the subject and “luxuriated in the horror” rather than

addressingtheimportantissues’(Woolcock2014).BothpoliticaljournalistsShipmanand

Paxman added fuel to the fire of a controversy which has since become known as

‘Goveadder’ (Mitchell 2014). Teachers of English and History have set the poetry of

canonicalwarpoetssuchasOwenandSassoon,andspecifically,morerecentnarratives

suchasBlackadderontheircurriculafordecades,andhavethus,theyargue,definedthe

way the British rememberWorldWar I. In fact, FirstWorldWarwriting such as the

‘poetryofWilfredOwen’might‘facilitateuniversalisedpacifistreadingsacrossnational

36

boundaries,’Anne-MarieEinhausandCatrionaPennellsuggest(2014,14),‘makingwar

poetry‘particularlysuitedtobeingtaughttointernationalaudiences.’Thecritiquethus

extendstoteachersofEnglishintheNetherlandslikemyself,itis(international)teachers’

supposed pacifist readings of war poetry which the former Secretary of State for

Education,MichaelGove,ralliesagainst.

Thepoliticalcritiquestillconfirmsliteratureiscentraltopreservingthememory

of war, as is the role teachers have played in this process. By integrating Owen and

Sassoon’swarpoetryandCurtis’stelevisionseriesBlackadderintotheirschoolcurricula,

teachersareatthehelmofpreservinganddefiningtheBritishculturalmemoryofthe

war.Whatthe‘Goveadder’debateimpliesisthatnarrativessuchasthese,inthehandsof

teachers,havedownplayeditsheroismandthenecessityofwarwhilstforegroundingits

futilityandloss.ArecentandcrucialstudybyEinhausandPennell(2014),towhichthis

bookis,inpart,aresponse,entitledTheFirstWorldWarintheClassroom:Teachingand

theConstructionofCulturalMemory,confirmsthatbothHistoryandEnglishteacherslay

claimto ‘teachingtheculturalhistoryof thewar,’andusepoetry todoso.30Theyalso

concludethatBlackaddergoesForth,thesatiricalTVseriesGovesoabhors,iswidelyused

asasourcethroughoutbothHistoryandEnglishlessonsinBritain.31

The ‘Goveadder’debatesuggeststhatpoliticiansseekpoliticalengagementwith

teachers who place these canonical narratives of World War I at the centre of their

curricula. At the heart of this lies one of themost contentious issues ofmankind: the

validityofwar.Thisisadebatewhich,asfarastheGreatWarisconcerned,‘beganbefore

the first shotwas fired and has been running ever since. It has spawned a historical

literature of unparalleled size, sophistication andmoral intensity’ (Christopher Clarke

2012, xiii). At the start of the centenary commemorations ofWorldWar I, its validity

continuestobeahotlydebatedissue,whichformerSecretaryofStateforEducationGove

strovetomanipulatewhen itsmemorialisationwasathand. Ihaveshownhow ‘policy

makers’and‘politicians’wanteducationtobe‘strong,secure,andpredictable.’Inshort,

they want it ‘risk free at all levels’ (Biesta 2013, 1). For the force fields outside of

education, thestakesarehigh, forwhoever influencesandcontrolseducationcontrols

memoryinthemaking.Politiciansareawarethatsociety’squestionsanduncertainties

aboutconflictandwararesoughtineducation,atschool.Itcomesasnosurprisethen,

thatMinistriesofEducationliketheBritishtrytoexecutedirectcontroloverteachers.

37

Authoritiesonmemorythattheyare,itisteacherswhoareatthehelmofdefiningand

choosingthecurricularanchorsthroughwhichtoaddresstheseconcerns.

Consideringthepowerof‘pathosformula’poetrytotranscendtime,establishing

whichnarrativesaretaughtandhowisessential.Thisisevenmoreurgentinasociety

thatisinthemidstofcommemoratingacentury-oldconflictwhilestartingandfighting

newwars.AsGove(2014)himself reasons,a trueunderstandingofBritain’spast ‘has

neverbeenneededmore’inthefaceof‘greatpowerrivalry’and‘migrantpopulationson

the move’ in a dangerous cocktail with ‘a fragile confidence in political elites.’ As

governmentminister, he was contributing to establishing British stability as a global

power,especiallyinthecontinuingwakeofBritishcontributiontoconflictzonessuchas

the War in Afghanistan. The ‘Goveadder’ controversy shows the political aspect of

remembrance, that is the celebration of victory and the establishment of a sense of

nationhood,canovershadowthesocietal,thatismourningthedead.Inotherwords,war

narrativeswhichsupposedlyforegroundthehorrorofwararenotgoodformoraleinthe

votingboothand recruitingoffice.Byusinghispoweras anEducationMinister,Gove

soughttoinfluencethewaythehistoryofWorldWarIistaughtandthosewhoteachit,

sensitiveasheistotheideathatthewaywerememberouroldwarshasinfluenceover

thewaywefightournewwars.

Meanwhile,risingtothedefenseof(teaching)thewarpoetsandtheirroleinthe

centenarycommemorationswaschildren’sliteraturewriterMichaelMorpurgo(1943-),

authoroftheFirstWorldWarchildren’snovelWarHorse.Britain‘shouldhonourthose

who died, most certainly, and gratefully too, but we should never glorify,’ Morpurgo

argues. ‘Weshouldheedthewordsofthosewhowerethere,whodidthefighting,and

someofthemthedying,’heinsists,suchas‘Sassoon,ThomasandOwen.SiegfriedSassoon,

[forinstance],wroteof‘thecallouscomplacency’ofthosebackhomewhowishedonlyto

prolongthewar,nomatterwhatthecost’(Morpurgo2014).JoiningMorpurgo’sranksis

the historian Sir Richard Evans (2014), who criticises Gove’s ‘narrow, tub-thumping

jingoism[…]inhisredraftingofthenationalcurriculuminordertoforceschoolstoteach

anuncriticallycelebratorynarrativeofEnglishhistory.’InanswertotheBritishSecretary

ofStateforEducation,boththewriterandthehistorianrisetothedefenseofpoetryasa

way of teaching about the GreatWar and argue implicitly for its validity as a tool to

rememberWorldWarI.

38

Yet it is precisely the war poet Sassoon, whom Morpurgo conjures up to the

defenceofteachingwarpoetry,whoisalsoatthebruntoftheattack.Sassoonbiographer

MaxEgremontarguesthepoethelpedcreateaone-sidedvisionofthewar,‘acallous,out-

of-touchHighCommandandthesacrificeofinnocentsintheapparentlyunceasinghellof

theWestern Front,’which has ‘made a lasting version of history aswell as awriter’s

world,reachingbeyondliteraryachievementtoanationalmyth’(Egremont2013,xi).It

ispreciselythispresumedmythmaking,whichisunderfirefromaBritishgovernment

ministerat thestartof thecentenarycommemorations in2014.Tomake thingsmore

complex,theBritishEducationMinisterquotedfromanarticlewrittenbyNigelBiggar,

entitled‘WasBritainRightToGoToWarin1914?’Biggar,alsoputtingSassooncentralto

hisargument,claimsthatthewarpoetstartedtofeelsorryabouthisinfamousprotest

againstthecontinuationofthewarbackin1917,‘SiegfriedSassoonhimselfadmittedin

1945that“inthelightofsubsequenteventsitisdifficulttobelievethatapeacenegotiated

in1917wouldhavebeenpermanent”(Sassoon,citedinBiggar[2013a,4]).‘Indefenceof

war,’NigelBiggardeliberatelyusestheimageofarepentantanti-warpoettobackuphis

argument.32

Whatneithersideofthepoliticaldebatementions,isthatSassoon’scharacteris

wellknowntohavebeendichotic.Althoughhewasaprominentspeakeratpacifistrallies

throughoutthe30s,Sassoonalsowrotesomeofhisbestbattleproseduringthistime,in

whichthereaderwillencounteramelancholicyearningforthewarmth,simplicityand

camaraderieofhisdaysinthearmy.33AsPatrickCampbell(1999,36)pointsout,Sassoon

waspossessedwithan‘extraordinarycourage’,his‘fury’oftenhadan‘edgethatverged

onthemaniac.’Smallwonderthattheso-called‘anti-war’poetwas‘knownas“MadJack”

byhisadmiringmen’. In short, Sassoonwasambivalentaboutwaranddichotic inhis

attitudetowardsmilitaryconflict.Inthisheisnotunlikethatotherprominentwarpoet:

WilfredOwen.Hismostfamouswarpoem,‘DulceetDecorumEst,’hasalwaysbeenread

asanindictmentagainstwar.Yetitscompositionwasfollowednotmuchlaterbyaletter

tohismother,describinghowhefoughtlikean‘Angel’wearinga‘smile’onhisface(Owen

1967b,580).Itisthis‘homicidalbackground’tothewarpoetswhich,ChrisYates(2010,

91)argues,shouldnotbeunderestimated.Bearing inmindthedualityofSassoonand

Owentowardsfighting,Yates’sreminderthatbothpoetsweretrainedkillersistoooften

forgotten.

39

Itisironicthatthefacilitatorsof‘universalisedpacifistreadings’intheclassroom

shouldbesoldiers,drilledandexperiencedinkilling.Itraisesthequestionwhomakesthe

myth:thepoet,thosewhoteachhiswork,thosewhoreadhispoetryatschool,thosewho

framehimpolitically,oralloftheabove?TeachersinBritainandoverseasareaccusedof

showing only the critical, anti-war side of the canonical poets, although their feelings

towardswarwerenot as straightforward as that. The life and oeuvre of a prominent

soldier poet such as Siegfried Sassoon is ambivalent. The political force field is as

undecidedaboutthevalidityofwarandthenatureofthenarrativesthatarecreatedfrom

itsashesasitsveterancomposersare.Teachers,intheirsearchforpedagogicanddidactic

answerstothestalemate,neednot,andoftendonot,picksidesinapoliticaldebate.Iwish

to stress that this bookwill show that the key lies in integrating political debates in

literarylessonsonwar.TakeforinstancetheMH17classroomintervention.Isintegrating

thepoemwhichwasreadoutbyDutchPrimeMinisterRutteonTVapoliticalact?Hasthe

iconicdiaryofAnneFrank,likethecanonofFirstWorldWarliterature,sufferedsimilar

politicalpressures?BecauseIaimmyinvestigationofwarliteraturetobroadenintofull

multimodalwidthandwarssince1914,thesamequestionwillarise,aswellasthesame

ambition:tointegrateintothelessonpoliticaldebatesforegroundingtheimportanceof

literatureineducation.

Backintheclassroomthereactionsinmyclassonwarpoetryshowthatthemost

importantmythbusting is donebypupils themselves. For, despite all thewise poetic

warningsoftheso-calledanti-warverseofSassoonandhispoem‘Aftermath,’someofmy

studentsarestillforadirectmilitaryconfrontationwithRussiaafterreadingit.Ofcourse,

therearepupilswhofindthevery ideaofaggressionabhorrent.Salient is thewaymy

UkrainianpupilNatasja,whofledfromwartornUkraine,refusestojoininthedebate.She

ismostsensitiveofalltothepost-MH17situationintheNetherlands,presumablybecause

ofherrootsasaminorityRussianintheUkraine,becausesheistheonlyonewhohas

experiencedwaratfirsthand,andbecausesheisstillinclosecontactwithrelativesinthe

midst of the conflict. Sensitive to all sides, as a Russian girl, former inhabitant of the

UkraineandnowarefugeeintheNetherlands,shesoughttosoothetheatmospherewhen

Iaskedhertocontributetothediscussion.Atthispointinthecourse,shesilencedthe

raucousclassroomdebatebyremarkingthatpickingsidesinawaronthebasisofreading

acoupleofpoemsinclasswas,inherview,‘childishandimpossible.’34

40

WhatisvitalisthatmyUkrainianpupil,likeSassoon,haswhatKateMcLoughlin

calls ‘autopsy,’ ‘first-hand experience’ which is ‘the crucial ingredient of authority,

legitimacyandcredibilityinwarreporting’(McLoughlin2011,42).Thisbookwillshow

thatpupilsareparticularlysusceptibletothepowerof‘autopsy’andtheauthenticitythat

thisgivesNatasja,theirwarrefugeeclassmate,aswellastheveteranpoetsofWorldWar

I.InthewordsofSassoon,bothhavecome‘backagainfromhell’carrying‘secretsofdeath

totell,’thoughitisthepoetwhohas‘loathsomethoughtstosell,’forheisinneedofa

readership, whereas Natasja is not (Sassoon 1983b, 77). Pupils are attracted to my

UkrainianpupilandSassoon’sstoriesbecausetheyseemsalientandauthentic.Whether

thisimpliesthesestorieshavethepowertoswaytheirviewsremainsopentodebate.Will

students side with Sassoon’s supposed moral message or, when confronted with his

biography,hisdichoticcharacterandYates’sresearch,willtheyrealizethattheseauthors

were killers themselves, and part of what James Campbell (1999, 204) calls a male

‘initiatedelite’?Thiswillengagestudents,confrontingthemwithwarpoetryandhowit

matters, how it is embedded centrally in a polemic debate,which has dividedBritish

politics,societyandacademics.Thegoalisnottoestablishacertaintruthaboutwarbut

toshowallsidesto‘Goveadder,’makingthemanactivepartofit,andusingtheversatility

ofawarpoet’sbiographyandoeuvretodoso.

Sincewhatisatstakeisthewaychildrenaretaughtaboutwarandthesources

throughwhichthisisdone,itismorethanfittingtore-createthisdiscussionatschools.

Thewaytogivestudentsroomtonegotiatetheirownopinionsabout(the)war,toexplore

theirownviewsonthenarrativesof(the)warisbymakingthemawaretheyarecentral

to the debate. Although the relationship between education and politics in general is

based on power, there is interdependency between teachers and their Ministers of

Education,whichgoesfurtherthanthatofemployerandemployee.TheBritishSecretary

ofStateforEducationisdependentonteacherstoapplytheirexpertisetothedebateand

comeupwithpedagogicalanddidacticanswers,insteadofsimplyprovokingteachersinto

a corner of dissent againstwhat he presumes is ‘Left-wing’ teaching. In otherwords,

reiteratingAndreasSchleicher,trustingteachersisthewayforwardtoreformswithinthe

educational system, integrating teachers in itsdesign.Thisprocessdemandsa further

developmentofteacherprofessionalism,attheheartofwhich,accordingtoSchleicher,is

teachers’ knowledge base, peer networks and autonomy. He argues forwhat he calls

‘institutionalizedcollaboration,’theheadoftheinstitutebeingtheSecretaryofStatefor

41

Education,withteachersattheheartofthiscooperativeprocess,andtowhichthisbook

hopestocontribute.

Seen in this light, the former Dutch Secretary of State for Education, Dr. Jet

Bussemaker,wasaforerunner.Inalettersenttoagroupofteachersin2013,Bussemaker

callsthemtoaction,toleadinresearchingwaystoteachaboutwarandHolocaustinthe

classroom.Ontheonehand,Bussemakeraddressesakeyprobleminteachingaboutwar,

namely that teachers experience a certain ‘embarrassment to act.’ 35 Secondly,

Bussemakerasksteachersthemselvestoprovidesolutionsforthisproblem,toseekways

toteachwar,traumaandtheHolocaustatschools.Iwillcomebackindetailtothiscallto

action by theDutchMinister, because this book is, for a large part, an answer to her

request.ThecritiqueofaSecretaryofStateforEducationcanfeellikeadirectiveforceto

teachers,moresothanthehotbreathofsociety’sconcerns.YetpoliticianslikeGoveand

Bussemaker are sensitive to the power of literature, and both foreground the role

educationplays,albeiteachfortheirownreasons.AndalthoughGove’scritiquefocusses

onteachingtheculturalmemoryofWorldWarI,andBussemaker’sappealtoteachers

extends toWorldWar II and the Holocaust, there is no reason why delving into the

canonicalliteratureofthesewarsinthenextchapters,shouldnotextendtothenarrative

output of wars since then, such as Vietnam, Iraq, and the War on Terror. Designing

curriculawhichintegratethepoliticaldebatewhichpervadesall(war)literaturesandits

usesineducationwillcontributetoaversatilewarnarrativecurriculumforsecondary

schoolsinthe21stcentury.

1.6Science’sStakeintheClassroom

‘WilfredOwen'spoetryisover-rated.There,I'vesaidit,’historianDanTodmanwrotein

responsetoablogpostedin2009bytheliterarycriticTimKendall,inwhichhereviewed

Todman’sTheGreatWar,MythandMemory(2005).36‘Likemanyofhisfellowhistorians,’

Kendallargued,‘[Todman]thinksthatwethegeneralpublichavebeenduped.Wehave

beenreadingOwenandSassoon,andwatchingOhWhataLovelyWar,whenweshould

have been studying our history books.’ 37 Todman (2014, 161-63) claimed that the

‘priggish’Owenhadbecome‘aremarkablesymbolofthemodernmythsofthewar,’which

he arguedhadbeenpropagatedby teachers in schools for decades. For, ‘withOwen’s

poemsusedintheteachingofbothEnglishandHistory,itwasintheclassroomthatthe

42

bulk of the population encountered them for the first time’ (2014, 166). Kendall

responded somewhat vexedly, arguing that Todman ‘dwells on the extreme and

occasionally foolish uses towhich Owen'swork has been put’ in the classroom. This,

surely,Kendallcontinues,is‘notOwen'sfault,’butit‘isthefaultofthe[…]teachers.’38

This academic exchange reflects two important facts about current scientific

debatesonthememoryofwarandinthisexample,WorldWarIspecifically.Firstly, it

shows how topical war literature is and how contentious is the issue of its use for

historicalunderstandingandformingculturalmemory.Secondly,itillustratesthatnext

tosocietyandpolitics, the force fieldofsciencealsoplaceseducationandits teachers,

those trained specialists onmemory, at the heart of their debate. Academics such as

Todmanaresensitivetoandcriticalofthepowerthat‘pathosformula’literature,inthis

casethecanonicalwarpoetryofWilfredOwen,hasonthewaywarisremembered,inthis

case the FirstWorldWar. Todman comments scathingly that ‘relatively short poems

whichaimedtocommunicateprimaryemotions’ turnedout tobeespeciallyuseful for

‘televisionproducersandclassroomteachers(Todman2014,171).Inopposition,literary

criticssuchasKendallarguethatthedebateontheoriginsandjustificationoftheGreat

Warbelongstohistorystudies,whereitshouldstay.Forwhateveritsoutcome,Kendall

continues,‘GreatWarpoetrycontinuestoliveandsing.’39Saliently,whilstthisblog-battle

betweenthescholars’rages,historianTodmanandliterarycriticKendallmeetpeacefully

intheirunisonofcritiqueonhowwarliteratureistaughtinschools,shiftingtheacademic

debate toeducationand itseducators. Inotherwords, ‘poetrymakesnothinghappen’

quotingAuden(2009,89),butthosewhoteachitdo.

Historians such as Todman argue thatWorldWar I poetry lessons learned at

secondaryschoolareatthebasisofaso-calledhistoricalmythabouttheFirstWorldWar.

Andliteraryscholarsdonotrefutethis.Notonlydoesthisraisethequestionwhethermy

curriculum is debit to this aswell, but also if literature of otherwars since 1914has

sufferedsimilareducationalmythification.Zoomingin,fornow,onthisspecificacademic

debateonWorldWarI literature,Kendallarguesthatpoetry isnottoblameforbeing

‘exploited,’butthosewhouseitare,withteachersforemostamongsttheabusers.40The

waytheydoso,FranBreartonexplainsscathingly, isaccordingtothe ‘onesizefitsall’

approach:‘warpoetryissoldierpoetry;warpoetryisalwaysanti-warpoetry;warpoetry

is experiential; war poetry, if it is to be any good, speaks from disillusionment, not

patriotism;warpoetryismeanttoshockthecomplacentpublic;thewarpoetshavesome

43

kindof sharedagenda’ (Brearton2007,209).At theheartofBrearton’sdefinition lies

another,longstandingacademicdebate.InhisbookTheGreatWarandModernMemory

(1975)PaulFussellarguesthatfacedwithanewsetofexperiences,aspecificgroupof

writers ‘created a new “paradigm”, an ironic mode of writing which dominates war

memoirs’andwarpoetry(Winter1999,345).TheseliteraryrepresentationsoftheGreat

War,Fussellexplains,‘haveprovedcrucialpolitical,rhetorical,andartisticdeterminants

onsubsequentlife.’Thus,theygenerated‘anewmyth,andthatmythispartofthefibre

ofourlives’(2013,xv).

Bycontinuingtoreflectacertainselectionofliteraryrepresentations,thatisthe

canonicalwarpoets,WinterandTodmansuggestFussellhasignoredthewiderscopeof

availablenarratives,andthusreinforcespopularmythsbygivingitscholarlyconsent.41

Scholarsunite in theirviews that,armedwith thesecanonicalwarpoets,Sassoonand

Owenamongstthem,teachersbeargreatresponsibilityforcreatingandupholdingamyth

aboutwar. Canonical poets such asWilfredOwen and Siegfried Sassoonhave pushed

awayotherrepresentations,historicalandliterary,sodefiningculturalmemoryofBritain

over thepastcentury that theyhavecometodominate theway theBritish teach, talk

aboutandrememberwar.Thishasresultedinthetraditionofpropagatingthe‘onesize

fitsall’approachtoWorldWarIpoetryatschool,andhas,intheeyesofJayWinter(2013),

ledtowhathecallsa‘quasipacifistlanguage,’whichdominatesBritaintothisday.The

Oxford EnglishDictionary defines ‘pacifism’ as ‘the idea that allwar and violence are

unjustifiableandthatalldisputesshouldbesettledbypeacefulmeans.’42Inotherwords,

theBritishpublic,whohavingbeencollectivelytaughtcanonicalpoetrywrittenbypoets

suchasWilfredOwenatschool,havethereforesupposedlybeentaughttoresistwar.

Ihaveshownhowtheforcefieldsofsocietyandpoliticsputteacherscentraltoa

varietyofsocietalconcernsandpoliticaldebates.Toclaimteachersandtheirwarpoetry

areresponsibleforanentirenation’soutlookonconflictistakingitastepfurther.Itgives

moreurgencytothequestionthisbookseekstoanswer,whetherthissupposedchange

ofoutlookbythehandsof teachersandthewarnarrativestheyputontheircurricula

extendstootherwarssince1914.Aquestionwhichthisbookseekstoanswer.Gradually

myambitionshiftsbeyondinvestigatingtheanthologisingofWorldWarIpoetryinthe

nextchapter,asIvowtoputanothercanonicalwarnarrativetothetestinthechapter

after,yetonefromadifferentwar(WorldWarII)adifferentgenre(diary),anddifferent

author (Anne Frank). It had, of course, not escaped my attention, that the dominant

44

canonicalwarnarrativesofWorldWarIwerepoemswrittenbywhitemalesoldiers.As

MarkVanWienenexplains,theprominenceofveteranpoetslikeOwenhasledtoa‘cult

of the soldierpoet. […]Notonlywere soldiersalone capableofwritingauthenticwar

poetrybutalso,theyalonewerecapableofproducingacrediblecritiqueofwar’(2002,7-

8).Thesepoetshavecometodominatethegenreofwarpoetry,andnonemoresothan

theveteranWilfredOwen,whomthecivilianCarolAnnDuffysocleverlyforegroundsin

her2009poem‘LastPost.’

VeteranpoetssuchasSiegfriedSassoonandWilfredOwencometotheclassroom

‘carryingsecretsofdeathtotell’(Sassoon1983b,77).Formystudentreaders,whodonot

knowwhatfightinginawarislike,thereisalwayssomethingalluringtoapoemabout

battle.Andatthesametime,whataboutpupilswhohavewitnessedwarupclose,refugees

likemyUkrainianpupilNatasja in thisclass?Herearlier irritationcommentingonthe

politicaldebateas‘childish’seemedtosuggestapriorknowledgeofwhatwarislike,and

foregroundedherirritationwithherDutchclassmates,whowanttobeletinonwhatis

tothemanalluringsecret.McLoughlin(2011,42)teachesusthatthe‘tropeofautopsy’is

atwork here: ‘the eye-witness offers the epistemological guarantee you can believe it

because I sawithappen.’Thesesoldiershadwhat JamesCampbell(1999)describesas

‘combat gnosticism’, they are warriors who know of battle and war from first-hand

experience.Itexplainswhycombatsoldiershavecometobeattheheartoftellingthe

storyoftheFirstWorldWar.Yet,alluringthoughthisversemaybetoacivilianreadership

inclass,canonicalwarliteratureisindangerofbeingread‘slackly’allthesame,Desmond

Graham (1984, 24) warns. This is because it has become ‘normal for English

schoolchildren to readOwen and selected contemporaries in secondary school,’Mark

Rawlinson argues (2007, 115-116). Students are in danger of claiming to understand

whatwarislikeonthebasisofreadingwarliterature,whichisexactlywhathasagitated

myUkrainianpupilallthistime.

Havingbecomesofamiliarwithcanonicalwarliteratureatschool,theacademic

concern is that it will become devoid of its power and meaning, and prone to

misinterpretation.Letting this literary critique sink in, the teacher inme realised that

confusioncoulddefinitelyoccur,betweenmyinexperiencedpupilswho,readingawar

poem,mightequatethistoknowingorevenfeelingwhatwarislike,andpupilssuchas

Natasjawhohadactuallyexperiencedwarupclose.Yetatthesametime,whatotherway

was there to letmyDutch pupils knowwhatwar for her could have been like,what

45

fightinginatrenchinWorldWarIwaslike,whatfear,conflictandthethrillofthekillwas

like,otherthanbyproxyofliteratureintheclassroom?Therewasnothingtoit,butto

takethiscritiqueasaliteraryhistoriantoheed,letitsharpenmyvisionasaneducational

theoristandtakethebeautifulriskofinterveningasateacher.Itisathree-tieredstepI

willtakethroughoutmyentireresearchofwarnarrativesintheclassroomin.Thewide

varietyof interventions in thisbook Ihopewill act as anchors tomyself and teacher-

readerswhofacethesamechallengesandhavechosentobattlethem.

Backintheclassroom,IhandoutOwen’s‘DulceetDecorumEst.’Likebulletsspat

at them fromawarandage they leave theirmarkupon impact in the classroom.The

speaker of the poem’s harsh words seems to linger in class like the smell of gas,

‘smotheringdreams;’ ‘we flunghim;’ ‘whiteeyeswrithing;’ ‘hanging face;’ ‘sickof sin;’

‘blood gargling;’ ‘froth-corrupted;’ ‘cancer;’ ‘cud’ (Owen 1990a, 117). My pupils have

dimlyheardofthegas-attacksinSyriaandIraq.43TheDutchareinvolvedinwarthere,as

these students let Owen’s words sink in, bombing their war-torn lands. 44 ‘Dulce et

DecorumEst’isapoemwhichunsuccessfullyprotestsagainstallwars,MartinStephen

argues,because‘theimageryanddictionofOwen’spoem,withitsgasattackand‘five-

nines’ismoreclearlythatoftheFirstWorldWarthaninalmostanyotherpoemhewrote’

(1996,204).However,contrarytowhatStephensuggests,itisthesedetailswhichmakes

thepoemcomealiveformystudents,itisthisdetailthatshocksandluresthem.Besides,

itishighlyquestionableiftheuseof‘9N314M-warhead’insteadof‘five-nines’wouldhave

madepupilsunderstanditscontentbetter,eventhoughthiswasthemissilefiredatthe

MH17.45Theyareconfrontedwiththe‘autopsy’ofapoetwhohasseentheterribleeffects

ofagasattack,aweaponstillusedinwarstoday.‘Waristoohugetoseeclose-up,’Kate

McLoughlin(2011,58)argues,butwith‘DulceetDecorumEst’youonlygettheclose-up.

Consider the use of words such as ‘flares,’ ‘fire,’ the evocative ‘Gas,’ and the rushed,

nervous fittingof the ‘clumsyhelmets;’ these features arenotunique toWorldWar I.

Neither are the speaker’s haunted dreams of the dying soldier, ‘guttering, choking,

drowning.’Thesearedetails,whichensuremystudentsfeelclosertotheactiondescribed

inthepoem,asiftheyareexperiencingwhatwarislikewiththespeaker.

McLoughlinidentifies‘details’asoneofthesixtropesofwarthatcharacterizewar

narratives. ‘Paradoxically,’ she explains, ‘the massive scale of war finds its best

communicationinlocalized,focusedimagesrecuperatedfromthegenerality’(2011,72).

McLoughlin’s tropes ofwar prove a useful tool to understandwhat it is thatmakes a

46

certainwarnarrativegripastudent-reader’sattention.Alreadyduringmyfirstmonths

asateacher-researcher,McLoughlin’stropesproveareliablemethodtojutmyveryfirst

qualitativeandintuitiveeducationalinterventionswith.Itmeritsareturntoheranalysis

asamethodwithintheinterventionsintheclassroom,theteacher-anchorsthroughout

the chapters in this book, and with conclusive detail in chapter five. Without having

witnesseditthemselves,thedetailsofthispathosformulawarpoem,withitspowerto

transcendtimeandspace,allowmypupilstobecomevoyeursofwar.Itisthedetailsof

warthatappeal tomypupils,andnot the famousLatintagwithwhichOwenendshis

poem,whichteachersstandaccusedofusingastheultimateanti-warstatement,apacifist

warningcorroboratingthefutilityofwar.

‘DulceetDecorumEst,’theformerPrimeMinisterDavidCameronreplied,onbeing

asked what his favorite poem was. ‘Its incredible power’ was ‘an eye-opener’ which

continuedtomovehimtoday,heexplained(L.Thomas2010).DailyMail journalistLiz

Thomasremarkedsarcasticallythat‘DulceetDecorumEstmightbeseenbysomeasan

unusualchoiceforMr.CameronwhenthousandsofBritishtroopsarestillservinginIraq

andAfghanistan’(ibid.).However,formerChiefoftheGeneralStaffoftheBritisharmySir

RichardDannattexplainsFirstWorldWarpoetry’spopularityamongstservingsoldiers.

‘IthinkOwen’spoems,manyofthem,dospeaktomeandmycontemporariesassoldiers

becausehewasasoldier,[…]hewentthroughveryearthyandverygrittyexperiences’

(ibid.).Itispreciselythese‘earthy’and‘gritty’experiencesthatappealtostudentreaders

aswell,intheirendeavortoapproximatetheexperienceofwarwithoutactuallyhaving

toenlist.Thedetailsofagasattack,anditsgraphiceffect,writtenwiththeauthorityof

theeyewitness,iswhatmakesthispoemstandoutaboveothers,notitssupposed‘anti-

war’ message. Taught in the ‘traditional’ way, Owen’s poetry is meant to ‘shock the

complacent public,’ Brearton (2007, 209) suggests. Whatever way I teach it, Owen’s

canonicalpoemisstillnewandfreshformypupilsanddoesexactlythat:itshocksthem.

Formypupils,‘autopsy’depoliticisesSassoonandOwen’spoetry.Thefiercestof

theirso-called‘anti-war’poemsandthereasonwhytheyattractyoungreadersatschool

isnotbecauseofanysupposedmoral lesson,butbecausetheyarewitnesses,allowing

studentstobecomevoyeursof theunknown:thekillingfields.Tostudentreaders, the

‘signsofcombatexperienceenhance[warpoets’]accounts’(McLoughlin2011,43).‘We

havebeenhappytoteachourchildrenthatwriterslikeOwenandSassoonwerenoblein

their expression of pity, grief, indignation, and anti-war sentiment,wehavebeen less

47

forthcomingabouttheirpositiveresponsestowar,’AdrianCaesarwrites(1993,2).AsI

havepointedoutbefore,bothSassoonandOwenwereambivalentaboutwar,they‘not

onlysawkillingdonebutkilledothermenthemselves’(ChrisYates2010,90).Iillustrate

asmuchtomypupilsbyshowingthemtheletterOwenwrotetohismother,describing

actioninbattlethatwonhimtheMilitaryCross,justlikeSassoonhadearlierduringthe

warbycapturingaGermantrenchsinglehandedly,slaughteringitsoccupants.

IcapturedGermanMachinegunandscoresofprisoners[…]Ishotoneman

withmyrevolver(atabout30yards!);TherestItookwithasmile…(Owen

1967b,580)

Owen’sgruesomedetailsofwarin‘DulceetDecorumEst,’areasshockingandalluringto

a reader as is his letter, especially to students. They come very near to the soldier-

speaker’sage,potentially‘ardentforsomedesperateglory’astheymightbethemselves

(Owen1990a,117).Lookingatmypupilsinclass,readingthepoem,Icansenseameasure

of excitement in their faces, includingmy Ukrainian pupil Natasja, reading thesewar

narratives.‘Inthisworkthereisacelebrationofwarasavehicleofpainandsuffering,’

Caesarexplains,‘sharedbythevoyeuristicreaderwhopeepsatthehorrorthroughparted

fingersandisconsciouslyorsubconsciouslythrilledandexcitedbyit’(1993,2).Realising

that it is precisely this voyeurism that takes effect with pupils will help teachers

understandwhystudentsaredrawntothebloodandgoreofbattlenarrativeslikemoths

totheflame.GaryWeissman,coiningthephrase‘non-witness,’explainsthatthese‘non-

witnessesdesire[…]toactuallyfeelthehorror’(2004,4).ItisapedagogicaleffectIwill

examinethroughout,andinclosedetailinchapterthree.Ivowtoresearchwhetherwar

narrativesintheirfullmultimodalwidth,whetheranywarstory,whetherfilm,blog,poem

ordiary,mighthavethesameeffect.Willanelementofthrillbeprevalentwithmypupils,

whenviewingawarmovieinclass,orwhentravellingtoaformerbattlefieldorHolocaust

site,orperhapsevenwhentalkingtoawarveteranintheclassroom?

EinhausandPennell(2015,78-79)showthatwhereashistory‘teachinggoalsare

afarcryfromattemptingasimplemorallessonandpromotingaknee-jerkreactiontothe

FirstWorldWarasfutileslaughter,’theircolleaguesfromtheEnglishdepartmentdolay

a‘greaterstresson[the]futility’ofwar.Whenteachersusethepoetryofcanonicalpoets

suchasOwenandSassoontodoso,thentheyignorethedichoticattitudethesepoetshad

48

inrelationtocombat.AsIwillshowinthecomingchapters,wartextsfromsubsequent

20th and 21st-century wars reveal a similar contradictory relationship to warfare,

whatevertheirform.ExamplesfromlessonsIhaveshownmightpresentawaybeyond

teaching a so-called ‘loss, anger and futility myth’ (Galer 2008, 8). For starters, by

establishing tiesbetween recentwarpoemsandcanonicalpathos formulapoetryof a

formerwar.Byshowingpupilshowthe‘details’ofwarlurethemintotheroleofvoyeur.

Andbyaddingtheacademiccritiqueontheestablishmentofatraditionofteachingwar

poetry to the curriculum. It is my vision on education that activating pupils in the

academic,politicalandsocietaldebateandplacingthemcentrestageintheirownanalysis

ofwaranditspoetry,iscrucial.Itinvolvesanecessaryriskandisthestartingpointofmy

explorationinthisbook,andeverychapterthatfollows.

1.7TeachersinCommand:CreatingEducationalAnchors

Ithasbecomeclearabove,thatthedemandsofsocietyandpoliticsoneducationareboth

urgentandexceptional.Thelegacyandfutureofteachingliteratureintheclassroomare

attheheartofthecontroversy.Butliteraturealsoprovidestheeducationalanchorsfor

49

teacherstobecometheauthoritiesonmemorythattheyare.Warwill ‘remainamajor

featureoftoday’sworld,’asGrahamGalerargues(2008,6),and‘newmythswillcontinue

todevelopfromthedifferentexperiencestheycreate.’Understandably,society,politics

andscienceseektoestablishcalmcontrolinandofaconflictingworld.Theynaturally

seek out the last stronghold of collective memory and bastion of shared culture to

accomplishthis:schools.Thewaytheseforcefieldsdosoispronetochange.Politicians

comeandgo,societyrarelymakesupitsmindasacollective,andscholarsareforeverat

loggerheadswitheachother.All frequentlyinvadetheclassroomarmedwithmythsof

theirown.Atthemomentofwriting,itisthecontentionthatwarneedstobeaddressed

atschool, thatonlyveteranpoetsarepartof theclassroomcanon, that theirpoetry is

largelyanti-warandpacifist,thatchildrenaretaughtthatthisistheonlyvalidreactionto

andinterpretationofwar,andthatteachersarelargelytoblameforthis.

Inthemidstofthis,‘ateacherisexpectedtoteachtruth,andmayperhapsflatter

himself thathedoesso,’Adamsexplains ‘butmoralsarequiteanother truth’ (cited in

Téllez2016,14).CounteringthemanyscholarsIhavepreviouslymentionedwhostrongly

opposesuchteaching,WinifredWhitehead(1991,70)arguesthat‘youngreaders’should

beintroducedto‘bookswhich,thoughtheymayoffersomeoftheexcitementanddrama

whichattractyoungpeopletoreading,neverthelessfirmlycounter“theoldlie”,sofiercely

denouncedbyWilfredOwen.’TogiveWhiteheadcredit,Icannotimagineanyteacher,nor

anyparent,ministerorscholar,advocatingthemorallessonthatweteachourchildren

thatwaris‘good.’Thedifficultyliesinthemomentwhenwecollectivelydeterminethat

waris‘necessary.’Thisliesattheheartofoneofmankind’smostcomplexquestionsand

is fundamental to what many veterans try to come to terms with through the war

narrativestheycreate.Humankindharboursadichoticattitudetowardscombat.Pupils

and poets are no exception to that rule. In the words of Vietnam War veteran and

memoirist Tim O’Brien (2015, 77), ‘war is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is

drudgery.Warmakesyouaman;warmakesyoudead.Thetruthsarecontradictory.’AsI

will show, the war narratives from subsequent 20th and 21st-century wars reveal a

contradictoryrelationshiptowarfare,withitsauthorsbutalsowithitsreadership.

ThisiswhywhatIsuggestinthisbookisacurriculumwhich‘readsagainstthe

grain,’ quotingWalter Benjamin (cited in Erll 2011, 22). He uses his criticism of the

historicisttradition,which‘yieldedsolelya“historyofvictors,”topleadforthe‘memory

ofthevictimsandthenameless’(Benjamin,citedinErll2011,22).Inthisspiritperhaps

50

thecombatpoetryofWorldWarIhasbeenreadagainstthegrainsosuccessfullythatit

has become the canonicalmillwithwhich the grain is ground: these soldiers are the

victims of war. What student readers might miss, and what my interventions in the

classroom seek to foreground, is that these soldier stories are by definition also the

narratives of the perpetrators. Andreas Schleicher’s (2016) call for value-driven

education iskey to integrating theaforementionedconcerns intoanEnglish literature

curriculumonwarnarratives,designedbyteachersthemselves.Joininghisplea,itisvital

that this design happens within existing disciplines. Instead of creating a separate

secondaryschooldisciplinefromthisneed,forcingexistingsubjectstocuttime,current

curriculacanbereshapedinsuchawaythattheyaccommodateandincorporatetheforce

fields’ concerns. This book argues that English literature, inmy case part of a larger

EnglishlanguageandculturecurriculumatsecondaryschoolsintheNetherlands,andwar

narrativesspecifically,areanidealgatewaytoaddressingthewidersocial,politicaland

scientificpicture,involvingcurrentglobalconflicts.

Insearchofnewcurriculathatintegratetheabove,andinanswertomyformer

SecretaryofStateforEducation’splea,tofindwaystobattleeducators’anxiousnessand

teach about war and the Holocaust, I felt it was essential to broaden my view. Kate

McLoughlinarguesthat‘whileallwarsaredifferent[…],allwarshavecertainelementsin

common’ (2011, 12). Thiswouldunderscore the idea that by studying canonical First

WorldWarpoetry,apupilgetstoknownotonlywhatthiswarwaslike,butallwars,even

those in which they might one day fight themselves. These similarities, McLoughlin

suggests,surfaceinthewidevarietyofwarnarrativesavailable.Atthesametime,‘each

war has its own poesis, its natural way (or ways) of being represented,’ McLoughlin

argues.‘Itnowseemsevident,’shecontinues,’thattheFirstWorldWar’snaturalformwas

thelyricpoem,thattheSecondWorldWar’swastheepicnovel,thattheVietnamWar’s

was the movie, that the Iraq Wars’ may well turn out to be the blog’ (2011, 10).

McLoughlin’s claim strengthenedmy resolve to seekout the similarities betweenwar

narrativesforthebenefitofteachersintheirbidtostartdefiningaspaceforpupilsto

addressissuesofwar,conflictandHolocaust.Yetitalsofueledmygrowingambitionto

addressdifferentwarsandtheirdifferentnarrativeformssince1914.

WhyshouldInotventurefromBritishcanonicalpoetryofWorldWarIthatIhad

taughtsolongandstandssocentraltoBritisheducation,torediscoverintheclassroom

theepicandcanonicaltaleofAnneFrank,similarlycentraltoDutcheducation?Andwhy

51

notindeeddiscoveriftheVietnammovie,stapleformoftheVietnamWarasMcLoughlin

claims, is similarly central to United States’ education? Furthermore, a shift from the

poetic,tothediaryandintofilmwouldallowmetoreallyestablishversatileliterature

curricula, theirmultimodalityallowingme tobroadenmycreativedesignand testmy

Dutchpupils’Englishlanguageskillsinitsfullwidth.Whetherornottheblogwillturnout

tobe thestaple formof the IraqWarsasMcLoughlinsuggestswill remain tobeseen.

However,exploringtheirusesintheclassroomasthenewnarrativeformofmypupils’

generation,andofawarthatispartofmypupils’recentmemory,wouldproveachallenge

I was looking forward to taking. Lastly, why not try to invite a war veteran to the

classroom,totrulyjointhestoriesofhiswarfrom‘thepasttothefuture’ofmypupils

present(O’Brien1991,35)?

Combining three roles at all times, McLoughlin as method in hand (literary

historian),armedwithBiesta to fuelmyeducationalvision (educational theorist), and

withthedailypracticetointervenein(teacher),Ihopemyreaderwillfollowmethrough

thechaptersofmyexploratoryliteraryquest.Iwillcontinuetakingthebeautifulriskand,

viaavarietyofinterventionsintheclassroom,startdesigningliteraturecurriculaIhoped

wouldprovidethetemporalanchorstoaddresswarintheclassroom.TheseIwillmark

out clearly for thebenefit of time-pressed teachers todrawupon in their ambition to

establishversatileandup-to-dateliteraturecurriculathemselves.Concretely,Iwillapply

avarietyofliteraryinterventionsinclassesfromarelativelymatureageonwards,16and

above, preferably in their penultimate or final year at secondary school. In the

Netherlandsthatwouldimplymakingthecurriculumversatileenoughtobetaughtatall

secondaryschoollevels:Mavo4,Havo5andVwo6.46SixthyearVwo-pupilsareclosest

toasoldier’sage,onthebrinkofuniversityorarmylifeastheyarethemselves,whichwill

helpthemreflectmeaningfullyontheacademicreceptionoftheirwarpoems.Teaching

at this agewould allow bothmore depth andwidth to the curriculum, including, for

instance,theacademiccritiqueasIhavepreviouslyoutlined.

Bytheendofmyexplorationinthisbook,andtheinterventionsintheclassroom

it describes, I aim to offermy teacher-reader a concrete qualitative literarymodel by

whichtomeasureandoutlinetheliteraryinterventionsinthisbook,asguidelinetomy

teacher-reader in their ambition to design their own. I hope to motivate teachers to

exploresimilarpathways,suchastakingstudentstoYpres,venturingawayfromOwenin

the classroom,moving beyond Anne Frank to Bergen-Belsen, or as inspiration to put

52

Vietnam War Movies on in troublesome classes, or even inviting a veteran to the

classroom.Designingliteraturecurricula,whichintegratethelandscapeofwaroutsideof

the school walls, offers a chance to create the fixed, value-driven marks society so

desperatelyseeksasgatewaytodevelopingpupil-citizenship.AsEinhausandPennell’s

recentresearchintoteachingtheFirstWorldWarintheclassroomshows,amongstthe

mostimportantgoalsofteaching(war)literature,iseliciting‘apersonalresponsefrom

pupilsanddeveloping[their]contextualunderstanding’of(war)literature’(2015,79).

This iswhy it is vital to establish awar literature curriculum that allows students to

engageontheirownterms.Itisdifficulttopredicthowpupilswillengagewithandreact

tothenarrativesIwillintroducethemto.ThewidevarietyofqualitativeinterventionsI

willdescribe in thisbook, indifferentclasses,usingdifferent formsandgenresofwar

literature,willhelpformhypothesestotheireffectintheclassroom,withwhichinturnI

hopetoinvitefuturequantitativeresearch.

Discussing flight-MH17 with my pupils, Ukrainian Natasja amongst them, has

shownthatliteraturemightestablishgatewaysbetweentheeffecttheblurredboundaries

betweenzonesofwarandpeacewerehavingonmypupils’ lives,andthepossibilities

multimodal war narratives gave them to understanding the present. Teaching war

narrativesinthe21st-centurywillprovidethefixedmarksallforcefieldsseekwhenfaced

withissuesofconflict.Iwilltrytofindwaystoembednarrativesourcesintomycurricula

so that they allow students to make up their own minds and express themselves

accordingly.IftheformerBritishSecretaryofStateforEducationwasrightinanything,it

wasnotinhiscritiquethatHistoryandEnglishteachersusenarrativessuchasBlackadder

intheirclassrooms;butitisaboutthewayinwhichteachersapplythesenarrativesthat

deservesscrutiny.Andthatincludesaveteranteacherlikemyself,takinggenerationsof

pupilstothebattlefieldsofwaronpureinstinct,withoutafurtherthoughttowhatIwas

doing,withnothingbutthevoicesofthepoetsto‘undothefoldedlie[s]’(Auden2009,

97).Itisintheclassroomandinteacher’scurriculadesignthatteacherscan,mayandwill

formanswerstothewitchlikeprophesiesofsociety,politicsandscience.Teacherswork

atthepulseofcivilization,beatingtothedrumtowhichourcollectiveculturalmemory

marches on. Education is the last post to which teacher’s pipe and pupils of all

denominationswhistletheircollectivetune.Itishightimetolistentotheirsong.

53

Having,withboldHoratius,stampedherfeet

Andwavedafinalswashingarabesque

O’erthebravedaysofold,sheceasedtobleat,

SlappedherMacaulaybackuponthedesk,

Resumedhercalmgazeandherloftyseat.

There,whilesheheardtheclassiclinesrepeat,

Oncemoretheteacher’sfaceclenchedstern;

Forthroughthewindow,lookingonthestreet,

Threesoldiershailedher.Shemadenoreturn.

Onewascalled’Oracewhomshewouldnotgreet.

(Owen1990b,116)

2.Canonisationintheclassroom:inventingtraditionTheshiftsinanthologisingFirstWorldWarpoetrysince1914andthelessons

teacherscandrawfromthem

With a soft breeze in their hair and redmorning cheeks, the pupils of theOSGWest-

FrieslandmaketheirwaythroughthecoldcapitaloftheNetherlands.There,inthecentre

ofAmsterdam,standsthetall,smog-blackenedbuildingof theAllardPiersonMuseum,

archaeologymuseumoftheUniversityofAmsterdam.Itimposesalongshadowacross

theOudeTurfmarkt,justacrossfromwheretheriverAmstelwasdammedsomecenturies

ago, andwherenow theDutchNationalMonument for theSecondWorldWar towers

silently,inthemidstofthecity’shubbub.Withaslightbowoftheirheads,fendingoffthe

bitingandwildWesterlywind,thesepupilsentertheimposingbuildinginawe,saluted

byagiantRomanstatuewelcomingthemintotheheartofDutchclassicaleducation.They

havecrossedthemarshesofWest-Frieslandearlyintheirschoolbusthatmorning,for

theyareononeoftheirveryfirstfieldtripsasso-called‘Gymnasium’students.Itssix-year

curriculumisdesignedpurposefullyforthebrighteststudentswithGreekandLatinas

extrasubjectsatschool,besidestheirregularDutchA-levelcurriculum.

The museum promises the art objects on display will revive these ancient

civilisations.These thirteen-year-oldsareexcitedabout their impendingwalk through

time,boisterouslybabblingtheirwaythroughthemuseum’sdarkcorridors,whosewalls

are filled with banners entitled ‘Troy: City, Homer, Turkey.’ Excerpts from Homer’s

54

ancientwarpoemTheIliadfeatureamongtheancientartefacts,meanttospellbindthe

youngaudience.Theyleafthroughtheirguidebook,andaresomewhatsurprisedbythe

loudpresenceof ‘Turkey’andanancientwarstory,forcingancientRomeandGreece’s

moretraditionaldisplaysofpotteryandstatuestothebackground.MyDutchsecondary

schoolpupils read that ‘whatHomer tellsusabout theTrojanWar inThe Iliadhasan

artistic and literarymerit that lives on in our present culture. Thus, Troy lives on in

memory,becauseofthebattleofWestagainstEast,ofEuropeagainstAsia’(MuratSüslü

2012,9).Unwittingly,thepupilshavewalkedintoarepresentationofoneoftheworld’s

most ancient battles,which has become a cultural icon toWestern civilisation, fatally

followingtheirownHelenastheydoso.

Expecting a traditional classics field trip, filledwith Greek pottery and ancient

sarcophagi,Iamsomewhatperplexedattheprominentpresenceofanancientwarpoem

attheheartofthemuseum.Myschool’sannualeducationalday-outhascoincidedwitha

special exhibition organised by the university museum in cooperation with Turkey’s

MinistryofCulture,celebratingthequatercentenarydiplomaticrelationshipbetweenthe

Netherlands and Turkey. Homer’s epic war poem has been chosen above all other

representationsofancienttimes,inreflectionofwhatthisfour-hundred-year-oldpolitical

tiehasmeantandcontinuestomeanforthesetwocountries.Inhindsight,theTurkish-

Dutch choice to frame theirpolitical relationship in termsof anancientwarpoem, by

putting Homer’s Iliad centre stage, is given extra prophetic significance, in view of

Turkey’s failedmilitary coup in the summer of 2016. It was followed by the Turkish

government’s arrest and dismissal of tens of thousands of civil servants, soldiers and

teachers,puttingtherelationshipbetween‘Europe’and‘Asia’underconsiderablestrain.

MyDutchthirteen-year-oldsarethusconfrontedwith‘othershells[…]acrossthe

Aegean Sea,’ quoting Patrick Shaw Stewart (1888-1917): war narratives, being fired

across the battlefield of cultural memory (2013, 117). ‘Stand in the trench, Achilles,

Flame-capped,andshoutforme’ShawStewartwroteonhisanxiouswaytobattlein1915

(ibid.).Drawingonliteratureasanchortostemhisfear,hesummons‘Achilles,’heroof

TheIliad,veteranofTroysoveryclosetothetrenchesofGallipoliwhereShawStewart

went to war. With the force fields invading the heart of their classics field trip to

Amsterdam’s archaeology museum, my pupils like Shaw Stewart were in need of

summoningan‘Achilles’too.Armedwiththeiracademicandpoliticalagendas,theseforce

fieldshavepurposefullysetcanonicalwarpoemsattheheartofacommemorativeevent

55

andembeddedtheminthearchiveofknowledge:themuseum.Thesepoemshavebeen

politically framed, in the hope theywill influence the general public, pupils foremost

amongst them. The question is, in what way? As thirteen-year-olds, they are still

impressionable,moresusceptibletotheinfluenceofwhat,tothem,isatrustedinstitution,

themuseum.Betimesunawareofthewaytheforcefieldsaretuggingatthem,theyhave

notyetdevelopedtheircriticalskillsliketheirpeersinVwo6.Ourpupilsreliedonus,

theirteachers,forguidance.

Atthisjuncture,thereweretwonarrativeshellsthattheforcefieldsofpoliticsand

sciencewerelobbingattheminthemuseum’sexhibition.Ononesideofno-man’sland

wasHomer’sHector,heroofTroy:

Masstogether,then,andattacktheships.Ifanyoneishitorstabbedand

meetshisfatedend,sobeit.Hewillhavefallenforhiscountry,andthat’s

nodishonourabledeath.(Homer2003,266-267)

And,tomygreatsurprise,whoshouldcomechargingin,asifinvengeanceoverPatroclus’

death, insearch forbattlewithHector,but theAchillesofwarpoetryhimself,Wilfred

Owen.Itwasonlyafewmonthsearlierthattheirpeers inVwo6discoveredtheexact

samelinesintheopeningofCarolAnnDuffy’scommemorativepoem‘LastPost:’

Inallmydreams,beforemyhelplesssight,

Heplungesatme,guttering,choking,drowning.

As I have shown in the introduction to this book, because there are no more living

witnessesofWorldWarIwhocantelluswhatitwasliketofight,sufferandkillinthe

trenches,mysixthformpupilsandIhadtorelyonDuffy,andherembeddedOwen.For

theseyoungerpupilsonafieldtripwiththeirschool,thequestionwas,whatwasWilfred

Owen’s‘mostanthologizedpoem,’ofWorldWarI,‘DulceetDecorumEst,’doingina21st-

century Turkish-Dutch political commemorative exhibition in Amsterdam’s classical

archaeologicalmuseum(Kendall2013,xxi)?

Thespeakerof thepoem’sharshwordsseemsto lingerwithmypupils likethe

smellofgas;like‘vileincurablesores’intheirown‘froth-corrupted’minds(Owen1990a,

117).Feelingasiftheyareaddresseddirectlybythepoet,Owen’sclosingwordssinkin:

56

Myfriend,youwouldnottellwithsuchhighzest

Tochildrenardentforsomedesperateglory,

TheoldLie:Dulceetdecorumest

Propatriamori.47

Framingthequatercentenaryintermsofa‘battleofWestagainstEast,ofEuropeagainst

Asia,’showsthatpoeticworkssuchasTheIliadand‘DulceetDecorumEst’areweapons

wieldedbypoliticalandacademicforcefieldsalike.For‘poetryhelpsculturesremember

theirpasts,’asJamesWinnargues(AndersonWinn2009,8).Whatisatstakehere,isthe

way the Turkish-Dutch relationship will be remembered by future generations. The

museum’s guidebook, placing canonical (war) literature at the heart of remembrance,

offersachoice.WeteacherscaneitherteachourpupilstofollowOwenandrecognisethat

‘tragicandfutilelossoftheyounglivesofwarriors’isanimportantaspectofTheIliad,or

weunderscorethechivalriccoloursof‘theheroicmartialcode’thatHomersetoutinhis

canonicalwarpoem(Klooster2012).

Theeducationofouryoungstersisatstakehere,andthewaytheseDutchpupils

interpretthememoryofwhatseemsaperpetualbattlebetweenEastandWest.Owen’s

poemoffers a departure from the ‘myth’ createdby generations of teachers since the

establishmentofschoolsinthe1850s.Theseschools‘ethos[…]wasessentiallychivalric,

andwhich curriculumwas dominated by Latin’ Jon Stallworthy explains (2014, xxvi).

ReferringtoBritish(public)schools,thistraditionhaditscounterpartintheNetherlands:

myschool’sclassicsdepartmentisanexampleofwhatinDutchareso-called‘Gymnasium’

schools.TherulesandritualsofDutchandBritishclassicsdepartments,pastandpresent,

relyontextsfromtheLatinsuchasTheIliad,whichhavebeendominantlyreadinterms

ofHomericchivalryandarenowbeingre-read intermsof ‘Owenesque’ futility,anew

mythofitsown.Thefieldtriphadforeshowedtheimportanceofmyroleasateacher,

bringing them to the academic archive, signifying to them the way they were being

influenced,guidingpupilsthroughthepoliticalbattle.Ithadalsoshownmethepivotal

roleliteratureplayswhenforcefieldsframeittoinfluenceeducation.YethowdidaFirst

WorldWarpoemgetsuchacentralplaceon thecurriculumof teachers, that itwould

suggestcausinganentireshiftin(teaching)educationalvalues?

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2.1InventingTradition:Education,LiteratureandtheWarforMemory

Thereisawarformemorygoingon.Thefullrangeofthepowerofcanonicalwarpoetry

is being applied, in a battle between the forces of politics and science, formy pupils’

identity, their adherence to Western civil, political and academic systems, and the

formationoftheirnormsandvalues.Tryingtogainabird’seyeviewofwhatfeltlikea

battleforthesoulofthenextgeneration,thischaptersuggestsanswerstothatstruggle.

Asabuddingscholarofwarnarratives,Inotedthesalienceofusingatraditionalgateway

to the archive verypopularwith schools as theplace to frameapolitical relationship

betweentwonationsintermsofwar.DespitepoliticalattemptsbytheTurkishMinistry

ofCulturetousewhatisarguablytheearliestwarpoeminWesternculturalhistory,The

Iliad,asvehicletocementtheirrelationshipwiththeWestintermsofwar,Owen’spoem

wassimultaneouslybeingusedtocreateadeparturefromthemythofchivalryinwar.48

His‘DulceetDecorumEst’isanattempttouncoverthe‘OldLie’propagatedbyHorace.

Yetbyexposingmypupilstothis,wasIinturncontributingtowhatGrahamGaler(2008,

8)hascalledthe‘loss,angerandfutilitymyth?’Ihaveledmypupilsintowhatisthemost

accessiblestoragehouseofmemory,themuseum.Oncethere,westumbleduponabattle

for our collective culturalmemory ragingwithin itswalls,with ourpupils as primary

targets.Howwerewe,astheirteachers,goingtogetthemthroughthis?

Owen’s poem ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ had been placed centrally to a

commemorativeexhibitionintheDutchcapital,asa‘prestigiousobject’displayedinsuch

away as to ‘catch attention andmake a lasting impression,’ quoting Aleida Assmann

(2008,98).Yet, logicdictatesthat ‘thesamemuseumalsohousesobjectsinperipheral

spacessuchascellarsoratticswhicharenotpubliclypresented’(ibid.).Inordertogain

control of the battle above, the framing of canonical literature to influence education,

teachers need to break openwhat is the ‘hierarchical and exclusionary nature of the

archive’ (Erll2011,51).Myfirst instinctasa literaryhistorianandteacher-researcher

wastotrytogainaccesstothelesserknownorevenunknownnarrativesofthearchive

usinganotherformofculturalstorage: its literaryanthologies.MyWorldWarIpoetry

courseItaughttoVwo6,peerstotheGymnasiumstudentswhotravelledwithmetothe

AllardPiersonmuseum.And fornearlyadecade, Ihadbeenrelyingonout-datedwar

poetryanthologies.AspecificDutchliteraturemethodwasanexample,whichIhadfound

still lingering in the dusty cupboards of my school, Dirk Siersema’s Rhyme & Reason

(1988).ThoughitprovidedathoroughbackbonetoformabasicunderstandingofWorld

58

WarIpoetry,SiersemaofferednootherpoetsthanthecanonicalRupertBrooke(1887-

1915),SiegfriedSassoon,andWilfredOwen.

ItgoestoshowthatbeforemybroadaccesstoWorldWarIscholarship,interms

oftimeandmoney,teacherssuchasmyselfreliedheavilyonthebudget-neutralandeasily

accessibleschoolarchive,howeverout-dateditssourcematerialmightbe.Thusitcanbe

arguedthatanthologies,likemuseums,areresponsiblefor'activelycirculatedmemory

thatkeepsthepastpresentasthecanon’(Assmann2008,98).ThepopularuseofFirst

WorldWarpoetryanthologieswhichforegroundpoemssuchas‘DulceetDecorumEst’

wouldexplainwhyOwen’scanonicalpoemcametoplaysuchacentralroleineducation.

It is my aim in this chapter to establish education and teachers as pivotal to this

development.

Yet Ialsowantaccesstothis ‘passivelystoredmemory, thatpreservesthepast

past as the archive,’ because of the lesser-knownwar texts locked away there (ibid.).

RediscoveringandanalysingFirstWorldWarpoetryanthologiesIhopewillallowmeto

break beyond the much-critiqued canon. My aim is to redesign a new war poetry

curriculum,providingtemporalanchorsfromwhichtoanswertheforce-field’spressing

issuesinkind.GivenMinisterBussemaker’spleatoresearchwaystoovercometeachers’

anxietyandteachaboutconflict,myambitionisurgent.Because,atthetimeofwriting,

just 37% of secondary school are ‘eerstegraads’ MA-qualified as both educational

theoristsandintheirsubject-field.Thustwo-thirdsofDutchsecondaryschoolteachers

aregoingwithoutacademicaccesstothearchive.49Furthermore,becauseoftherelatively

closedoffnatureofrecentacademicpublicationsandthetime-pressednatureofadaily

teachingjob,MA-qualifiedteachersoftendonothavethetimeormeanstogainacademic

accesseither.Thisiswhy,havenbeengiventimeandmoneytodoso,byanalysingthe

anthologisationofFirstWorldWarpoetrysince1914,thischapterandbookseektouse

mypositionasascholaramongstteacherstoopenupthearchiveofwarliterature.

Withthesefirststepsasateacher-researcherIresolved,firstly,tofindoutwhat

shiftsoccurinwarpoetryanthologies,andsecondly,tosuggestwhatlessonsteacherscan

drawfromtheseanthologies.Meanwhile,thewarformemorycontinuedtorageoutside

thegatesofmuseum.Owen’sculturaldominancewasprevalentinsocietytoo.‘Guttering,

Choking,Drowning’isthetitleofanarticlepublishedinTheEconomist.Itsauthorquotes

WilfredOwen’swordsasifaimingtousetheirpowertohaunthisreaders‘smothering

dreams’ regarding a different conflict a century later (Owen 1990a, 117, cited inM.S.

59

2013). Placed glaringly underneath it was a photograph of rows upon rows of dead

children(ibid.).Intheaftershockofthe21August2013gasattackintheSyrianregionof

Ghouta, virtually every single leading English language newspaper and magazine

reflectedupontheseeventsusingthecentury-oldwordsofawarpoettoso.‘Drowningin

ayellowsea’quotestheBostonReview,concludingthat‘itistimethattheepochthatbegan

with Ypres should end for good’ (Guillemin 2013).TheNew York Times explains that

‘Wilfred Owen, the British soldier-poet, wrote [these lines] in his best-known work,

“DulceetDecorumEst,”anefforttodepictthehorrorsofchemicalwarfare,’andTheWall

StreetJournalsimplyopenedtheirarticlewiththeself-explanatory‘Gas!Gas!Quick,boys!’

(Erlanger 2013; Roberts 2013). In short, ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ was yet again being

framedtotellastoryofwar,furtherunderscoringtherelevanceofmyresearchinthis

chapter.

Intimesofturmoil,weturntoobjectsofmemoryforsupport.‘Inspiritualdistress

and in the struggle for level-headedness,’Michael Diers explains, ‘themain feature of

artistic objectivations […] borrow[s] from the mnemonic energies of collective

recollection’ofwhich‘worksofartaretheproducts’(1995,71).Inotherwords,thegut

references to ‘Dulce etDecorumEst’ in themedia showhowdeeply thiswarpoem is

embeddedinthecollectivememoryofWesternsociety.Westernsocietyisinneedofsuch

‘Mnemosynes’asDierstermsthem,todrawuponintimesofconflictandwarinsearchof

guidance(ibid.).Buildingontheargumentofmyformerchapter,thesearefixedpointsin

time. However, these Mnemosynes are constantly being framed to argue a political,

academic,perhapsevensocietalpointofviewvis-a-visconflict.AMnemosynelike‘Dulce

etDecorumEst’hasbeenhectored intobecoming theultimate testamentagainstwar.

Canonical war poets such as Siegfried Sassoon and Wilfred Owen, their work ‘often

creditedwithhavingbeen “anti-war”’ TimKendall argues, ‘are routinely recruited for

propagandabycampaignersopposedto[…]conflicts’(Kendall2013,xxi).TheEconomist

evenclaimsthat‘DulceetDecorumEst’hasbeenparamountinshiftingthe‘aestheticsand

values’ triggering ‘lawful, peaceful, internationalism’ (M.S. 2013). How had these

canonicalwarpoemsandthemythsthataccompanythemevolvedintheclassroom?Had

I,asateacher,contributedtoamyth,byputtingOwen’soeuvreonadecadeofDutchSixth

formsyllabi?

With no clear instructions given to teachers how to address this problem, this

chapteroffersawayforward.Canonicalwarpoemssuchas‘DulceetDecorumEst’and

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TheIliadareWarburgianwarnarratives,so-called‘pathosformulas.’AsIhaveshownin

the previous chapter, these function as ‘cultural energy stores,’ Johnson (2012, 8)

explains,which‘helpustoseebackwardandforwardintime.’Indoingso,theycanbe

appliedtodirectourwayoflookingatthepast,presentandfuture.Consciousofthepower

ofbothHomerandOwen’smessage,thisisexactlywhattheforcesofscienceandpolitics

aredoing.Moreover,itispreciselythese‘Warburgiandisciplines’which,EricHobsbawm

(2000,4)suggests,are‘key’tostudying‘theactualprocessofcreatingritualandsymbolic

complexes,’andlieattheheartofwhathecalls‘inventingtradition’.Thischapteraimsto

foregroundteachersasthoseatthesteeringwheelof‘inventingtradition,’byputtingtheir

choiceofliteratureonthecurriculum,aprocess,asHobsbawmexplains,‘offormalization

andritualization,characterizedbyareferencetothepast,ifonlybyrepetition’(ibid.).My

way forward is to establish how canonical war poetry has been ‘formalized’ and

‘ritualized’intheclassroomsinceitsinception,andtowhateffect.Findingoutwhatshifts

haveoccurredandwhy, Iaimtosuggestwhat lessonsteachersmaydrawfromthisto

benefitteachers’futurecurriculaviainterventionsandbreakthroughtheiranxietiesand

limitations.

Ihopeithasbecomeclearsofarthatitisdifficulttounderestimatetheimportance

oftheliterarycanonandtheroleitplaysineducation.Itsprimefunctions,asAstridErll

explains,arethreefold:fulfilling‘thecreationofcollectiveidentities,thelegitimizationof

political power’ and ‘upholding or undermining of value systems’ (2011, 75). It is the

responsibilityofeducationalorganisations,Erllargues,‘toselectacorpusoftextstobe

rememberedfromthebreadthofavailableliteraryworks,andtoorganisethesetextsand

ensuretheirbeinghandeddown’(2011,75).Thischapterispartanswertothatcall.The

scopeofthisbookiswideandthischapterisaveryfirstqualitative,tentativeandintuitive

steptodevelopingamuchwidercollectionofmultimodalliteraryinterventions.Realising

thepowerofpathos formula literaturetoprovidethe idealgatewaytool to lessonson

citizenship, value driven education with a specific focus on conflict, I aim to use

McLoughlin’stropestoarmmyselfwithinwhatwillbethestartingpointofmyresearch,

a literary historical analysis of World War I poetry, its potential in the 21st century

classroomanditscontributiontotheinventionoftradition.

Firstly,byexaminingthehistoryofanthologisingwarpoetry, Iaimtoshowthe

roleofeducationandthevariousforcefieldsinfluencingthisprocess,therebyhopingto

uncoverhowcertainmythshaveevolved.Secondly,becauseteachersaretime-pressed

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anddonotalwayshavetheacademicaccess,andarethereforeanxioustoact,thischapter

willopenthearchiveofwarpoetryanthologising.Thestartingpointofmyresearchwith

thischapterwillthusfocusontheliteraryhistorical,outliningabird’s-eyeviewofone

hundred years of anthologising FirstWorldWarpoetry, to the benefit ofmy teacher-

readerseekingunderstandingof literarycanonisation in theclassroomand thestakes

involvedinthisinventionoftradition.Ihopethiswillempowermyteacher-readersto

intervene in their own literature curricula, designing their own from a wider, non-

canonical corpus which integrates the academic, societal and political pressures that

pervadeteaching(war)literatureintheclassroom.Thisinvolvesthethirdandlaststep,

including students. I aim to allow pupils to select their own war poetry from these

anthologies,letthemengagecriticallywiththewayliteraturemight‘legitimizepolitical

power,’ make them reflect upon how this poetry can ‘uphold and undermine value

systems’andcreate‘collectiveidentities’(Erll2011,75).Inshort,coachthemintheirfirst

stepsascriticalandfree-thinkingcitizens.

2.2InventingTradition(1914-1918):EstablishingtheVeteranPoets

Withthewarpoets’firmfixinthecanonofwarpoetry,Isoonfoundoutinmyfirstsurveys

of war poetry anthologies that it is virtually impossible to conceive of a literature

anthologyof20thor21st-centuryversewithoutasinglewarpoeminit. YetwhenW.B.

Yeats(1865-1939)editedthe1936OxfordBookofModernVerse,henotoriouslydecided

toexcludethewarpoets,statingthathehad ‘distasteforcertainpoemswritteninthe

midstofthegreatwar,theyareinalltheanthologies.’Yeatsarguedthat‘passivesuffering

isnotathemeforpoetry’(1936,xxxiv).Inasensehewasvisionary,predictingOwenand

‘his’war-poetswouldattaincult-status,somethingYeatswishedverymuchtoavoidwhen

hefamously,perhapssomewhatjealously,remarked‘thereiseveryexcuseforhim,but

noneforthosewholikehim’(1964,117).Ironically,consideringthatthereisnotawar

poetrycritictobefoundthathasnotremarkeduponthisinfamousexclusion,ithasledto

more attention on an academic level than if Yeats had decided to include Owen and

consorts. 50 It has thus had quite the opposite effect, supporting the notion that any

publicity,howeverbad,isgoodpublicity.

Intheintroductiontothismemorableanthology,publishedonlythreeyearsprior

totheoutbreakofthecatastrophethatwasWorldWarII,Yeatsexplainsthat ‘ifwaris

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necessary,ornecessaryinourtimeandplace,itisbesttoforgetitssufferingaswedothe

discomfortofafever,[…]or[…]amorepainfuldisease’(1936,xxxv).MindfulofHynes’

claimthatwarisa‘climateinwhichwelive’(1998,xii),itwouldseemYeatsisindenial

ofmankind’schronicillness.Atthesametime,hisselectiondoesnotentirelyexcludea

poeticrenderingofthe‘world’sworstwounds’either(Sassoon1983,153).Yeatsincludes

war poems by veterans such as Edmund Blunden (1896-1974), and asmany as four

poemsby‘thebestknown,’astheIrishpoetdubbedSassoon(Yeats1936,xxxiv).Yeats’s

reasoningiscomplexandcontradictory,keepingajarthedoorhetriessovehementlyto

close to poems by veterans such as Blunden and Sassoon, bothwell on their way to

becoming firmly embedded in the canon. Yeats’s biggest vexationwith veteran poets

seems to revolve around the trope of ‘autopsy’ (McLoughlin 2011, 42). He writes

disdainfullythata‘poetcouldatanymomentwriteapoembyrecordingthefortuitous

scene[.]Iamsittinginachair,therearethreedeadfliesonacorneroftheceiling’(Yeats

1936,xxvii-xxviii).‘Recording’the‘scene,’doesnotleadtoart,norpoetry,wehearYeats

argue,butjournalism;inhisviewitlacksimagination.Anditispreciselythis ‘autopsy’

withwhichthepoetryofthebest-knownwarpoetswasseeped.

AsIhaveshowninthefirstchapterofthisbook,the‘combatgnosticism’(Campbell

1999,203-15)ofveteranpoetsgivesthesewarriorsauthenticity,andthuscredibilitywith

theirreaders.ItisMcLoughlin’simportanttropeof‘autopsy’whichisatworkhereand

provingaveryhandymethodical tool,a first-handrenderingofwarexperiencewhich

makes these narratives salient and credible to its readers. It is precisely this war

experiencewhichYeatsalmostjealouslybelievesdoesnotbelonginpoetry.Hisposition

as‘mostrespectedpoetofhisday’refusingtowriteaboutthewardidnotpasswithout

critique(Kendall2013,21).AsTimKendallexplains,‘whereasthe1916EasterRisingin

DublinagainstBritishruleprofoundlyaffectedhim,thetensofthousandsofIrishlosses

inFranceandBelgiumwentunmentioned’(ibid.).Yeatswas49whentheFirstWorldWar

brokeout,andthusnoteligibletofightinit.Theauthenticityofvoicehelackedinrespect

tothewartheatresoftheWesternFrontandbeyond,hedoesfindwhenhewritescloser

to heart and home: Ireland. Yeats looked down upon narratives in which ‘the chief

character is amirror’ (Yeats 1936, xxvii). Yet hiswell-known poem ‘An Irish Airman

ForeseesHisDeath’doesexactlythat:

IknowthatIshallmeetmyfate

63

Somewhereamongthecloudsabove;

ThosethatIfightIdonothate,

ThosethatIguardIdonotlove;

MycountryisKiltartanCross,

MycountrymenKiltartan’spoor,

Nolikelyendcouldbringthemloss

Orleavethemhappierthanbefore.(Yeats2014,182)

Mourningthedeathofafriend,Yeats’selegyisheartfeltandpersonal,andthisiswhat

givesititspower.ThewarhadtouchedYeats,asheplaceshimselfinthepositionofthe

airmanpriortohisdeath,hisfriendMajorRobertGregory.51YeatswritesGregory’sfinal

wordsinhisplace,theresultaventriloquistself-elegy.Thereisanincipientangertothe

almost carelessway the airmandescribedhisdeath.The speaker’s indifference tohis

death is his indictment againstwar. ‘Theyears to come seemedwasteof breath’ thus

connects thepersonal fateof theairmanto thatof the Irishasanation, forwhomthe

outcomeofthisBritishwarwillnot‘leavethemhappier’butunhappierthanbefore(Yeats

2014,182).‘Itwaseasiertolookatsufferingifyouhadsomebodytoblameforit,’hewrote

scathingly ofOwen andhis lot, disapproving as hewas of involving politics in poetry

(1936, xxxvii). Yet here Yeats is writing about the muted suffering of the Irish into

indifference, implicitly blamingBritish rule, trademarks surely of thewarpoetshe so

vilified.Keepingitlocal(Irish)andpersonal,thepoetwriteswithauthenticityonwar.In

fact,Yeats issogoodat it, thatasmanyas fivewarpoemsbyhimare included in Jon

Stallworthy’s centenary edition ofTheNewOxford Book ofWar Poetry. Only Sassoon,

OwenandThomasHardy(1840-1928)havemorepoemsincluded.Comingfourthwith

RobertGraves(1895-1985)andIsaacRosenberg(1890-1918),Yeatsisfirmlyestablished

amongstthenowcanonicalwarpoetshesoabhorred.Forthisreason,hispoemandthe

powerofitsautopsyprovesexcellentclassroommaterialforaliteraryintervention.

Intervention I: Songs of War

Backintherealityoftheclassroom,myaimisfirsttodesignawarpoetrycurriculum,

which integrates the analysis above and thus makes pupils part of the scientific and

political discussions surrounding anthologisingwar poetry, and the canonisation that

follows.Second,Iwishtodosoinsuchaway,thatitdoesnotdictatewhatpupilsshould

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concludefromitbutleavesplentyofroomfortheirownanalyses,tomakethemcritical

observersoftheforcefields’play.Yeats’sfamousexclusionofthewarpoetsmakesforan

excellentstarterforaclassroomdiscussion,askingquestionssuchas:“wasYeatsrightor

wrong,whatwerehisreasons,doyouagreewiththeanalysisthatYeatswasinsearchof

autopsy,ofanauthenticvoice?”LinkingthelinestheIrishpoeteventuallydidwriteas

‘late’as1918–‘ThosethatIfightIdonothate/thosethatIguardIdonotlove’–with

thosebyEdwardThomas(1878-1917)somethreeyearsearlier,willframethediscussion

(Yeats2014,182).FortheyrevealaremarkablesimilaritywithThomas’slines,‘Ihatenot

Germans,norgrowhot/withloveofEnglishmen,topleasenewspapers’(2008,104-5).It

goestoshowthatYeatsmighthavetakenmoreinspirationfromtheEnglishwarpoets

thanhewouldhavelikedtoadmit.

Yeats’s reference to Thomas’ poem, ‘This is no case of petty right andwrong,’

seems,atfirstimpression,apopularchoicewithpupils.Stillatthestartofthewarpoetry

course they followduring the courseof an entire term in their sixth and final yearof

secondaryschool, it invariablyprovokescarefully framedanswerssuchas ‘war isbad,

sir,’ and ‘all nationswere toblame.’These areunsurprising examplesof the armchair

commentsmadewhen first involvinga class inanopendiscussiononwarpoetry.My

pupils have no bearings beyond the introductory poets yet, to form amore in-depth

opinion.It isthestartoftheyear,andalthoughtheseareourmostseasonedstudents,

theyarenewtotheirclassandtothenarrativesaboutthisparticularwar.Pupilsneedto

feelsafetospeakoutinadifferentlanguage,braveenoughtodiscusscontroversialclaims,

suchas‘warisexciting,’ortootherwisecontradictanancientpoettaughtthembytheir

newandstillsomewhatdauntingteacher.Myaimistomakethemfamiliarwithacademic

critiqueandhistoryofthecanonofwarpoetry,toslowlymakethemadjusttotheterritory

of discussing war, using literature. It is the first step towards a critical citizenship,

engaging with war and trauma in the classroom. These were my first steps towards

solvingteacher’sanxietytoact.

Atthestartofmyresearch,Ihadnotlearnedtoequipmyselfwithwarliterature

asagatewaytorecentcalamity.By2015Ihadfoundaway,showingstudentspicturesof

the‘flightMH17’disasterandhandingoutjingoistpoetryincitinganattackonRussian

soilinvengeanceoftheDutchdead.Inhindsight,hadIintervenedbystartingmylesson

withapictureofthegassedchildrenofGhouta,whichTheEconomisthadpublishedso

glaringlyunder theheader ‘Guttering,Choking,Drowning,’ emotionswouldhavebeen

65

boundtoflareupuponaskingpupilswhetherthisjustifiedmilitaryaction.Thatsummer

of2013Iwas,asyet,tooanxioustoactupontheseevents.Likemystudentsembarking

ontheirwarcourse,Iwasattheverystartoftacklingwhatturnedouttobean‘anxietyto

act’Isharedwithmanyteachers.Intheautumnofthatsameyear,theDutchSecretaryof

StateforEducation’scallforactionarrivedinmypost-box.JetBussemakeraddresseda

key problem in education, that teaching about war, trauma and Holocaust at school,

teachersare‘embarrassedtoact.’52Thischapterandbookisananswertoherrequestto

findsolutionstothisproblem.Searchingforwaystobreakthroughthelineofcanonical

warpoets,ofconnectingthiscentury-oldpoetrywithmystudents’21st-centurylivesand

ofcrossingtheboundariesbetweenpoetryandotherforms,Iventuredfurtherbeyond

theremitofmyEnglishcurriculumanduponatrulymultimodaltask.Iaskedthemtofind

contemporarysongswith(theGreat)waras itssettingandsubject.Theresultsofthis

intervention varied, and one song suggested by a pupil tied in perfectly with the

Yeats/Thomaslesson:‘ABadDream,’bytheBritishbandKeane(2006):

‘WhydoIhavetoflyovereverytownupanddowntheline?

I’lldieinthecloudsaboveandyouthatIdefendIdonotlove

Iwakeup,it’sabaddream,nooneonmyside’

HadKeanebeendreamingofYeats’sairmen,orofThomas’s lackof love todefendhis

fellowcountrymenperhaps?Thesimilaritiesbetweenthetextswhichwereseparateda

centuryfromeachotherwerestriking,asIwasthrilledtowitnessmysecondaryschool

pupils, inspired by an analysis of canonical poetry by Yeats and Thomas, actively

contributing to thewar poetry curriculum.Having struckupon away to innovatemy

curriculum towards multimodality, the effects were that my pupils were starting to

ventureintono-man’s-land,whilstIexposedthemtothebombsandbulletsofreceived

academicopinionandthecanon,tostimulatethemtoengageandfireback,avitalstepto

becomingcriticalthinkers.Mypupilsweremovingasthoughinunisonwiththewarpoets

themselves,frominnocencetoexperience.

Teachingwarpoetry,NosheenKahnclaims,hasalwaysbeenwithstressuponthe

‘conventionallyassumedprogressionofFirstWorldWarpoetryfromBrooketoSassoon

and on to Owen’ (1988, 35). This developmental arch ofwar poetry is perhapsmost

commonly assumed to be part and parcel of the English poetry class. However, my

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researchintowarpoetryanthologiesleadsmetoconcludethatprolificmembersofthe

canonsuchasSassoonandOwenwerenotwidelyreadduringthewar.Owenpublished

onlyfivepoemsduringhislifetime,andSassoonwasseenas‘somethingofaminorpoet

during the war years, and his presence is barely registered in wartime anthologies’

(Parfitt 1990, 43). Yet both poets have been an integral part of every (war) poetry

anthology since 1918,with the exception of Yeats’s selection in 1936. Rupert Brooke

(1887-1915)wasthemostfamousBritishpoetofthewarwhenitraged.Hediedin1915,

onhiswaytotheEasternfront,inhisownwordshopingtheenemywould‘meetuson

theplainsofTroy.’Dyinginacanonicalliterarysettinghelpedtopropelhisstatuseven

more,JeanMcNicol(2016)argues.‘ThathediedintheAegeanandnotaditchinNorthern

Francehelped;sodidhisburialontheislandofSkyros,whereAchilleslivedandTheseus

was killed.’ Writing in a tribute in The Times, Winston Churchill further cemented

Brooke’sunassailablestatus:‘joyousfearless,versatile,deeplyinstructed,withclassical

symmetryofmindandbody,hewasallthatonewouldwishEngland’snoblestsonstobe’

(quotedinCaesar1995,1andVandiver2010,203).Inshort,hewasthefirstofthewar

poetstobemythologised.

Itmaybesomewhatbewildering,especiallyfortoday’sschoolchildren,tothinkof

poets as contemporary ‘Gods’ in society’s eyes. YetAdrianCaesar remarks, ‘if in later

times,Brooke’spoemsaboutthewarweresubjecttoanalmostunanimousdismissalas

theexpressionofadiscredited,imperialistchauvinism,theideaofcelebratingsacrificed

youth was to have a longer and more powerful tenure’ (1995, 1). This intervention

wherebypoetsarecomparedtorockstars,especiallythoseknowntosingsongsofwar

likeDavidBowie(1947-2016)orPJHarvey(1969-),willhelpexplaintopupilshowtheir

lifeanddeathevokesimilarmythmakingasRupertBrooke’sdidacenturyago.AsIwill

show at a later point in this chapter and throughout this book, it is the creation of

multimodalcurriculawhichopensuptruedidacticalandpedagogicalopportunities. A

poetsuchasBrookeachievedstardom‘inanagewhenmediawasalmostwhollyprint-

based,’Walterargues.Withcinemainitsinfancy,‘poetrywas,formostEdwardiansociety,

apartofeverydaylife’(2006,xii).Explainingthenaturalsimilaritiesinformandstatusof

(war)poetrycomparedtosongacenturylatermakessensetomypupils;theyfeelthey

understandwhythesenarrativesareontheircurriculum.Byshowingwhattheroleof

literaturewasatthatpointinhistory,Ialsoaimtoshowmyteacher-readerhowthecanon

ofWorldWarIpoetrygotstartedandtheimportantroleeducationplayedinitsinception.

67

IntheUnitedStates,‘literacyrates[were]climbing,’with‘modernentertainments

suchasfilm’attractingmoreandmorepeople(VanWienen2002,4).Underscoringthe

benefitsofamultimodalandinterdisciplinaryapproach,thisbookwillanalysetheeffect

anduseofgenresclosetopupils’lives:moviesandblogs.Themovie-starsandbloggers

oftodayarewhatpoetswereacenturyago.ApoetlikeRupertBrookewasahousehold

name. In a day and age of growing literacy, poetry was frequently published in

newspapersandreadoutatpublicservices,inchurch,andschool.Twoforcesweretobe

heldresponsible,for‘thebeliefintheeducativepowersofclassicalandEnglishliterature

was still extremely strong,’ Fussell explains, and ‘the appeal of popular education and

“self-improvement”wasatitspeak’(2013,170).DuetotheeducationalreformsBritain

and theUnited States had veryhigh literacy levels,with ‘higherpercentages of active

writersandreadersofpoetryinthepopulationthanatanyothertime’(VanWienen2002,

4).Thisresultedinthemostliteratearmytheworldhadeverseen.Massrecruitmentand

conscription blurred the boundaries between soldier and civilian and these civilians-

turned-soldiershadneverbeenmoreliterate.Nowthatthesecretsofwarfarewereno

longerthesoleterritoryoftheprofessionalsoldier, ‘forthefirsttime,wehavehadthe

clear lights of intellect and interpretationplaying upon the battlefield,’ ArthurWaugh

argued(1919,44).

TheliteraryhistoricalanalysisintothehistoryofanthologisingFirstWorldwar

poetry I had undertakenwith these first tentative steps to the benefit ofmy teacher-

readerwasbearingfruits.ForitbecamecleartomethattheseliteratesoldiersofWorld

War I had been widely exposed at school to ‘the kinds of poets and poems which

emphasisedtheirsenseofnationalidentityintheclearestpossibleterms’(Walter2006,

xi).Importantly,asWalterstresses,this‘profoundsenseofnationhood’wasestablished

atschool.Inotherwords,mycarefulfirstconclusionisthatthisshowsliteraturehaslong

hadapowerfullinktoteachingcitizenshipvalues,ofshapingpupils’moresandmorals,

before and during the First World War as much as now, in the twenty-first century

classroom.Iwassuretherewouldbemoretodiscoverwithinthecentury-oldpagesof

academicpoeticcanonisationthatwouldbenefitare-evaluationofteachingwarpoetry

today.

Theexperienceofwardrovemanyoftheseliterateandoftencivilian-soldiersinto

writingpoetry. Forwhen theFirstWorldWar started in the summerof 1914, ‘itwas

possibleforsoldierstobenotonlyliteratebutvigorouslyliterary’(Fussell2013,170).As

68

this book will show, soldiers continued to turn to narrating their war experiences

throughoutthecenturyinaliteraryformeversince,betheypoems,diaries,novels,films

orevenblogs.Fornothingbutwargeneratessuchawide‘rangeofpowerfulfeelings,’Jon

Stallworthyclaims(2014,xxi),andwithsuchaliteratesoldiery,thesefeelingsgenerated

anextensivenarrativeoutput.Justlikemypupils,Ileapttothink.Civiliansthoughthey

be,theyliveina‘climateofwar’allthesame,quotingHynes.Surelymypupilsarenoless

literatethanbackin1916,whenthepoeticoutpouringsofsoldiershadarrivedatsuch

greatheightsthattheWipersTimes,asatiricalperiodicalfirstpublishedinYpres,added

thefollowingironiceditorial:

WeregrettoannouncethataninsidiousdiseaseisaffectingtheDivision,

andtheresultisahurricaneofpoetry.Subalternshavebeenseenwitha

notebookinonehand,andbombsintheotherabsentlywalkingnearthe

wire in deep communication with the muse. […] The Editor would be

obligedifafewofthepoetswouldbreakintoproseasapapercannotlive

by“poems”alone.

(Hislop,Brown,andBeaver2009,45)

Unprecedented literacy levels ensured the biggest possible reading public for these

civiliansturnedsoldierpoets.Onamoreemotionallevel,therewashardlyahome-front

Brittobefoundwhodidnothaveapersonalinterestinthesepoeticoutpourings.‘The

war […] had become a very forcing-ground of poetry […], an almost miraculous

renaissanceofthepoeticspirit’(Waugh1919,40).Tomeasateacheroftheirpoetrya

centurylater,itstrengthenedmyresolvetoinvolvestudents,allowingthemnotonlyto

pick and choose from thewide corpus of war poetry newly opened up to them, but,

crucially, to engage with war themselves by writing their own poetic reactions. This

resolveshapedtheinterventioninandoutsidetheclassroomlaterinthischapter.

Muchlikemystudents’poetryfromtheirbattlefieldexperienceinYpresortheir

reflectionsonthewarsoftheiragewouldfindwillingandappreciativeearswiththeir

parents,siblingsandfriends,WorldWarIsoldiers’kinsimplyflockedtotheirpoems.Any

wordfromtheirsoldieringkinwasnewsinaworldwithoutinternetandTVthesepoems

foundsuchapopularaudienceathomebecausetheywerecomposedinandwroteabout

theunknownterritoryofwarfare.Yetamongsttheveryfirstwar-timeanthologiessuch

69

asACrownofAmaranth(1915),itwas‘impossibletoescapetheubiquitouspresenceof

Brooke,’openingasitdidwithanelegytothedeceasedrock-star-poet(Walter2006,xvi).

Theanthologydeliversinfullitspromiseofpoetswho‘repeatthedutyandinspirationof

theearliesttribalbards’andyetwith‘loftiersenseofthedemands,privileges,painsand

patriotism’ (ErskineMacdonald 1915, 3).Moving even further away frommy trusted

Siersema anthologywithWilliamAngus Knight’s (1915) promising titlePro Patria Et

Rege:PoemsonWarand itsCharacteristicResults, thepoemswithindonotdeliver its

promise,givingnodetailsofbattleorits‘characteristicresults’atall,oftenexactlywhat

its(student)readersseekafter.

IwasboundtostumbleuponavaluableadditiontomyFirstWorldWarcurriculum

within these very first World War I poetry anthologies and put it to the test via a

classroomintervention.Knightpreferredtoincludepoemsbythe‘earliesttribalbards’

suchasWilliamShakespeare(1564-1616)topaintapictureofwartohisreaders,along

withwell-known ‘passages fromourNineteenthCentury poets, British andAmerican’

(Knight1915,vii).Itwasn’tuntilthewarwasmorethantwoyearsunderwaythatKnight’s

second1916editionincluded‘poemswrittenbythoseservingintheforces,’inabidto

liveupmorefullytotheanthology’spromisingtitle(Sillars2007,33).ElizabethVandiver

(2010,3)suggeststhat‘ifwelookatanthologiesthatwereactuallypublishedduringthe

war,itquicklybecomesevidentthatagreatmanypoetscontinuedtowriteinunironic

termsaboutduty,gloryandhonourthroughoutthewarandafterwards.’Thisiscertainly

thecasefortheanthologiesofFordandKnightpublishedintheearlyyearsofthewar.

Egged on by the latter’s spirited introductory words to the collection – ‘there will

assuredlyspringupagreaterwillingness todie forGreatCauses;notonly tosacrifice

much,torenounceease,pleasure,andcomfortofallsorts,buttobedonewithterrestrial

lifealtogether’–thepoemsinProPatriaEtRegereflecttheireditor’ssentiment(Knight

1915,x;italicsinoriginal).

Intervention II: Refugee Poetry

One such poem deserves special mention, for not only is it foregrounded by Knight

himself, ithasprovenavaluableadditiontomyFirstWorldWarpoetrycurriculumat

school:

HolyLandofEngland,

70

Blessedbeyoursoil.

NoblelandofEngland,

Safefromallturmoil!

England!LandofFreedom,

LandofLoveandHope,

Whereschemesofcowardenemies

Cannotfindascope.

NobleLandofCharity

Whosegoodness,loveandcare

Cheerthehomelessrefugee,

Bidhimbanishfear.

England!LandofHonour

Takingupitslance,

Standing‘gainstthehorror

ForBelgiumandforFrance!

(Content,inKnight1915,xvii-xviii)

Knightintroducesthispoemas‘fourstanzasbyarefugee,’andinabsenceofatitle,this

willserveassuch(1915,xvii).ThepoemwaswrittenbyarefugeefromBelgiumcalled

AnnaContent(datesunknown).Thoughitsimagery,rhymeschemeandmetretakeavery

basic form, thepoem’scrude,almostcrasssimplicity isan idealbridgeto21st-century

studentsbeginningtheirexplorationthroughwarpoetry’sno-man’sland.

Askpupilstoreplace‘England’inthepoembyHolland,andtheymayimaginepoet

Annatobea21st-centuryrefugeefromwartornSyria.Replace‘Belgium’and‘France’with

SyriaandIraq,andagatewaytoadiscussiononthepresentwar(s)intheMiddleEastis

established.Itisinsuchalessonthatpupils’rawnervesregardingtheinfluxofpresent-

dayrefugeesaswellasthequestionofinterveningmilitarilyintheMiddleEastmightbe

uncovered.Moreover,itallowsforfittingcomparisonwiththeblatantpatriotismofthe

poem by van Amerongen they had previously read, ‘MH17,’ and their own incipient

nationalismandresurgenceofheroisminthefaceofcalamity.Inthisway,thishitherto

ignoredpoem,dormantinthearchiveofwarpoetry,isbroughttothebattleasaweapon

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forteacherswishingtotackletheiranxietytoactuponembeddingtheworld’sconflicts

intotheirlessons.

AddingfivesoldierpoetstothesecondeditiontoProPatriaEtRege,GallowayKyle

follows Knight’s lead, continuing the leap into the hitherto unknown territory of a

soldier’s experience inbattle and its ‘characteristic results.’SoldierPoets: Songsof the

FightingMenwaspublishedinSeptember1916anditssequelsoonfollowedin1917.Kyle

claimsthatthepoemsinhisanthology‘haveassumedacertainhomogeneity,’andthat

they‘definetheaspirations,emotions,impressions,andexperiencesofmenofallranks

andbranchesoftheArmy,’andindoingsoreveal‘aunityofspirit,ofexultantsincerity

andunconquerableidealism’(1919,7).Finally,theunknownterritoryoftheFirstWorld

War’sbattleexperiencewasavailabletothewidereadingandschool-goingpublic,finding

itswayintopopularcultureandeducation,quenchingthethirstforanauthenticvoice

fromthebattlefield.Forasthewarprogresses,anthologistsbecomeawarethat‘thepublic

enthusiasmforSoldierPoetshadasmuchtodowithauthenticityasitdidwithaesthetics’

(Walter2006,xix).AndasMcLoughlin(2011)dictates,itispreciselythisauthenticity,the

‘autopsy’ofsoldiers’poems,whichlendsthemtheircredibilityandengagesitsreaders.

Whatismore,withthemournersmountingassteadilyasthedead,thesepoems

gainedevenmoreurgencywithitsreaders.ThebattleoftheSomme,whichstartedon

July1,1916,resultedinthe‘greatestlossoflifeinBritishmilitaryhistory’(Keegan1999,

318).ManyofthesoldierpoemsselectedbyKylehadsinceeithergone‘missingsinceJuly

1’orhad‘foundagraveinFranceinJulylast’(1919,10).AsJohnKeegandictates,‘ofthe

100,000menwhohadenterednoman’sland,20,000hadnotreturned’and40,000had

beenwounded(Keegan1999,317).Giventheunprecedentedamountofdead,someof

Kyle’ssoldierpoetswereboundtobeamongstthecasualties.Significantly,amongstthe

readersofthisselectionoftheseauthenticsoldierpoemswerethosebereftoftheirloved

ones.A ‘perfectlyworthyambitionofbereavedparents’ArthurWaughpointsoutwith

someunderstatement,‘toraisesomepersonalmemorialtoadeadson[fromthe]privacy

oftheauthor’sbureau’tobeincludedinsuchanthologies(1919,42).Yet,Waughhastens

to stress that ‘it would be the falsest of compliments to pretend theymake any real

additiontothepoetryofWar’(ibid.).Thesepoemsspokefromthegrave,compensating

forwhat they lacked in literary qualitywith their authenticity. Given their popularity

amongitsreaders,Iresolvedtochoosefromthesewarpoemsamongstothersforfuture

curricula.

72

MostpoemsinKyle’sselectionarewrittenbymembersoftheprofessionalarmy

and first wave of volunteer soldiers, now seasoned veterans. Not, he adds with

undisguised disdain, by ‘conscript poetasterswho have found new stimulant to jaded

literaryexercises’(1919,8).YetthemajorityoftheFourthArmywhowentoverthetop

thatfirstdayoftheSommeandtotheirdeathsindroveswere‘citizenvolunteersgoing

intoactionforthefirsttime’andnottheconscriptsKylesovilifies(Keegan1999,316).

Volunteers drafted from a citizenry which, according to Kyle’s predecessor William

Knight,weresufferingfroman‘effetecondition’bythe‘tensofthousandsduringthelast

quarterofacenturyinBritain’(1915,x;italicsinoriginal).Knightopenlysurmiseswith

some relish, on ‘their eradication, by the gigantic hand of war.’ Wartime anthologies

containedpoetrywhichwas‘unironic’intermsof‘duty,gloryandhonourthroughoutthe

war and afterwards’ (Vandiver 2010, 3). Given the dubious selection criteria that

anthologistssuchasKyleandKnightmaintained,thisdoesnotcomeasasurprise.Giving

pupils a glimpse of this selection process will allow them to reflect critically on the

questionwhetherthevarietyofpoeticreactiontotheMH17disaster,aselectionofwhich

theyhavereadinclassalongsideFirstWorldWarpoetry,anditsubiquitousnationalist,

vengeful,masculineandmournfultone,willleadtosimilaranthologising.

Vandiverhasascoretosettlewithwhatshecallsthe‘oldparadigm,’whichsmacks

ofthe‘OldLie,’reiteratingKhan’s1988definitionofliterarymythmaking:‘FirstWorld

Warpoetry as a steadyprogression from illusion todisillusion, fromvision to reality’

(Vandiver2010,2;Khan1988,35).Followingthisargument,KyleandFord’santhologies

representthe ‘illusion’and ‘vision’phaseofanthologisingFirstWorldWarpoetry.For

thoughsoldierpoetryhadmadeanentryintoliteraryconsciousnessinearnest,theirswas

not yet the combatantpoetrywhich, quotingWaugh (1919, 151),was strippedof the

‘tinsel’oftraditiontorevealthe‘starkandclatteringskeletonbeneath.’Kyle’seyewitness

poetshadwhatKateMcLoughlindescribesas‘autopsy,’withwhichtheyaddedamuch

sought after voice to the canon. Touching upon ‘the essence of life no deeper than is

possible to the soldier’s honest determination to go out and do his best,’ the literary

applicationoftheirautopsywasstillinitsinfancy(Waugh1919,42).

E.B. Osborn’s anthology, with its delightfully long title The Muse in Arms: A

CollectionofWarPoems,fortheMostPartWrittenintheFieldofAction,bySeamen,Soldiers

andFlyingmenWhoAreServing,orHaveServedintheGreatWar,leavesnodoubtasto

whatkindofpoetrycanbefoundwithinitscovers.BuildingonthesuccessofGalloway

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Kyle’sselectionofsoldierpoetry,Osborn’santhologyisdescribedbyStuartSillars(2007,

33)as‘themostcelebratedcollectionofthewaryears.’Sillarsarguesthatthiscollection

ofpoetrywas‘particularlysignificantasapoeticresponsetotheactualitiesoffighting,’

whenithadbecomeclearthatthewarhadbecomeoneof‘protractedandbloodyattrition’

(2007,33).Osbornhimselfexplainsthatthepoetryinhisanthology,whichaimsto‘show

whatpassesintheBritishwarrior’ssoul[…]presentsapictureofthevisibleimageryof

battle asmirrored inhismind’ (1918, vii). In short, a collection thatpromisedpoetry

whosespeakerswouldbeholdingYeats’smuchhatedmirror.NowIwasstartingtoface

anotherproblem.ForhowwasItointroducethecontentsofalltheseanthologiesIhad

discovered up till now,without playing the biased literary criticmyself? For this far,

besidesthesteadyinfluxofsoldierpoetry,amongstalltheanthologiesIhadfoundjusta

singlerefugeepoem.Itwasanexcellentadditiontomycurriculumandakick-starttothe

broader conversation in class as I have shown above. Moving forward, I needed

McLoughlin’sliterarycriticalhelp,aswellasanotherinterventionintheclassroom.

Intervention III: The Battle for Authenticity

Backtotherealityoftheclassroom,Iinformedmypupilsofthehistoryofanthologising

FirstWorldWarpoetry,andhowthesegraduallyincludedmoreandmoresoldierpoetry

tosatisfytheirmourningreaders.Yethow,Iaskedthem,asIhandedoutcopiedversions

ofKyleandOsborn’sselectionsfortheirperusal,wasIastheirteachertodeterminemy

possibleselectioncriteriaforthecurriculum?Andso,theinterventionIcalled‘TheBattle

forAuthenticity’started,withmypupilschoosingfromtheirhand-outsthepoemsthat

appealedmosttothem.Havingcountedthevotes,‘TheAttack’bySydneyOswald,taken

fromKyleand‘TheAssault’byRobertNichols,takenfromOsborn,appealmosttothem.

ThequestionIput themis, is thisbecause in theirestimation, thesepoemshavemost

authenticity,asIreadpartofbothpoemstothem:

Ah!Sweetthewhistlingsound

Ofshellso’erhead;thenextsilencemostprofound;

Thenthewildrush,thequickexchangeofblows,

Theragingcursesandthestrangemadlust

Ofslaughter,allweknow;andhowthebreath

Sobsoutintroublinggasps;andwitheachthrust

74

Thebayonetclaimsabloodygiftfordeath.

Andintheendwhatguerdonshallwereap?

Totendthewounded,forthedeadtoweep?

(Oswald1919,70-71)

MypupilscomparethispieceofversefromOswald’s‘TheAttack’withanexcerptfrom

Nichols’s ‘The Assault.’ They pay special attention to the poets’ autopsy; the soldiers’

wisdomofthe‘strangemadlust’tokill,a‘longingeverysoldierknows’(Nichols1919,58-

59):

Thebeatingofthegunsgrowslouder.

“Notlong,boys,now.”

Myheartburnswhiter,fearfuller,prouder;

Hurricanesgrow

Asgunsredoubletheirfire.

[…]

Crash.Reverberation.Crash!

Acridsmokebillowing.Flashuponflash.

Blacksmokedrifting.TheGermanline

Vanishesinconfusion,smoke.Cries,andcry

Ofourmen,“Gah!yerswine,

You’reforit,”die

Inahurricaneofshell…

Onecry;

“We’recomin’soon!lookout!”

Thereisopenedhell

Overthere.Fragmentsfly,

Riflesandbitsofmenwhirledatthesky:

Dust,smoke,thunder.

[…]

Asuddenthrill.

“Fixbayonets.”

Gods!wehaveourfill

75

Offearhysteria,exultation,rage–

Ragetokill…(ibid.)

Theresultof theBattle forAuthenticity is thatNichols is theundisputedwinner.Both

poemsarepopular,thoughNichols’‘rage’ispreferredaboveOswald’s‘strangelust’for

exactlythesamething:killingothermen.Nichols,theyargue,succeedsindrawingthem,

likemothstotheflame,intothemysteryofkilling.Hisuseofcolloquiallanguageisfresh

and accessible to my students, unabashed and gripping. The more detail, the more

authenticthepoem,theyargue.‘Evenintheextremisthorrorofwarfare,[…]thereisa

mysteriousqualitythatexcitesandbeckonsthesoul,’Nichols(1943,63)explains,andmy

pupilsprovetheyarenoexceptiontothisrule.Itellmypupilsthatpoemssuchasthose

bySydneyOswaldandRobertNichols,morethananythingelse,attempttobridgewhat

Nicholshimselfdescribesasthe‘psychologicalgapbetweenthesoldierandhiskin’(1943,

60-61).Nicholsclaimsthat‘thefeelingsofthecivilian,fedonnewspapers,wereoutraged

bythereturnedsoldier’(1943,61).Andyetdespitethissupposedoutrage,anthologies

suchasTheMuseinArms,whichincludedNichols’spoemabove,werebestsellers. ‘The

BattleforAuthenticity’interventionshowsthatpupilsarejustasattractedtothebrutal

truthsofwarastheirmourningfamilyandfriendswouldhavebeenatthetime,seeking

outtheauthenticityofcombatgnosticwarpoetssuchasNicholsandthedarksecretsthey

guardasmembersofwhatVanWienencoinedthe‘cultofthesoldierpoet’(2002,7).

FromthecollectionsofOsbornandKyle,openeduptomypupilsandafarthrow

frommySiersema,mystudentshadselectedthepoetryofveteranpoetsaboveallothers.

Preferredamongstthesewerebattlepoemsofautopsy,fullofthedetailsofwar.Andsoit

cametobethatofallKyleandOsborn’sselectionofpoemsmypupilsdecidedNichols’s

violentandcombatgnosticaccountofwarwas‘toberememberedfromthebreadthof

availableliteraryworks,’(Erll2011,75).Thereisavarietyofaspectstotheirselection

whichwillbeofvaluetomyteacher-reader.Firstly,itshowsarelativelyconcretewayto

allowpupils toengagewithselectingpoetry fromthehitherto inaccessiblearchive,by

turning it intoanactiveandengagedclassroom intervention.Secondly, itunderscores

thattheteacher’sroleistomakestudentsreflectupontheirselection,howthiscreatesor

upholdsthe ‘valuesystems’ofwhichErllwrites,andnottoenforce ituponthem.And

thirdly,theresultoftheirselectionshowsthatpupilsareattractedtowarasmuchasthey

abhorit,whichhashithertobeenanunderestimatedaspecttoteachingwarliteratureat

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secondaryschool.

Ihaveshownmystudentstobeingoodcompany,fortheyarenotthefirsttobe

drawn to combat soldiers’ authentic songs. The reading public was becoming more

desperateforsoldierpoetryasthewarcontinuedtotakeitsrelentlessandbloodytoll,

and anthologists responded accordingly by reserving more and more space to suit

populardemand.Amongstthem,bynecessitygiventhescaleofdeath,wouldhavebeen

teachersandtheirpupils.Theseciviliansmourningfortheirdeadfathers,sons,brothers

andlovers,wantedtoknowunderwhatcircumstancestheywerekilled.Apoemlikethe

winnerselectedbymypupilsinclass, ‘TheAssault,’ liftedafirstveiloffthemysteryof

war,ofbattle,ofkillingandofdeath.Inthisageofmultimedia,despitethepervasiveness

ofthecamera,thereisstillalackofvisualmediafromtoday’sbattlefieldssuchasSyria,

AfghanistanandIraq.Thirstingfornewsfromthebattle,warseepsinthroughFacebook

(‘MH17’), Instagram,andothernews feedsonpupils’mobilephones in theclassroom,

traversingthedividebetweenthemandwar.Withmorerefugeesfromthisbattlearriving

in theirDutchclassrooms, theneedtokeep lifting theveilofbattle isgainingurgency

everyday.ThisissomethingIwilltouchuponthroughoutandwithdetailinchapterfive.

By1919‘mostpeople[were]nowagreedinloathingwar’writesBertramLloyd

(1919,5)inhisanthologyThePathsofGlory.Heexplainsproudlythathis‘collectionof

poemswrittenduringtheGreatWar[…]containssolittleinanywaytendingtoglorify

theideaofWaringeneral.’Instead,Lloydaddedpoetrythatwasitsmoralopposite:so-

calledanti-warpoetry.Thepoem‘TheGloryofWar’isacaseinpoint.Itopenswiththe

question ‘What does it matter if men are torn, and a village razed to desolation?’

(Constantine1919,88). ‘Alot’ isthereader’sanswertotherhetoricalquestion,clearly

inspiredbySassoon’sequallyironicopener‘Doesitmatter?–losingyourlegs?’published

twoyearsearlierintheCambridgeMagazine.Otherpoemswithlessironictitleslike‘To

War,theHarlot,andherSouteneurs,’and‘TheMarionettes’revealthatasthedustsettled

overthebattlefieldsofEurope,apoetictimeofreckoninghadcome.Inshort,by1919,

soldierpoetryhadstartedtoestablishforitselfanicheinthecanon.

Withmyfirststepsasateacher-researcherIhadshown,firstly,howwarpoetry

anthologieshaveshiftedtoincludeveteranpoetry.Yetthisshiftinanthologies’selections

was not necessarily because it contained specifically ‘anti-’ or ‘pro-’ war poems. It is

foremostbecausethepoemsintheanthologytoldatruthaboutwaritsreadershadnot

encounteredyetandwerehungryfor.Similartothewarreportsontelevisionnowadays,

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thesepoemsliftedtheveiloffthebattlefieldsofWorldWarIandreported,indetail,its

intimatesecrets.Andhereinliesmysecondgoal,suggestingwhatlessonsteacherscan

drawfromtheseanthologies.Thesefirstinterventionsintheclassroomshowthebenefits

ofopeningupthearchivetothemandlettingthemengageinselectingfromthewider

corpusofpoetrythemselves.Becausethewaytodosoisvaried(handingoutcomplete

anthology collections or browsing Internet databases atwill; see InterventionV), and

potentially time-consuming (preselecting from anthologies for classroom perusal; see

InterventionIVbelow),theinterventionsinthischapterarebynomeansalldefining,but

a first suggestion of how thismight also be achieved. Teachers, thus at the helmof a

reinventionoftradition,areguideandexpertallinone,and,usingMcLoughlin’stheory,

coachpupilstoreflectcriticallyontheirselectioncriteria.By1919,readersofveteran

poetrywere inmourning, desperate to get as close as they could to the battles their

soldiering loved ones had fought. Three generations later in my classroom, that

mysterioushungertogetclose-uptobattlehadnotabatedaninch.

2.3InventingTradition(1964-1968):AnthologiesforSchools

Warhasalwaysinspiredthecreationofliterature,andthecalamityofWorldWarwasno

exceptiontothisrule,occasioninganunprecedentedpoeticoutput.Intimesofturmoil,

civilizationturnstoobjectsofmemoryforguidance,butpeopledonotjustdrawupon

existingobjectsofmemory,theyalsocreateartfromitsashes.The21st-centurypupilsI

teach are no strangers to this effect. They are the post-9-11 generation: the toppling

towersofNewYorkandtheensuingwarsintheMiddleEast,themultipleterrorattacks

inEuropean cities and theMH17-attack, all have inspiredawideand lasting rangeof

literaturethathasbeenaconstantrealityintheirlives,tosaynothingofthearttheymight

havebeendriventocreatethemselves.Thisiswhy,eventually,inawarnarrativecourse

suchas I setout tocreatevia thischapter’sanalysisofanthologisingFirstWorldWar

poetry,roomshouldbereservedforpupilstowritetheirownliteraryresponsetowar,a

vitalelementtoteachingwarItouchuponthroughoutthisbook.

To them, the ‘hurricane of poetry,’ quoting the Wipers Times which in turn

reiteratesNichols’s‘hurricaneofshell,’issimilartothenarrativeartwhichhasfedtheir

socialmedia,televisionandradio.Theirlivesarethuspunctuatedby21st-centurywars

andterrorattacks’commemorativeeventswhich theyhavebeenraised toacceptasa

78

dailypartoftheirlives.ThepoetryinspiredbytheattackonflightMH17showsthehuge

effectthedeathsof196DutchcitizenshavehadonDutchsocietyandtheclassesIhave

taughtsince.Incomparison,theweightofclosetoninehundredthousanddeadduring

World War I to the British is unfathomable, leaving small reason to wonder at the

perpetual popularity of the narrative output it incited. 53 The Great War brought

‘heartbreakonascaleneverknown,’argues JohnKeegan(1999,4),causingagrowing

interest in anthologies including veterans’ (posthumous) poetry. In defiance of the

establishedcanonduringthewaryearsandshortlyafter,warpoetryincreasinglymeant

soldier poetry, its burgeoning popularity marking the first step in the development

towardsthe‘onesizefitsall’approach(Brearton2007,209).Thepoeticexamplesabove

illustrate the power of autopsy and confirm Brearton’s claim that ‘war poetry is

experiential,’thusunderscoringthesoldierpoets’credentials.Yetby1928,theten-year

commemorationofWorldWarI,(veteran)warpoetrywasnot‘alwaysanti-warpoetry’

(ibid.;myitalics).Theso-called‘quasipacifistlanguage’which,Winter(2013)argues,was

effectuatedbymassreadingcanonicalwarpoetssuchasSassoonandOwen,didnot(yet)

dominateBritain.

Instead,Britain’scollectivelanguageofthe ‘20swasoneofmourningasBritain

becameobsessedbya‘cultofthedead’(Cannadine,1981).Manysoldierswhohaddied

in‘somecornerofaforeignfield’wereburiedwheretheyfell,pockmarkingthebattlefield

landscapeofFlandersandFrancetothisday(Brooke2014,106).Theirkinhadnofuneral

orgravetovisitandmournat.Thisfuelledmourners’appetiteforsoldiers’poetryand

inspiredthefirstwaveofbattlefieldtourists,familiesinsearchoftheirsons’,brothers’

andfathers’finalrestingplace.Intheabsenceofgraves,thousandsofwarmemorialswere

raisedinvillagesacrossBritain,inscribedwiththenamesofthefallen.Anemptytomb

waserectedonWhitehallinLondonasanationalmonumentofmourning,theCenotaph,

aswellasinArlingtonCemeteryinWashington,symbolicallyincludingthemanymissing

inaction.

Thepreviouschapterhasshownthat‘anniversaries,’asFranBrearton(2014)put

it,‘aregivenahardsell.’Myresearchasliteraryhistorianquicklyshowedthistobeinno

waylessso90yearsago,or50yearsagoforthatmatter,thanitisinthepresentdayand

age.DuringthetenthanniversaryofWorldWarIin1928,ArmisticeDaywasestablished,

whichinturninspiredamemoirboom,justlikethecentenaryin2014inspiredahuge

culturalandacademicoutput.Thishurricaneofwarprosepublishedaround1928was

79

composedlargelybywarpoets,Graves’GoodbyeToAllThat,Blunden’sUndertonesofWar,

andSassoon’smemoirsamongstthem.GermanveteranErichMariaRemarque’s(1898-

1970)ImWestenNichtsNeuessoldnolessthantwomillioncopieswithinayearof its

publication, appearing in twenty languages (Eksteins1980,276). In theUnitedStates,

ErnestHemingway’s(1899-1961)AFarewelltoArmstoppedthebestsellerlists.Allthese

memoirswerepublishedaroundtheten-yearcommemorationperiodofWorldWarIin

1928.Morethananything, theBritishveterans’successasmemoiristsconfirmedtheir

status as the leading war poets amongst the mass of combat poetry to have been

publishedsince1914.54

Pressingoninmybidtoopenthearchiveofwarpoetryanthologiestomyteacher-

reader,Iwassurprisedtofindoutthatduringthisincrediblesurgeinliteraryoutputand

societal attention Wilfred Owen was completely absent from every single poetry

anthology.55Itbeggedthequestionhowandwhenthepoetwhohascometodefinethe

culturallegacyoftheFirstWorldWarandbyproxy,waringeneral,achievedhisseminal

culturalstatus.Afirstchangeoccurredin1930,withthepublicationinthememoirboom’s

slipstreamofAnAnthologyofWarPoems,inwhichintroductionnoneotherthanwarpoet

Edmund Blunden underscores the ascendancy of the veteran poets. In fact, the

foundationsofwhat is criticallyconsideredas ‘conventionallyassumedprogressionof

FirstWorldWarpoetryfromBrooketoSassoonandontoOwen’arepavedrighthere

(Khan1988,35).Forthefirsttime,allthecanonicalwarpoets,enshrinedforeternityin

WestminsterAbbey,werenowbeingincludedinananthology.56Theircontributiontotals

a staggering33poems,ofwhichSassoonandOwenhavewrittena third.Owen’sepic

‘DulceetDecorumEst’makesitsveryfirstanthologyappearancehere.Neverbeforehad

these ‘two poets of unshakeable resolution’ risen out of the ‘mephitic gulf of the

bombardment, in prehistoric 1916 and 1917,’ received so much prominence in an

anthologytogether(Blunden1930,24).

Usinghisownauthorityasaveteranwarpoet,Blundenispivotalinforegrounding

warpoetrywhich‘speaksfromdisillusionment,notpatriotism’(Brearton2007,209).It

isBlundenwhoforegroundshis‘disenchanted’colleagueOwen,mentoredbySassoon,as

thepoetwho ‘sethimself tostrikeat[thewar]’withhispoetry(Blunden1930,22). It

showstheimportantrolethewarpoetsplayedinestablishinganaudienceandaplacein

thecanonfortheirownpoetryofautopsy.Yetitwouldtakeuntil1964andthepublication

of Brian Gardner’sUp the Line to Death, again introduced by the pervasivewar poet

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Blunden,atthestartofthefifty-yearcommemorationofWorldWarIforstudent-readers’

interestintheirveteranpoetryofautopsytobekindledintheclassroom.Giventherise

ofNazism eventually spiraling intoWorldWar II and theHolocaust, it is perhaps not

surprisingthatinterestinpoetryoftheFirstWorldWardwindled:eachconflictitsown

‘Mnemosyne’ quoting Diers. But there is another factor at play: the critique from the

giants in literarycriticism,W.B.Yeats,T.S.Eliot(1888-1965)andF.R.Leavis. ‘There is

everyexcusefor[Owen],butnoneforthosewholikehim,’Yeatsconfidestoafriendafter

havingfamouslyexcludedthewarpoetfromhisanthology(Yeats1940,113).F.R.Leavis,

defendingYeats’choice,arguesthatevenintheirtime,poetslikeSassoonandOwen‘could

hardlyhavecontributedachallengetotherulingpoeticfashions.’TheirGeorgianpoetry,

whichhasa‘posetoit,’T.S.Eliotconcludes,‘ismorally,poeticallyandculturallybankrupt’

(Howarth2011,221).Andtheseinfluentialcriticsdefinedliterarytastesuntilwellinto

thelate1960sand1990sintheNetherlands.

Andyetthewarpoet’spoetrysurvived.Itwascanonizeddespitetheopposition

fromthemostimportantmembersoftheliterarycultureoftheirday.Thereasonwhy,

significanttomyteacher-reader, isthat ithasbeenabottom-upaffair.Thecanonrose

fromthemudofBritain’sclassrooms,putonthecurriculumby itseducators.AsIwill

show,theanthologiesofthe‘60splayedanimportantroleinthisprocess.Muchlikethe

memoir-boomofthe1920s,thefifty-yearcommemorationofWorldWarI(1964-1968)

triggeredananthology-boom.Fournewanthologieswerepublishedinthisperiod,‘two

ofwhichwerespecificallydesignedtobeusedinschools’(ClaireM.Tylee1990,4).This,

Tylee stresses, ‘was the same amount of anthologies which had appeared over the

previousfortyyears.’ForemostamongstthesewereGardner’s(1964)UptheLinetoDeath

andMenWhoMarchAwaybyIanParsons(1965).‘Thisbookisintendedasatributeto

thosewhofought’writesGardnerintheappropriatespiritofafifty-yearcommemoration,

introducinghiscollectionas‘onewrittenbythemenwholivedthroughit’(Gardner1964,

xix).Holdingtruetohispromise,35%ofthepoemsinhisanthologyhavebeenwrittenby

theveteranwarpoetsofWestminsterAbbey,SassoonandOwentotalingnolessthan18

warpoems.

Whatissignificantisthatforthefirsttime,childrenatschoolwerereadingFirst

WorldWarpoetryfromananthologydesignedfortheiruse.Themannerofselectionby

theiranthologistssuggeststheyusedthecommemorativewavetopromoteapost-Second

WorldWarcultureofpeace.PerhapsthetensionsinAsiaandthethreatofanotherwarin

81

Vietnamandtheafter-effectsofthewarinKoreastrengthenedthisneed.Inhisanthology,

I.M.Parsons(1985,16)explainshehadgreatreservationsaboutincludingpoems,which,

inhiswords,wereexemplaryofthemoodof‘optimisticexhilarationwithwhichsomany

writers[…]greetedtheoutbreakofwar.’PrimetargetwasRupertBrooke,whosepoetry

Parsonsaccusesofhavinga‘cripplingshallownessoffeeling,andtobecorrespondingly

facileinexpression’(ibid.).BrianGardnergoesasfarastoomitBrooke’smostfamous

poem,‘TheSoldier,’altogether.Parsons’goalistomaketheverseofpoetswhoexpressed

‘whatmenandwomenwereexperiencingandfeeling,aftertheholocaustoftheSomme’

asprominentaspossible.57WhatissignificantisParsons’useoftheword‘holocaust’to

refertotheBattleoftheSomme.Perhapsthesepoemswerefillinginforthe‘quietand

undemonstrativeway’(Oostdijk2011,30)inwhichthepoetsofWorldWarIIresponded

to their war? It was time to take this ‘60s educational poetry anthology back to the

classroomandenablemypupilstoengage.

Intervention IV: One War Poem for All War

AsIhandedoutaneditedversionofParson’santhologypoems,mypupilsdelvedwith

somefanaticismintotheselectionIhadgiventhem.Ihadchosenatleastoneandatmost

twopoemsperpoetintheanthology.NotwithstandingthesearepoemsaboutWorldWar

I,Iaskedthemwhichpoemrepresentswaringeneralbest,andwhy?‘DulceetDecorum

Est’cominginastrongsecond,Iwassurprisedatthepoemwhichgottheclassroomvote:

‘DeadMan’sDump,’byIsaacRosenberg:

Thewheelslurchedoverthesprawleddead

Butpainedthemnot,thoughtheirbonescrunched

Theirshutmouthsmadenomoan.

[…]

Aman’sbrainssplatteredon

Astretcher-bearer’sface

[…]

Sowecrashedroundthebend,

Weheardhisweakscream,

Weheardhisverylastsound,

Asourwheelsgrazedhisdeadface.58

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Theclassroomanthologiesofthe‘60swerefilledtothebrimwiththeauthenticvoicesof

soldiers, ‘mocking,’ in the words of Jahan Ramazani (1994, 4), ‘the traditional

compensations for thedead.’Thesesoldierpoets told it like itwas,withaclearvoice,

writtenwithurgencyandwithsalience,suchasthefrankandbrutalpoetryofRosenberg’s

‘DeadMan’sDump.’Notallofmypupilslikethepoem,somearguetheyselecteditbecause

‘hisnamesoundedJewish,’thusfittingasSecondWorldWarpoemtoo.Buttheyarein

generalagreementthatthemorehorriblethedetailthetruerthepoemmustbe,‘justlike

inwarmoviessir.’Thelattersomewhatalarmingstatementfedmyambitiontoanalyse

inmoredetailinchapterfourwhatitisthatmakesmoviessotruthfultopupils.

ThesimilaritieswithsomeofOwen’slinesfrom‘DulceetDecorumEst’arestriking,

asstudent-readers,withMenWhoMarchAwayopenedontheirdesksinfrontofthem,are

forthefirsttimepropelledintothealienworldofRosenbergandOwen’sWesternFront,

pacing‘behindthewagonthatweflunghimin,’[…]while,‘ateveryjolt,theblood[came]

gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs’ (Owen 1985, 64). Whereas Owen’s wagon

transportsadyingvictimofagas-attack,Rosenberg’swagonwheelscrunchthebonesof

slaughtered men, on the way to the ‘Dead Man’s Dump.’ Parsons’ use of the word

‘holocaust’ to refer to theBattleof theSomme is significant.Thehorrific landscapeof

deathanddestruction,wheresurvivingmeant transporting thedeadanddyingacross

earththat‘haswaitedfor[thedead],‘frettingfortheirdecay,’(Rosenberg1985,159)one

could almost imagine this to be the testimony of aWordWar II concentration camp

survivor.Coulditbethattheteenagersoftheturbulent‘60srifewithanti-warprotests,

readingtheseloudandbrutalreportsofwaratschool,filledtothebrimwithgrislydetail

of death and decay, sought out the loud and harsh poetic voice of their grandfathers’

generationinabidtounderstandwhattheirparents’warhadbeenlike?Inotherwords,

tryingperhapstounderstandtheverydarkestcornersofhumanitytheSecondWorldWar

had spawned, such asAuschwitz andBergen-Belsen, the silencewaspiercedwith the

voice of Jewish trench poet Isaac Rosenberg’s and his brutal report from an earlier

‘holocaust,’thatofWorldWarI.

For in a similar way, my 21st-century pupils equate the war experiences as

depicted in First World War verse as universal to all war, recent and ancient. This

appropriation of war experience by subsequent generations is what makes ‘pathos

formula’warpoetrysuchpowerfulculturalicons.Iwantmyteacher-readerandpupilsto

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assess theirownageand its issues.Back in the21st century classroom,mypupilsare

spellboundbythesebrutalreportsofwardeliveredtothembyOwenandRosenberg.I

haveshownhowtheyunanimouslydebunkvanAmerongen’s‘MH17’asaflaccidpieceof

nationalism,andintheirarmchairease,equatethispoemtoBrooke’s‘TheSoldier.’With

noexamplesofactualbattle,Brooke’sprolepticelegyremainingapromiseofdeath,pupils

universallyprefer‘DeadMan’sDump’and‘DulceetDecorumEst’toreporttothemthe

neweststateinthewarsoftheirtime.Mypupilsreactiontothelatterpoemscorroborates

SimonWeatherstone’s (1995, 19) observation, that ‘while war poetry was a popular

poetryandhadbecomeinfluentialinschools,itsimportancewaslargelydeterminedby

its subject-matter and its documentary value rather than its relationship to a wider

literary culture.’ By and by, as I tried outmy literary interventions, it was becoming

clearerthattheauthenticityoftheveteranpoetwasforemostamongstmypupils,gained

morethananythingelsebygruesomeandprofanedetailsofviolence.Itwillproveeerily

similar to their lust to becomevoyeurs of theHolocaust as Iwill show in the coming

chapter.

The irony is thatalthoughParsons’knowledgeof thehorrorsofAuschwitzand

Bergen-Belsenmotivatedhimtosetdownapoetryanthologyforuseinschools,whichhe

deemed had a firmly normative function, as the example above shows, my pupils

nowadays are attracted to its content for very different reasons. Filling a poetry

anthologywhichhasbeen,quotingCaesar(1993,1),‘creditedwithdebunkingtraditional

ideasofpatriotism,heroismandglory, andof communicating to latergenerations the

‘reality,’‘horror,’and‘futility’ofwar,’doesnotequateitbeingreadbypupilstoasimilar

pacifisteffect.Theculturalprominenceofsoldierpoetrywasestablishedduringthe50-

yearcommemorativeperiodinthemidstoftherevolutionary‘60s,duringwhichsoldier

poetry’s ‘publication in anthologies was both cause and consequence of this way of

perceiving it’ asMartin Gray explains (1995, 57). Fifty years later, at the start of the

centenarycommemorations,DanTodmanarguesthat‘itiseasytoreadOwen’spoemsas

evidenceofthehorrorandawfulnessoftheFirstWorldWarandthisishowtheyhave

beenusedinschoolssincethelate1960s’(2014,172).Inotherwords,byteachingWilfred

Owen in class since the ‘60s, teachers have sought not to ‘uphold’ but to ‘undermine’

previous‘valuesystems’(Erll2011,75).

Thustheacquaintanceoftheschoolchildrenofthe‘60swiththepoetryofOwen

andhis fellowcombatpoetsendedforgoodthe ‘dominantpublicschoolethos’andits

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‘cultureofheroismandpatriotism,’andreplaceditwithoneexplicatingthehorrorand

futilityofwarfare(SantanuDas2013,5).Spurredonbytherebellious‘60s,rifewithcivil

protest and social revolutions, teachers have drawn from Gardner’s and Parsons’

anthologiesfilledtothebrimwiththeauthenticityofcombatpoetsOwenandSassoon.

Theyhaveaddedtheirpoetrytothecurriculumeversincethe‘60s,unsettlingtheashes

ofWorldWarandbyproxyopeningupthegatesofBergen-Belsen.Doingso,theacademic

forcefieldsuggeststeachersarethusdirectlyresponsibleforcreatingacultureofpeace,

facilitatinga‘quasi-pacifist’languageJayWinterclaimshasdominatedBritaineversince.

Of the111poemsParsonshas chosen for the educationofBritain’s secondary school

children, a staggering 84% were written by established and canonized Westminster

Abbeywarpoets.

Teachersitseemshavedrawnmassivelyandsuccessfullyfromthesewarpoetry

anthologies for schools of the ‘60s and ever since, which has ensured the war poets

powerful tenure tooutweigheven theLeavisiteacademicveto.Academicandpolitical

objectionstothisprocesshaveonlyrecentlygainedfootholdinsociety,duringthe100-

commemorationofWorldWarI.AsIhaveindicatedinthepreviouschapter,DanTodman

andMichaelGovebothsuggesttheyfindspecificfaultwithacertainwayofteachingwar

poetry. Yet how and in what way the war poets were taught remains to them pure

speculation. There is no way to measure what students have learned from all these

decadesofreadingthisparticularwarpoetry,andneitherisitpossibletogaugeinwhat

waythesepoemsweretaught.‘Horrific!’writesapupilinhisorher1985editionofMen

WhoMarchAwayIhaveinmypossession,nexttothegraphicverseofRosenberg’s‘Dead

Man’sDump.’Giventhatitisveryprobablythispupil’sfirstencounterwithliterarydetails

ofwar,theshockisunderstandable.AndyetIcannothelpbutdetecttheawemixedin

withtheshock,theexclamationmark,thecapital‘H,’thehugeletteringandprominence

itisgivenatthetopofthepage.Itremindsmeofmyown21st-centurystudents’subdued

enthusiasmforthispoembyRosenberg,fascinatedastheyarewithwhatfeelstothem

likeawalkintoalienandforbiddenterritory.Wheneverpupilsshoutouttheirhorrorat

readingthecombatpoetryofRosenberg,orSassoonandOwen,whetheritbe1965,1985

or2020,itdoesnotmeanthisisapacifistlessonlearned,asscholarslikeTodmanimply.

AsIhaveshown,pupils’attractiontocombatpoetrystemsfromshockandawe,itmight

aswellinculcatewarinsteadofpreventingit.Buttoproveoneortheotherisnotthepoint

thisbook.

85

PuttingwarliteratureonthepedagogicanddidacticagendaofteachersinGreat

Britainonsuchanationalscale,logicwouldhaveusdictate,isboundtohavehadaneffect.

Anditisatantalisingconclusion,thatteachersarethusresponsiblefordefininganation’s

‘value system,’ quoting Erll (2011, 75), thus creating our ‘collective identities’ and

legitimizing ‘politicalpower.’Yet it istheforce-fieldsthatwouldhaveteachers impose

valuesystemswhichtheyclaimtheliterarycanonupholds,whetherthesebepacifistleft-

wingornationalist right-wing.Thisbook suggests teachers likemyself should seek to

imposeneither.Rather,thisbookwillshowthatmygoalasateacheristomakepupils

able to critique the force-fields regardlessof theirpolitical colourbyusing the canon.

Sassoon and Owen are the cultural cornerstone of that canon, and though this book

suggestsvitaladditionsandnecessarycritique,SassoonandOwenremaininposition.It

ismyroleasateachertocoachmypupilstobecomevocalcitizens,tomakethemlearnto

thinkforthemselvesbyusingthecanon.Tomakethemawareofthetugofwarplayed

withitsculturallegacy,byallowingthemtomaketheirowndecisions,thusforegrounding

theirindividualitywithinthebroaderdiscussion,andpositioningthemselveswithintheir

society’svaluesystems.

2.4InventingTradition(1984-1988):WherearetheWomenPoets?

Inthemidstofthe70-yearcommemorationsofWorldWarI,NosheenKhanpublished

Women’sPoetryoftheFirstWorldWar.Shestateshergoalintheclearestpossibleterms:

‘Thisstudyattemptstoretrievefromobliviontheexperienceofthemutedhalfofsociety

asrenderedinverse,anddocumentasfaraspossiblethefullrangeoftheimpact[that]

theFirstWorldWarmadeuponwomen’spoeticsensibility’(Khan1988,1-2).Itmaycome

asashocktoreadthatasmuchasthreequartersofacenturyafterWorldWarIhadended,

Khanstillhadtoconcludethat ‘war isman’sprovinceandonewhichhasnoroomfor

woman,’which,Khangoeson,‘mayhavecontributedtoliterarycritics’obliviousnessof

herwarwriting’butisnoexcuseforit(ibid.).Confrontedwiththiscritiquedelvedfrom

theacademicarchive,Iwonderedthecriticalinclusionofwomen’sversehadsucceeded;

andwhethertheirpoetryhadfoundaplaceinthecanonandtheclassroomyetanother

quartercenturylater?

My6thformA-levelstudentshavemostlypassedtheobligatoryseventeen-yearage

limitfortheDutcharmy,bothboysandgirlseligibletoserve.59Duringthepastdecade,I

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havewitnessedanumberofmyfemalepupilschooseanarmycareer,despiteorperhaps

becauseoftheirexposuretomywarpoetryclasses.Yetwomen’spoetryofWorldWarI

didnotfeatureverywidelyinmyschoolcurriculumuntilmyfirstyearasascholar,when

Ibegantoredesignanddevelopmyown,myfinalmoveawayfromSiersema.‘Andnota

momenttoosoon!’exclaimedmyfemalecolleagues,teachersofEnglishandwarpoetry

alongsidemyselfthankfully,whenIpresentedthemwithworkinprogresssofar,apoetry

curriculumwhichincludedfemalepoets.60Andyet,despiteaddingCharlotteMew(1869-

1928), May Wedderburn Cannan (1893-1973), Jessie Pope (1868-1941), Margaret

PostgateCole(1993-1980),andCarolAnnDuffytothecurriculum,mostofmymaleand

femalepupilsstillwenttothewar‘withBrookeandcamehomewithSiegfriedSassoon’

(WedderburnCannan1976,113).Foralongtimewhenteachingmystudents,IfeltasifI

wasmore feminist thanmy young female readers; the combat poetry of Sassoon and

Owenhadalwaysbeenverypopularwithgirls.MyviewchangedwhenIaskedthemto

contribute to the classroom anthology themselves, instead of presenting themwith a

readypackagedcoursebook.Thiscreativeagencyallowedmypupilstoengageactively

inthedebateconcerningcanonformationandtheroleoftheclassroom.

Intervention V: Adopt a War Poem

Breakingoncemorewithmyanxiety,providingthemwithpoetryfromtheanthologies

discussedinthischapter,aswellasanabundanceofinternetsources,Iintervenedinthe

classroom.Callingtheproject ‘AdoptaWarPoem,’ Iaskedmypupils toengagewitha

poem fromtheGreatWar that touched themmostprofoundly, tobeconsideredasan

additiontothecoursebook.Addingasecondinterventioninpreparationforabattlefield

triplaterthatyear,Iaskedthemtowriteapoemoftheirowninspiredbythepoemof

choiceforthecoursebook.Ihaddevisedthemtopresenttheirownpoematalocationof

their choice in and around Ypres. Confirming my suspicions, despite the addition of

femalepoetstothecoursebook,thevastmajorityofthemhadbecomedevotedfansof

malecanonicalcombatwarpoetSiegfriedSassoon.Theirversewasclearlyinspiredby

hisironiccadences:

Whywouldyoubescared?

Goingtowarisjustasimplething,

Fightingforyourcountry,allyoucared

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Lyinginthemudfromautumn‘tillspring.61

BrendaandAnthonia’spoemanditsrhetoricalandironicquestioningleavesnodoubtto

thelistenerofthedebtitowestoSassoon’spoem‘DoesitMatter?’Nearly20%ofmyclass

havebasedtheirpoemsonSassoon,andmostofthemweregirls.Statisticallyofcourse,

thefiguresinthisbookarenotcompelling,buttheydobolstermythematicapproach.I

can’t help but wonder whether watching warmovies will procure a similarly female

audience.ItissomethingIwillfocusoninmoredetailinchapterfour,whenmyclassroom

interventionleadstowatchingVietnamWarmovieswithmypupils.Yetoneortwopupils

inYpresgavemeawelcomesurprise.OneofthesewasIngeborg,whopresentedherpoem

called“OnceI’maLady”inSt.George’sMemorialChapelsayingJessiePope’s‘WarGirls,’

wasan‘inspirational’warpoem.‘Ifeelmorecloselyconnectedtotheworldofcivilians

andwomen’severydaylivesinPope’spoem,’Ingeborgexplainsherchoice,‘andwiththe

perspectiveofthechild,thanwiththeangerofbattlefieldpoemsIknownothingabout.’62

Deliberatelykeepinga simplemetre to the innocentandoptimisticquestioningof the

childspeakerinthepoem,Ingeborgarguedshewantedtocreatea‘light-heartedsonnet

tosuithernature,’asacorrectivetothewarpoets’angrymaleverse:

Saymum,didyoualwayswanttodeliverthemail

eachandeverymorningwithoutasinglefail

orsellnewspapersinthecoldonthecorner

tellingtalesofallthedaddiesfightingforourhonour

Saymum,whyisthatladydoingherbest

makingthewindowsallshinyandclean

andwhy´sthatladyallcoveredinsweat

whileworkingtheheavymachine

Saymum,doesn´tthatladymind

allthechimney´sgrimeinherhair

Saymum,whyareallthemummies

doingthingsdaddiesaresupposedtodo

andcanIonceI’malady

doallthosedaddy-thingstoo?63

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Therepetitionof ‘mum’and‘lady’clearlyreiteratePope’srepetitionof ‘girls.’Ingeborg

adds‘say’evokingachildlikequestioninsteadofPope’somniscientnarrator’ssomewhat

imperativeadverb ‘there’ (‘s the’), thuspointingoutall theworkingwargirlsshesees

aroundherindailylife:

There’sthemotorgirlwhodrivesaheavyvan,

There’sthebutchergirlwhobringsyourjointofmeat,

There’sthegirlwhocries‘Allfares,please!’likeaman,

Andthegirlwhowhistlestaxisupthestreet.(Pope1981,90)

IngeborgisimpressedbyPope’shome-frontautopsy,andnotinanywayoffendedbyher

ignorance of fellow poets Rosenberg and Owen’s life at the Western Front, full of

splatteredbrains, cancerous lungsandcrushedskulls.Feelinga certainawkwardness,

Ingeborg apologetically explains that she feels sorry for theboys at the front, but she

prefersPope’spoems. Ingeborg tellsmeshecanrelate to therealities the femalepoet

describes, ofworking girls in thewar effort, somuch similar to her own efforts as a

workingandstudyingteenagerinHolland,whilewarsarewagedelsewhere.

Ingeborg sticks to her own experience, as close to her heart as she can, thus

chooses‘WarGirls’asinspiration,forthesakeofitsauthenticity.Thepoem‘appearsto

celebrate the long-sought emancipation which women had struggled for and finally

attained,’ Khan argues (1988, 72). Pope, and her ‘war girls,’ are ‘no longer caged and

pennedup,’andthustheexuberanttoneofthepoemreflectswhatPope(1981,90)claims

is all around her: freed women doing men’s jobs. Though Pope sums up a veritable

number of professions, critics such asGail Braybon (1995, 45) havewarned that ‘the

experiences of women differed dramatically between geographical areas, trades, age

groupsandclasses.’JanisP.Stoutinsiststhatwhateverthemeritofdescribingwomen’s

warworkmightbe,herpoemistoofullof‘relentlessdogtrotversificationandformulaic

sentiments’ (2016, 20).Whether or not Pope’s verse undoes the emancipatory effect,

whichNosheenKhanargues‘WarGirls’celebrates,Ileaveituptomyownwargirlpupils

todecide.Ingeborg,atleast,isonetoconsenttoKhan’sclaim.

Spurred on by the growing number of mourning civilians and their thirst for

accountsfromwhatwastothemtheforbidden,mysteriouswarzone,wartimeanthologies

steadilyprogressedfromaddingtheoccasionalsoldier’spoemtotheirpresencebeingthe

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norm.Asaresult,allotherpoetrywassteadilydrownedout,civilianpoetryandwomen’s

poetryforemostamongsttheexclusion.WhenOsbornpublishedhisMuseinArmsin1917,

he added only a single poem written by a woman, ‘Any Soldier’s Wife,’ by Dorothy

Plowman (1887-1967). ‘The echoofmy soldier’s feet’writesPlowman (1918, 261-3),

rememberingher lovedsoldier’sdeparturetowar, is the ‘wraithofall Icherishmost.’

ComparedtowhenmypupilsreadJessiePope’s‘WarGirls,’theyarenowstruckbythe

huge differences in experience these two poems portray: the fear and anxiety for the

fightinghusband’sfate,almostpre-emptingmourning,opposedtoPope’sambitiousand

exultantworking girls. Thus, the creative intervention in the classroomhas givenmy

pupilsopportunitytocreatetheirownpoetictestimonyandindoingso,hasmadethem

reflectupontheprocessofcanonizationanditslong-termculturaleffects.

By1918,manyBritishwomenwerebothinmourningandpartoftheworkforce,

bothrolesreflectedintheirpoetry.Thispoetic‘lackofconformity’,arguesStaceyGillis

(2007,105),conflictswiththe‘insistenceonmasculineunanimityofexperienceduring

thewar,’andisanimportantreasonwhythemalepoetshaveforsolongdominatedFirst

World War poetry, an exclusion that is vehemently contested at the centenary

commemorationofWorldWar I.As Ihave shown, anthologistshad started to include

poetryportraying‘unprecedentedandsolitarymiseriesofmodernbattlefields’toquench

amourningaudience’sthirstfortherealitiesoftheirlovedones’fate(Blunden1930,19).

Inthemeantime,anatmospherewascreatedinwhichwomenandcivilianshad‘noright

tospeakofwar,becausetheyknewnothingaboutit;alltheywerepermittedtodowas

mourn,’andevenwhentheydidjustthat,theirpoetryofmourningwaslargelydismissed

fromwarpoetryanthologies(Kendall2013,xxiii).Thesoldierpoets’concernwastoget

their truths of the realities of theirwar experience across to thewillingwiderpublic.

Again,thetropeofautopsyisatworkhere.Simplyput,civilians,andwomenspecifically,

didnothave‘first-handexperience’ofbattle(McLoughlin2011,42).Soldiers’taleswere

consolingandsalienttotheirreadersinmourning;anthologistsomittedwomen’sverse

accordingly.Howeverauthoritativetheirwritingonthewar’seffectathomemighthave

been,itwasn’twhatpublicandpupilswereafter.

Critics such as Paul Fussell cemented the established tradition of teaching the

poemsofwarpoetsSassoonandOwenduringthe‘70s.Fussell(2013,xv)claimsthatthe

soldier poetry of World War I has proven ‘crucial political, rhetorical, and artistic

determinantsonsubsequentlife,’turningintothemyth,whichnowis‘partofthefibreof

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ourlives.’However,‘thiswasnot‘theonlyculturalforminwhichrepresentationsofwar

were framed,’ Jay Winter argues (1999, 345). None more than Catherine Reilly

underscoresWinter’s point. She ‘succeeded in identifyingno fewer than2,225British

individuals,men andwomen, servicemen and civilians,whohadwritten verse on the

themeofthismostterriblewar.Ofthese2,225atleast532werewomenandatleast417

(menandwomen)servedinthearmedforces’(Reilly1981,xxxiii).Shockingly,itwasto

takemorethansixtyyearsforReilly’sScarsUponMyHearttofinallybreakanthologies’

single-mindedfocusonmalesoldierpoets.

CriticssuchasHaughton(2007),Gray(1995)andTodman(2005)allagreethat

this exclusivemale orientation started in the ‘60s,when, ‘the reading and teaching of

GreatWar poetry became bound upwith the anti-Vietnam protests and […] counter-

culturalmovement’(Kendall2010).YetasIhaveshown,theanthologiesbeforethe‘60s

wereequallydominatedby‘combatgnostic’warpoetry,whichlogicallyexcludedwomen.

Furthermore,despitethesecriticalassumptions, itremainsspeculativetoassumehow

teachers taught during this decade, andmore importantly, to what effect. Todman is

forced toconcede that it is ‘difficult to findanycomparisonsbeingmadebetween the

VietnamWarandpreviousconflictsatthistime.’64Myconclusionfrommyanalysisabove

wouldbethatthefocusonsoldierpoetrystartedduringthewar,yettheeffectofthisfocus

was not felt until the remembrance years 1928 andmost notably, 1964-1968, which

inspired the memoir boom and ensuing anthologies such as Brereton (1930), and

Parsons’ and Gardner’s anthologies respectively, filled to the brim with Rosenberg’s

realism,Sassoon’sironyandOwen’spity.Itwasduringthesecommemorationyearsthat

thefoundationofteachingthetraditionofthe‘cultofthesoldierpoet’wasestablished

(van Wienen 2002, 7). It is the poetry in these anthologies that has had such a

reverberationintheclassroomthatithaveformedthecanon.

UntilReilly’s1981anthology,WorldWarIwasanexperiencewhichwas‘rendered

throughasmallgroupofmalepoets’(Gillis2007,100).‘Weknowofthemaleagonyofthe

trenches from the poetry of soldiers like Sassoon and Owen’, writes Judith Kazantzis

(1981,xv),‘weknowlittleinpoetryofwhatthatagonyanditsmillionsofdeathsmeant

tothemillionsofEnglishwomenwhohadtoendurethem–tolearntosurvivesurvival’

(ibid.).Theoretically,ateacherwhohadreadScarsUponMyHeartwouldhavebeenable

toincludeavastarrayoffemalepoetsoftheFirstWorldWarintheirlessons.YetReilly’s

anthologywaspublishedindifferentsocietalcircumstances,withnoanniversarytokick-

91

start its publication. Importantly, it lacked the large-scale easy accessibility of the

educationalanthologiesofthe‘60s,sopopularwithitsteachersandtheirpupils.

Myclassroominterventionshowsthatwhengivenawidercurriculum(onewhich

includesfemalewarpoets)ortakingitastepfurther,acurriculumwiththefreedomto

addtoasapupil,wasinspiring.Althoughpupil’spopularvotewasstillwiththebattle

savvycanonicalwarpoetryofOwenandSassoon,theirpopularityandtheirunflinching

canonicalstatusnecessitateacontinuedcentralpositioninmycurriculumitdoesmerita

more inclusive curriculum. In thewords ofBlunden (2007, 141),mypupilswant ‘the

smokeoftheGermanbreakfastfires,yes,andthesavouroftheircoffee,[to]riseinthese

pages, andbekindlymusedupon inourneighbouringsapsof retrogression.’Thewar

poets’poeticauthorityofwhatitislike,tofightandkill,supersedestheirinterestinthe

sufferingofthecivilians’mourningwomen.

DespiteReilly’sopeningupofthearchivein1981,itstilltookalongtimeforthe

influenceofScarsUponMyHearttofindalastingplaceamongsttheselectionsofensuing

anthologists.Duringthe70-yearcommemorationsattheendofthe‘80s,theanthologies

ofMartinStephensandHibberdandOnionsattemptedtoaddwomen’swarpoetrytothe

inventedtraditionofteachingthecombatgnosticsoldierpoets,theformerincludingnine

femalepoetsandthelatterfourteen.Andyetinthatsameperiod,despiteitspromising

title,TheLostVoicesofWorldWarI,whichaccordingtoHughHaughton(2007,438)had

a‘broaderanddeepercoveragethanotheranthologies,’itseditorTimCrossincludedno

femalepoets.‘Ofthepost-1945period,’Parfittargues,thePenguinanthologies,editedby

JonSilkin,have‘probablybeenthemostinfluential’(Parfitt1990,150).65Silkin,however,

doesnotleadbyexample:notuntilhislatesteditionof1996doesheincludeanyfemale

poetryatall,bashfullyadmittingthathehadneededtoexpandhis‘emotionalregisterto

includethetendernessaswellastheoutrageofgrief’(1996,13-14).Ofcourse,‘tender’

warpoetryisnotexclusivelyawoman’sforte,andneitherdoesawoman’slexiconexclude

‘outrage.’AsPeterParker(2013)pointsoutwithregardtomasculine‘MadJack’Sassoon,

outraged poet par example, ‘tenderness […] was an equally important though often

overlookedaspectofhiswarpoetry.’

InthefollowingchapterIwillexamineinmoredetailhowciviliansufferingonan

unprecedented scale contributed to opening up a tender register in war narratives,

especiallythosedesignedforchildren.‘Wereweevergiventhechancetoerasewarby

using the poets’ apprehensions,’ writes Silkin (1996, 18) in the introduction to his

92

anthologywhichremainedunchangedthroughoutalltheeditions,‘we’dbefoolishnotto

take that chance.’ He uses ‘four stages of consciousness’ which he describes as the

patriotismofBrooke, the anger of Sassoon, andOwen’s compassion,whichultimately

merge‘withextremeintelligence,’intothefinalstage:‘adesireforchange’(Silkin1996,

30-33).ItillustratesthedebtSilkinowestoBlundenandBrereton’sestablishmentofthe

so-called Brooke-Sassoon-Owen myth in their early ‘30s anthology. Furthermore, by

focussingontheideaof‘usingthewarpoets’to‘erase’war,Silkinclearlybuildsonthe

ideathatexposingstudentreaderstothecombatpoetryofwarpoetssuchasSassoonand

Owenmightleadtoaworlddevoidof‘holocausts,’whetheroftheSommeorAuschwitz.

This idea is the pedagogic legacy of ‘60s anthologies so popular in the classrooms of

Britain.AsIwillshowinthenextchapter,theideathatexposingchildrentowarandits

horrors,theflipsideoftenderness,asaneducationaltooltopreventwarinthefuture,is

thecornerstoneofteachingchildren’sliteraturesofwar.

Forteachers,Silkin’santhologieswereeasilyaffordable,attainableandapplicable.

Theybuiltonteachers’existingknowledge,andonthepopularityofBrianGardnerand

IanParsons’classroompoetry.Inthisway,Silkin’sfailuretowidenthecanonperpetuated

the established classroommyth of the ‘outraged’ soldier poet as the authority on the

experienceof theFirstWorldWar. In1996,Silkin finallyaddsameagresixpoemsby

women to his collection. It would take another decade for George Walter, Silkin’s

successor,toputthisright:Walterincludedarecord-breaking29poemsbyasmanyas

nineteendifferentfemalepoetstothe2004and2006editionsofthePenguinanthologies.

Bythen,onewouldexpectthecanontohavebroadened,forexample,byincludingcivilian,

andinternationalwarpoetry.Andyet,aslateas2010,GeertBuelens(2010,1)isforced

to conclude that ‘anthologistsandresearchersautomatically steer [their selections to]

twocategoriesofpoets’:combatpoetryandfemalepoetry.Inotherwords,afteralmosta

centuryofanthologisingFirstWorldWarpoetry,thecanonisstilllimitedinscopeand

width.

Back in the reality of my classroom, and more specifically, the reality of a

battlefieldschooltripinfullswing,itwasgoodoldSiegfriedSassoonandWilfredOwen

whocontinuedtoinspirepupilafterpupilpresentingtheirpoetryinthetrenchesofYpres.

Despitemyprotestations,myacuteawarenessoftheavalancheofpoliticalandacademic

critiqueon teaching amythical canon,despitemakingmypupils an activepart of the

debate,informingthemofthepowerofanthologisingwaranditsapplicationbyteachers

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likemyselfintheclassroom:thevastmajorityofmypupilsweretouchedtothecoreall

the same, by Silkin’s definition of Sassoon’s ‘anger,’ and Owen’s ‘compassion,’ an

insatiableaddictiontothesmellofEdmundBlunden’sfrontline‘breakfastfires.’Andyet,

whenmypupilJacobapresentedherpoeminthechapelofTalbotHouseinPoperinge,

herpresentationmovedusallwithherpoem,inspiredbycivilianpoetRudyardKipling.

‘AsadaughterofaMajorintheDutcharmy,’Jacobaexplained, ‘Icouldn’thelpbutfeel

touchedtothecorebyKipling’s“MyBoyJack,”’asshereadoutherpoemtoheraudience:

Ifanyquestionwhywedied,

itwasbecauseourfathers’lied

YetIbelievemyfatherwould

Protectmeifhecould.

BecausewhenIlookdownupon

Thebumpofmiseryhehasbecome

Hedoesn’tlie.

WhenIseehimcryovermyname

Carvedinastoneframe

Hedoesn’tlie.

[…]

HaveyounewsofmyboyJack?

Father,youknowIwon’tbeback

[…]

SoifanyquestionswhyI’mdead,

Itwasbecausemyfathercared

[…]

IhavenewsofyourboyJack

Helovesandmissesyouback

Dearly.66

Jacobaclarifieshergoalwastoanswerthenarrator’squestionsinthepoem,like‘Have

younewsofmyboyJack?’(Kipling2013,29).Presentingherpoemonlocationtomeand

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herclass,Jacobaexplainsthatbyanswering,shesoughttosetthingsstraightbyconsoling

thenarrator.Atthesametime,itisalsoaresponsetoKipling’sbitterlinesin‘Epitaphs:’

Ifanyquestionwhywedied,

Tellthem,becauseourfatherslied.(Kipling2013,35)

Jacobapointsout: ‘ifmydadhaddiedonhismissiontoMaliorLebanon,Iwouldhave

wantedhimtoknowIwasproudofhim.Itwouldnotbehisfaultthathedied,norwould

ithavebeenuseless.AndIfeltforMr.Kipling’sgrief,orhowImightfeel.SoIimagined

beingboth‘Jack’andmyfather,answeringfrombeyonddeathtoKiplingandmyself.’67

Andso,ifitwasuptomypupils,bynowmyimprovisedclassroomanthologyof

warwouldincludepoemsbyWilfredOwen,andmanybySiegfriedSassoon;his‘Doesit

Matter,’‘SuicideintheTrenches,’and‘GloryofWomen’amongstthefavouritesthatschool

year. However, as I have shown, they would also have chosen civilian poet Rudyard

KiplingandfemalepoetJessiePope.Asitwouldturnoutthatautumnmyclassfollowed

theirfatalteachertothetrenches,theirchoicesincluded‘Afterwards’byMaryPostgate

Cole,‘TheUnconqueredDead’JohnMcCrae(1872-1918),‘LastPost’byCarolAnnDuffy

andthesomewhatunexpected‘TheRoadNotTaken’byRobertFrost(1874-1963),which

isreputedtohavebeenwrittenforhisfriendandwarpoetEdwardThomas,tohelphim

decidewhethertojointhewar,whicheventuallyhedidandfatallyso.Thinkingoutofthe

box altogether, the song ‘The Longest Day’ by the band Iron Maiden was another

suggestion,establishingalinkwiththeKeanesong‘ABadDream,’andthusagainwith

Edward Thomas and the unwilling W.B. Yeats, completing the intermodal classroom

anthology.

‘Itishightime;’arguestheFlemishpoetandnovelistTomLanoye(1958-),forthe

inclusionofamorevariedsetofvoices,thoseoftheenemy,thosewhostayedathome,

the‘pacifists,theanarchists,theparents,theloversandtheteachers’(Lanoye2014,10).

Itwouldseemmypupilswerewellunderwaycreatingsuchpoeticvarietythemselves.

ThisdevelopmentisunderstandablewhenseeninthelightoftheincreaseofEnglishas

the21st-centurylinguafranca.AsmoreandmoresecondaryschoolsacrossEurope,and

theNetherlandsinparticular,optforCambridgeExamsasanextrasupplementtotheir

nationalEnglishtests,withtheamountofschoolsteachingA-Levelstudentsexclusively

inEnglishnearingthe200mark,FastLaneEnglishstreamsgaininggroundanduniversity

95

courses being taught primarily in English, it is nowonder that there is demand for a

BritishFirstWorldWarpoetrycurriculum.BuelensandLanoyerightlyargueforinclusion

ofDutch (war)poetry, besidesFrenchandGerman.Nobetterplace to create a cross-

curricularlanguageandliteratureprogramlikeIhavedevelopedandorganisedonthe

battlefieldsofYpres;wheretheseexperimentswereeffectuatedandtriedoutbypupils

likeJacoba,Anthonia,BrendaandIngeborg,non-nativeswhocreatedtheirownEnglish

languagewarpoemandalastingmemory,presentedinacornerofaformerinternational

battlefield.

2.5CentenaryAnthologies(2014-2018):onGiants’Shoulders

As the tumultuous year of 2013was coming to an end, I took a break from the loud

warzonethatisasecondaryschoolinfullswingandwalkedintoaBritishbookshopin

Amsterdam.ItissituatedjustacrosstheriverAmstelfromtheAllardPiersonmuseum.I

wasremindedofthefieldtripthepreviouswinter.AsIwalkedthroughthedoors,raysof

sunlight fell welcomingly through the bookshop’s high ceilings, lighting up another

celebratorybannerinthemidstoftheChristmasdecorations.Thistime, itmarkedthe

impendingcentenaryoftheFirstWorldWarandplacedprominentlyunderneathitwasa

selectionofwarpoetryanthologies.Thereisnoescapingwarthesedays,Ithought,asI

wasforcefullyremindedofthatothersignificanttimeinhistorywhen‘Western’Europe

and‘Eastern’Turkeyclashed,resultinginabattlenotfarfromtheplainsofeternalTroy;

‘Europe’sbulwark‘gainsttheOttomite:’thetrenchesofGallipoli(Byron2006,98).

Takingacomfortableseat,IopenedTimKendall’sPoetryoftheFirstWorldWar,

whichhadarrivedfreshfromthepressthatautumn. ‘NotsincethesiegeofTroyhasa

conflictbeen so closelydefinedby thepoetry it inspired,’ readKendall’s (2013, xxvii)

introductorywords,cementingthestrongtiesthatconnectwarpoems,whichignoretime

andspace,unleashingtheirpowerinmy21st-centuryteacher’shands.Withinthespace

of a year, I had seen the evidence of these interminable ties. The Turkish-Dutch

quatercentenaryandtheescalatingconflictinSyriathatsummerhadbothoccasionedthe

useof‘pathosformula’poetryinthebattletorememberthepastandallthatthisentailed.

AsAndersonWinn(2009,2)putit,‘warobliteratesthepast,poetryfeedsuponthepast.’

IhadbeensurprisedtofindWilfredOwen’s‘mostanthologizedpoem,’ofWorldWarI,

‘DulceetDecorumEst,’thefavouriteweaponofuse.Iwas,ofcourse,expectingOwento

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makeanappearanceintheEnglishbookshop,andinthewakeofthepreparationsforthe

centenaryofWorldWarI,Iwasnotabouttobedisappointed.

AsIcontinuedtoleafthoughKendall’santhology,Iwassoonguttering,choking,

anddrowning inWilfredOwen’spoetry. ‘Theclose identificationofwarpoetrywitha

Britishnationalcharacterpersiststothepresentday,’arguesKendallintheintroduction

(2013,xv).BearinginmindAstridErll’s(2011)definitionofoneoftheprimefunctionsof

thecanon,fulfillingthe‘creationofcollectiveidentities,’hisobservationisjustified.Ashe

continues his argument, Kendall explains thatmore than any otherwar poet, Owen’s

canonical poetry stands accusedof determining ‘theways inwhich theWarhas been

rememberedandmythologized’(2013,xxvii).Thischapterhasillustratedtherolesthat

mourning, commemoration and anthologising have had on establishing a classroom

curriculumdefinedbythisso-calledmyth.Yettomysurprise,PoetryoftheFirstWorld

War,publishedjustintimeforthestartofthecentenarycommemorationofWorldWarI,

includesmorepoemsbyWilfredOwenthananyotherpoet.InthiswayKendallgalvanized

thecanonicalstatusofOwenforthedurationofthecentenary,andthemythhispoetry

inspires.

Addingasmanyas37poemsbySiegfriedSassoonandWilfredOwen,Kendall’s

selection, in number, supersedes Parsons’, Gardner’s, Brereton’s and Lloyd’s. Only

ParsonshasselectedarelativelyhighernumberofpoemsbySassoonandOwen,adding

upto22%ofthewarpoetryheaddedtoMenWhoMarchAway.Incomparison,thisisonly

marginallymorethanKendall’schoicefiftyyearslater.Nolessthan21%ofthepoemsin

PoetryoftheFirstWorldWarhavebeenwrittenbythesecanonicalgiants,comparedto

Gardner’s19%,andBrereton’s12%.Somuchformythbusting,Isurmised,asIcontinued

toleafthoughtheopeningpagesofKendall’scentenaryanthology,whenIwasstruckby

thefollowingremark:‘familiaritywiththebest-knownpoems,viaanthologiesandschool

curricula, riskssappingthemof theirpower’ (2013,xxviii).AsMarkRawlinson(2007,

117)claimedearlier,itisdifficult‘toconceiveofanadultfirstopeningOwen,[…]because

thisimpliesanunlikelyinnocence.’Theacademics’pointisthatthroughover-exposurein

theclassroom,theoriginalityofOwen’sexposéoftrenchwarfarehasbeenlost.

Mysurprisewasnowreplacedbyaflashofirritation:literarycriticswereaccusing

teacherslikemyselfofsappinglifeoutofOwen,byrepeatedlyputtinghis‘pathosformula’

waronmywarpoetrycurriculum.Yethere Iwas,a teacherunlockingmydoorto the

archive,onlytofindanthologiessuchasKendall’sfilledtothebrimwithWilfredOwen’s

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poetry.HowwasItobreakwiththistraditionofteachingwarpoetry, if thecentenary

anthologiesdidnot? Lookingback, I realise I felt doubly stung.That sameyear, I had

evidenced the way force fields of politics, science and society had fought over

remembranceofthepast,usingcanonicalwarpoetryasaweapon.Myprogressiveinsight

asascholarhadmademenewlysensitivetotheuseofOwen’spoetry.Themuseumvisit

framingTheIliadand‘DulceetDecorumEst,’newspapersfilledwithreferencestoOwen’s

famouspoeminreactiontorecentwars,theletterIhadreceivedfromtheDutchSecretary

ofStateforEducation,askingmetofindasolutionforthepervasiveanxiousnessteachers

havewhenfacedaddressingcalamityintheclassroom:warwasragingallaroundme.Yet

IfeltKendallwassendingmeovertheprecipicetofaceavarietyofbattleswiththesame

planofattackasalways.

However,uponcloserexamination,Kendalldidprovidesomenewarsenal,fora

teacherleadinghispupilsintothecanonicalbattleforourcollectiveculturalmemoryof

war,withthreeclaimsIwishtoforegroundhere.Firstly,explainstheanthologist,toavoid

complacent reading fresh introductions to the canonical work are needed, because

‘information can help to make the familiar strange oncemore, and unsettle received

opinion’ (Kendall2013,xxviii).Hepointsout thatOwen,contrary toreceivedopinion,

‘does not subscribe to an anti-war manifesto,’ but writes with ‘what can be more

accuratelylabelledasanti-pro-warpoetry.[…]Mostsoldier-poets–likemostsoldiers–

believedtheWartobenecessary,butwantedthecostsacknowledgedandthetruthstold’

(Kendall2013,xxi).ThisexplainsthedichoticnatureofSassoonandOwen’srelationship

towar,uncoveringliesandfightinglikeangelsatthesametime.Thisclaimcorroborates

myexperienceintheclassroomsofar:pupilsareshockedandawedbythepoets’‘costs’

and ‘truths,’ but this does not coax them into pacifism because of this exposure.

Controllingwhatpupilsthinkisimpossible;sendingthemovertheprecipicebymaking

themthinkisnot.

Secondly, Kendall points out that his choice in war poetry for his anthology

selectionhasbeenmadeforemostonthebasisofpoeticquality.Thus,‘preferringtobe

unkind tominorwriters’ automatically foregrounds the ‘most importantpoets,’which

are,accordingly,given‘thelargestallowanceofspace’(Kendall2013,xxix).Thismight

explainwhyinTheNewOxfordBookofWarPoetry,publishedinthesummerof2014,Jon

Stallworthy only added a meagre eleven female poets to his selection of war poetry

rangingfromBiblicalbattlefieldtolatterdayIraq,makinguplessthan5%ofthetotalsum

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ofpoemsadded.ThoughNosheenKhan(1988,4)corroboratesthatthequalityoffemale

warpoetryis‘decidedlyuneven,[…]marred’asitoftenis‘bythescarsofhaste,hysteria

andofthemelodramatic,’Icannothelpbutbesurprisedoncemoreatwhatseemsavery

conservativeacademicchoice.YetwhatisimportantisthatbothKendall’semphasison

poeticformasmostimportantselectioncriteriaforanthologistsandwhatIshalltermthe

anti-jingoismofcanonicalwarpoetssuchasOwen,gentlysteersthedebateonhowto

teach FirstWorldWar poetry away from the academic and political, and towards its

literarycore.

Thirdly,Kendall’sinclusionof‘amodestselectionofmusic-hallandtrenchsongs’

inanattempttowidenthecanon,‘thebestofwhicharemoreverballyingeniousthanall

but the strongest war poetry,’ confirmed I was on the right track with my own

improvisationalclassroomanthology,breakingbeyondthecanonbyincludingsongson

war(Kendall2013,xxix).BesidesKeane’s‘ABadDream,’anotherclassroomfindwasPJ

Harvey’s‘OnBattleshipHill;’

OnBattleshipHill'scavedintrenches,

ahatefulfeelingstilllingers,

evennow,80yearslater.

Cruelnature.

Thelandreturnstohowithasalwaysbeen.

ThescentofThymecarriedonthewind.

Jaggedmountains,juttingout,

crackedliketeethinarottenmouth.

OnBattleshipHillIhearthewind,

Say‘Cruelnaturehaswonagain.’(Harvey2010)

ImpressedbyEngland’srecentinvolvementinthewarsinAfghanistanandIraq,Harvey

haswrittenanentirealbum,LetEnglandShake,filledwithsongsaboutwar.Herdécoris

Turkey,andspecifically,theFirstWorldWarbattlefieldofGallipoli.Consideringthefact

that‘liketheyoungPolly,everyoneinEnglandisintroducedtotheWarPoetsatschool,’

arguesPeterSierksema(2011)intheDutchnewspaperTrouw,thelistenerwillprobably

recognise‘fragments’ofthefamiliar‘canonicalliterature’of ‘SiegfriedSassoon,Wilfred

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Owenand[…]RupertBrookeinhersongs’.Itisperhapsasmallstepfromtheguttural

alliteration and assonance ofOwen’s ‘guttering,’ ‘choking,’ and ‘drowning’ toHarvey’s

‘jagged,’ ‘jutting,’ ‘cracked’ and ‘rotten’which, to the seasoned reader, conjure up the

familiarpictureoftheharsh,mechanized,andfutilewar,asupposed‘myth’Isetoutto

counterbyaddingHarvey’spoeticsongtexttomyincreasinglymultimodalcurriculum,

insteadofenforcingit.

YetithadbeenTheIliadwhichmyprecociousstudentswereremindedofwhen

readingand listening toPJHarvey’s song.Thesepupils tookLatinandGreekandhad,

some years before the Turkish-Dutch quarter-centenary political commemorations,

visitedtheAllardPiersonMuseumas ‘Gymnasium’studentsonafieldtripthemselves.

Nowtheyrememberedthegrittyrealismpresentinthatepicwarpoem,partsofwhich

theyweretranslatingintheirLatinclass.Duetoitslinguisticdifficulty,mycolleaguesof

the classics department explained, they reservedThe Iliad for sixth-form students, its

bloodyplotrelentlesslyappealingtwomillenniaafteritsconception:

ButPatroclusthrewhisspear,andtheweapondidnotleavehishandfor

nothing.ItstruckSarpedonwherethelungsenclosedhisdenseheart,and

hecrasheddownasanoakcrashesdownorapoplaroratoweringpine

whichwoodsmencutinthemountainswiththeirnewlysharpenedaxesto

maketimbersforaship.SoSarpedonlaystretchedinfrontofhischariot

andhorses,gurglingandclutchingatthebloodstaineddust.(Homer2003,

287)

Theuseoftheadjectives‘towering,’‘gurgling’and‘clutching,’andeventhenoun‘nothing,’

addedtowhichthe‘blood’andthe‘lungs,’anditisasmallstepforthereadertorecognise

the same guttural fragments from Wilfred Owen’s ‘Dulce et Decorum Est,’ that we

recognize in PJ Harvey’s song. ‘Coughing,’ ‘haunting,’ ‘fumbling,’ ‘fitting,’ ‘floundring,’

‘drowning,’ ‘guttering,’ ‘choking,’ ‘drowning,’ ‘smothering,’ ‘writhing,’ ‘hanging,’ ‘blood,’

‘gargling,’ ‘lungs’ (Owen1990a,117).As ifPatroclus iskillingSarpedonoverandover

againlikeaFreudiantraumarepeated,thehypnoticuseofthepresentcontinuouslending

atimelessqualitytoOwen’spoem.EvenusingHorace’sLatintag‘dulceetdecorum,’isa

formofthecontinuous,whichtranslatesas‘fitting,’althoughOwenhimselftranslatesit,

with some irony, as ‘Sweet! And decorous!’ (Owen 1967a, 500). Herewas themuch-

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neededbridgebetweenTroyandYpresandwiththe‘Ghouta’s’ofthefutureIhadbeen

seeking, to use the ancient and centenary war poem, pathos formulas wielding their

powerinthehandsofanEnglishliteratureteacher.Thesewereperfectweaponsinthe

battle against the pervasive anxiousness to address war in the classroom amongst

teacherswhichtheDutchSecretaryofStateforEducationhadsentmeintointheautumn

of2013.

Homer and Owen are out to get the ‘costs acknowledged and the truths told’

(Kendall2013,xxi).Thetruthandcostofwarhasalwaysandwillalwaysinvolveblood

andguts,detailsofwarwhichshockaswellasthrilltheiryoungreaders,the‘sillybuggers

theyaretoblunderinandscorchtheirwingswithglory’(Sassoon1984,89-90).Itmight

well turn out that the drive to acknowledge cost however bloody and truth however

grizzly is a vital element connectingwar narrativeswith each other, across time and

space. ‘Allwarshave certain elements in common,’McLoughlin explains, andas Iwill

showthroughoutandinmoredetailinthelastchapter,thisresultsincertain‘similarities

in written representations across periods and cultures’ (McLoughlin 2011, 12). Such

‘similarities’betweenwarnarrativesacrosstheagesbridgethedividebetweenTurkey’s

battlefieldsthenandnow,itestablisheswithclaritythegatewaystowardslessonsonwar

andconflict.Havingtheliteraryculturalarmourinhandwillhelpbattletheanxiousness

teachersofEnglish,History,Classicsandforeignlanguagesmighthavehad.Somearmour

mighthaveseemeddated,butasthischapterhasshown,andindeedKendallconfirms,

the power of pathos formulawar poetry likeThe Iliad and ‘Dulce et Decorum Est’ is

interminable.

By intervening in the classroom, putting children’s World War II narratives,

VietnamWarmoviesandevenameetandgreetwithanIraqiveteranandpoetonthe

curriculum,thisbookwillcontinuetoanalysethesimilaritiesbetweenwarnarrativesin

abidtoestablishgatewaystosociety,politics’andscience’smostpressingconcernswith

regards to conflict. The detailed analysis of the history of anthologisingWorldWar I

poetryhasshownthateducationhasleftadefiningmarkonwhatweregardasthecanon

andcontinuestowieldthepowertodoso.‘SongsofWar,’‘RefugeePoetry,’‘Authenticity

Test,’ ‘Onepoemforallwar’and ‘AdoptaWarPoem’areexamplesof lucidandeasily

applicableinterventions,thatcanbefinetunedandadaptedtosuitanyotherliterature

teacher’scurriculum.Themaingoalistoletpupilsthink.For‘itremainsunclearwhether

warsweetensthestudyofpoetryorviceversa’(Rawlinson2007,116).Owen’s‘Dulceet

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DecorumEst’couldeasilybeconcludedtobeananti-warpoembypupilsandteachers

becauseofthehorroritdescribes;somehowaconclusionmanypupilsinitiallydodraw.

Horrors are bad, so war is bad. However, teachers should call pupils out on their

fascinationaboutthesedescriptionsandpointoutthelackofarejectionofwarbutan

emphasisondescription,onnumbness,ondespaireven,thattheyrealisetheremightbe

moretothepoemthanjustpro-oranti-warsentiment.

Giventhedichoticnatureofpupils’reactionstothesepathosformulassofar,asfar

astheeffectofcanonwarpoetryintheclassroomisconcerned,anti-warnarrativesdo

notexist.Literatureteachersmayovercometheiranxietyand‘selectacorpusoftexts’to

widen the canon, to include women and citizen war poetry and song, avoiding

mythmaking in the classroom. Placing pupils centre stage in this process is vital, by

holdingupYeats’sdreaded‘mirror’andmakingthemreflectonthechoicestheymake,

creating room for students to react, which the wide variety of interventions I have

outlinedallow.Inthatsense,twistingW.H.Auden’sfamouslines,poetrymostcertainly

makessomethinghappen.

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WehavedonewithHopeandHonour,wearelost

toLoveandTruth,

Wearedroppingdowntheladderrungbyrung,

Andthemeasureofourtormentisthemeasureof

ouryouth.

Godhelpus,forweknewtheworsttooyoung!

(Kipling1899,205)

3.FindingAnneFrankDiscoveringthepitfallsandpearlsofusingTheDiaryofaYoungGirlinandoutof

theclassroom.

EarlyoneSundaymorningIembarkedonanunusuallymeditativenorth-eastwarddrive

comparedtomyweekday40-minuteraceintimeforschoolandmylessons.AsIleftmy

homeinAmsterdam,Ipassedthe‘HollandscheSchouwburg.’Builtasatheatrein1892,

duringtheSecondWorldWaritwasusedbytheNazisasadeportationcentreforJews.

‘Anunimaginableshow’theglaringtitleoftheonsiteinformationpostread.68Hostingno

moretheatreproductionssincethosedarkdays,‘thebuildingtodayisamonumenttothe

memoryofthosevictims.’69TakingaleftturnIdrovethroughtheformerJewishquarter

just before the Portuguese Synagogue and into Anne Frank Street, as I continuedmy

familiar route toschool. ‘Anunimaginableshow,’words thatkept floating throughmy

mindasAmsterdamgraduallyrecededinmyrear-viewmirror.‘Unimaginable,’Ithought,

yetthisevery-dayjourneythroughtheDutchcapitalwaspockmarkedwithmemorialsto

thehorrorofwarall the same. In fact, as I coveredmuchof the sameroute Ihad the

previous year, I noticed the advertisements opposite the Allard Pierson Museum,

announcingthetheatreshowcalledAnne.BasedonTheDiaryofaYoungGirlbyitsteenage

authorAnneFrank(1929-1945),thistheatricalproductionpremieringthatsummerwas

unequivocallyaskingitspotentialviewersinthestreettocomeandimaginepreciselythat

whichtheold‘HollandscheSchouwburg’deemedimpossibletoimagine:TheHolocaust.

ForanyonewhohasbeenbroughtupandeducatedintheNetherlands,AnneFrank

is a household name. HerDiary of A Young Girl (hereafter The Diary) has a seminal

canonicalstatusintheDutchcollectiveculturalmemoryofWorldWarII.Itwas,therefore,

much less of a surprise to find the Dutch capital strewn with advertisements for a

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theatricalremediationofTheDiarythanithadbeenwhenIfound‘DulceetDecorumEst’

byWilfredOwenintheheartofAmsterdam’sarchaeologicalmuseumtheyearbefore.It

isawarpoemwhich,asIhaveshowninthepreviouschapterenjoysacanonicalstatusin

Britain, equal to that ofTheDiary in theNetherlands. And yet, this particular Sunday

morning,InoticedmoresignsflankingthoseadvertisingAnnethatsummer:WarHorse,

bychildren’sauthorMichaelMorpurgo(1943–).ThemostsuccessfulplayintheNational

Theatre’s history had transferred to Amsterdam: here was another remediation of a

children’swarstoryonshowinthecapital.70WarHorse,markingthecentenaryofWorld

War I, and Anne, marking the 70th anniversary of the liberation of (parts of) the

NetherlandsduringWorldWarII,arebothimaginingsofthe‘unimaginable’addingtothe

memorymelee.SamuelHynes(1998)wasright, I surmised,wereallywere living ina

‘cultureofwar,’withyetanotherBritishwarnarrative invadingtheNetherlands from

overseas,claimingitsplacealongsidetheiconicDiaryofAYoungGirlbyAnneFrank.

Boththeatreproductions–WarHorseandAnne–arecentrallyprogrammedon

theDutchculturalagendaandareattheheartofcommemoratingwar.‘Takentogether,

theseintersectingcommemorations[ofWorldWarIandII]litterthecalendar,’writesJay

Winter (2001, 58). War narratives like Anne and War Horse are so-called ‘pathos

formulas;’symbolsthatfunctionasa‘culturalenergystore,’whichreleasetheirenergyat

anygivenmomentandthusspeak,transcendingtimeandplace(Erll2011,19-21).Like

thecanonicalpoemsofWorldWarI,thesewarstorieshavethepowertotellandretell,

frame and reframe history and so keep an image of the past alive in Dutch cultural

memory. This is why, as the previous chapter has shown, the force fields of science,

politics and society are eager to place certain works of literature central to

commemoratingwar. Itmakes (war) literature an ideal gateway to addressingwider

social,politicalandscientificconcernsinvolvingcurrentglobalconflictsintheclassroom,

andinthecaseofWarHorseandAnne,outsidetheclassroom,forteachersandtheirpupils

wereboundtodominatetheaudiencesofboththesewarstoriesstagedattheheartof

rememberingourviolentpast.IhavepreviouslyshownthatthecanonicalBritishWorld

War I poets are ‘often credited with having been “anti-war,”’ as Tim Kendall argues.

Domineering teachers curricula since the ‘60s, they ‘are routinely recruited for

propagandabycampaignersopposedto[…]conflicts’(Kendall2013,xxi).DidWorldWar

IIwarstoryAnneanditsoriginalproseformTheDiaryperhapsserveasimilarpurpose,

andequaleducationalpreeminence?

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WiththisissuerushingthroughmymindthatSundaymorningIdrovenorthwards

towardsmyschool,theOSGWest-Friesland.Glancingtomyright,Ilookedintotheeyes

ofAnneFrankamongstthejumbleofbooksIhadhastilythrownontothepassengerseat

nexttome.Herfacelitupbythe21st-centurysunshiningintomycaronthecoverofthe

book, smiling expectantly into the lens. I was guilty of having put The Diary on the

curriculumofaspecificsetofstudentsthisschoolyear.Thiswarnarrativewrittenbya

teenagegirlwasallthearmourIwastakingtowardsthenextchapterinmy21st-century

educational battle: seeking ways to engage teenagers with World War II and the

Holocaust.IsteadilyapproachedthetownofHoorn,asmystudent’ssilhouettesappeared

onthemeetingpointoffthemotorway.AllofthemaroundthesameageasAnnewason

herfataleastwardjourney.AsIparkedmycar,theyhoveredtowardsmeandburstinto

songandlaughter,‘we’regoingonaroadtrip,onaro-roroadtrip.’Seventyyearslater,

followingAnneFrankonherfataljourneyeastwards,mypupilscarriedacopyofthediary

with them in their bags which its author was forced to leave behind. Nothing in the

demeanourandspiritofmypupilssuggested,however,thatthiswasthestartofanything

lessthanaleisurelydayout,aholidayeven.AsurgeofanxietyenvelopedmeasIbeheld

thecheery,red-cheekedexpectancyofthepupilsundermycare.WhatwasIdoinginthis

uniqueeducationalsetting,drivinganexpectantsquadofstudentstooneofthedarkest

cornersoftheworld,formerNazi-concentrationcampBergen-Belsen?

3.1TheDiary:TeachingaCanonPathosFormulaofWorldWarII

Thisbookarguesthatbyselectingliteraturefromthecanonfortheiruseintheclassroom,

teachers are responsible fordefining a nation’s ‘value system,’ creatingour ‘collective

identities’andlegitimizing‘politicalpower’(Erll2011,75).AsIhaveshown,teachersare

atthesteeringwheelof‘inventingtradition,’andliteraturecurriculaplayanimportant

roleinthisprocess.Doesitmatterthattheliteraryimaginingsof‘unimaginable’horror,

warandtheHolocaustnowdominantinDutchsocietywerebothaimedatchildren(War

Horse)andwrittenbyachild(TheDiary)?Thepreviouschapterhasshownthateducation

has left and continues to leave a definingmark onwhatwe regard as the canon. The

pedagogiclegacyof ‘60seducationalanthologiesforegroundingtheuseofOweninthe

classroomcausedashiftinteachingeducationalvalues,namely,theideathatexposing

studentreaderstothecombatpoetryofwarpoetssuchasSassoonandOwenmightlead

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toaworlddevoidof ‘Holocausts,’whetherof theSommeorAuschwitz. It isadefining

moment,whencanonicaladultcombatpoetrywasprimarilyaimedatchildren.DidThe

Diary,writtenbyachild,gainanequalimportantplaceinthecurriculaofteachers,thatit

wouldsuggestcontributingtoasimilarshiftin(teaching)educationalvalues?

The dominance of the theatre play Anne in the Dutch physical and cultural

landscapeunderscoresthefactthat‘rememberingtheHolocausthasformedasignificant

partofabroaderpatternofthecommemorationofthevictimsoftwentieth-centurywar,’

as JayWinterargues (2001,58).Central to thisshift isAnneFrank, living inhiding in

occupied Amsterdam. This girl’s ‘diary and death from typhus in the Bergen-Belsen

concentration camp at 15,’ Joseph Berger explains, ‘have made her perhaps the

Holocaust’sforemostsymbolofslaughteredinnocence’worldwide(Berger2014).Now

consideredasthe ‘iconofWorldWarIItales’(Myers2008,24), it ishardtoimaginea

DutchorindeedanybookshelfwithoutTheDiaryonit.Underscoringherpositionatthe

heart of Dutch cultural memory, when the Netherlands cast its votes for greatest

Dutchmanofalltime,AnneFrankendedinthirdplace.Shewastheonlychild,theonly

womanandtheonlyimmigrantinthetopten.71Thegroupofpupilssteppingintothecar

withmethatfineSundaymorning,embarkingontheeducationaloutingthatwillbethe

mainfocusofthischapter,hadallseenafilmortheatreversionofthediary.All,atsome

pointintheiryounglives,visitedthe‘AnneFrankHuis,’themuseumandheritagesitein

AmsterdamwhereAnnewrote her diary in hiding from theNazis. Formypupils, the

experienceofWorldWarIIandtheHolocaustwassynonymouswithAnneFrankandher

diary,permeatingDutchculturalmemory.

Infact,TheDiaryhasbecome‘thebest-knownaccountinWesternschools,’Kate

AgnewandGeoffFox(2001,153)explain,‘ofexperiencesofthe[SecondWorldWar]on

the European mainland.’ The previous chapter has shown that it was mostly the

authenticityof the ‘combatgnosticism’ (Campbell,1999)of thesoldierpoetsofWorld

WarIthatmadetheirpoetryunremittinglypopularwithpupils.Traditionwasinvented

intheclassroomandtranscendedfromtheclassroomintosociety,byfocusingprimarily

onthecombatverseofsoldierpoetssuchasSassoonandOwen,theideathatonlymen

withexperienceofwarcanwritewithauthorityaboutit,andthattheonlygoodpoems

arethosecriticalofwar.MovingthroughthecenturytothegrandscaleofWorldWarII,a

shifttowardsamoretendernarrativehasoccurred.Forthe‘mostwidelytaughttextabout

avictimof theHolocaust’ isTheDiary, a children’snarrativewrittenbya teenagegirl

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calledAnneFrank(Abramovitch2012,177). Ithasbecomethemostbroadlyreadand

translatedbookinthehistoryofDutchliterature(Bloemendaal2010,416).Herdiaryis

attheheartofDutchandWesterneducationwhereithascometodefinetheexperience

oftheHolocaust.

The first chaptersofmybookhaveoutlinedmyambition tobreak through the

canonicallineofwarpoets,ofconnectingthiscentury-oldpoetrywithmystudents’21st-

century livesandof crossing theboundariesbetweenpoetryandother forms.Yet the

scopeofmybookismuchwider.IhaveshownthatKateMcLoughlinclaimseachwarto

have‘itsownpoesis,itsnaturalway(orways)ofbeingrepresented’(2011,10).Toeach

warbelongsitsownpathosformula‘Mnemosyne’(Diers1995),shesinglesoutthe‘epic

novel’asthestapleformofWorldWarII.Whetherornotitcouldbearguedthatawar

diarywrittenbyachildbelongstothiscategoryisbeyondthepointofmyresearch.What

isimportantisthatmyfirsttentativeandqualitativeanalysisrevealsTheDiarytobea

crucialanddominanttext in thebroadwidthofavailable literaturesontheHolocaust,

especiallyineducation.Onceagain,theimportanceoftheroletheliterarycanonplaysin

educationcannotbeunderestimated.For,firmlyembeddedineducation,nexttothewar

poetryofWilfredOwen,isAnneFrank’swardiary.Thischapterwillstrivetooutlinehow

this‘pathosformula’warnarrative,writtenbyawargnosticgirlamongst‘combatgnostic’

men,hasmovedandmightstillmovebeyonditstimeandformintheclassroom.

This iswhy I have chosen to analyseTheDiary in detailwithin an educational

setting,andchildren’swarliteratureinmorebroaderterms.Doingsothischapterand

thisbook seeks tousemyposition as a scholar amongst teachers to furtheropen the

archiveof(children’s)warliteratureandestablishinterventionsandlinkswiththeadult.

Havingshownthatthecreationofmultimodalliteraturecurriculaopensuptruedidactical

andpedagogicalopportunities,thischapterwishestotakethisambitionforward.Thus,it

cametobethatmyteacher-readerhasbeengivenafirstglimpseofmyfurthestventure

beyondtheremitofmyEnglishcurriculumtodate,steppingintothecarwithasquadof

pupils and heading for former World War II concentration camp Bergen-Belsen in

Germany.ForbesidesestablishingtheroleAnneFrank’scanonicalwartexthasplayedin

education, I firmly believe that many opportunities for re-writing the potentiality of

literature’spower in theclassroomlieoutside theclassroom.Embarkingon thebattle

roadbeyondtheconfinesofschool,Iwilldocumentmychoicetoarmmypupilswitha

warnovelwrittenbyateenager.Iwillanalysewhatrolethesetenderwarnarrativesby

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andforchildrenplaywithinthecanonofwarliteratureineducation.AndIwilloutlinefor

myteacher-readerwhathaddrivenmetointerveneintheclassroomandcreateanout-

of-classintervention,layingoutitsdesign,itspitfallsanditspearls.

3.2TheDiaryandtheRoleofChildren’sLiteratureinEducation

Venturing into the archive of literary scientific research to the benefit ofmy teacher-

reader,foregroundingmyroleasliteraryhistoriannexttothatofteacherandeducational

theorist,Isoonfoundoutthatdefiningchildren’sliteratureisnotwithoutdifficulties.All

in all, as Karín Lesnik-Oberstein aptly summarises, critics are agreed that children’s

literaturecomprisesofa‘categoryofbookstheexistenceofwhichabsolutelydependson

supposedrelationshipswithaparticularreadingaudience:children’(Lesnik-Oberstein

2002,15).However,adefiningproblemariseswhenweaskthequestion,‘isachildren’s

bookwrittenbychildren,or forchildren?’(ibid.).Aquestionwhich, Imyself,andas it

wouldturnoutlatermypupilsalso,hadfrequentlyaskedregardingTheDiaryandhadyet

been unable to answer.More problems of categorisation arisewhen booksmeant for

childrenare(mostly)readbyadults.Forbookscategorisedaschildren’sliterature,such

astheHarryPotterseriesorAliceinWonderland, ‘appealasleastasmuchtoadults,’as

JohnRoweTownsendpointsout(1980,196).Thereverse,ofcourse,couldalsobeargued

of adult books read (mostly) by children. Given the dominance of Owen’s poetry in

education and its canon-defining popularity amongst its teenage readers, it could be

arguedthat‘DulceetDecorumEst’isinfactachildren’sstory.Thiswouldshedanentirely

different lightother (war) literaturesuchasVietnamWarmovies,and theirsupposed

‘anti-war’politics,whichIwilldiscussinthenextchapter.Coulditbethattheytooarea

(multimodal) form of children’s literature, popular as they are with audiences of a

recruitingage,lateteenagersandyoungadults?

Putting The Diary on my extra-curricular program, searching for ways to use

literaturetoteachabouttheHolocaust,quicklyforegroundedthefundamentalproblem

ofbeingunabletocategoriseAnneFrank’sdiaryaudience:childrenoradults.AsIwill

show,mypupilswere irritatedbymychoice, feeling theywerenot takenseriouslyas

youngadultreadersbyhavingto(re)readachildren’sbookwrittenbyachild.Behindthis

liesthecrucialquestionthatIneededtofindanswersto:‘whatdoesitmeantowritea

book “for” children?’ (Lesnik-Oberstein 2002, 15). For the role of children’s (war)

108

narratives within the process of shaping cultural memory has gained new urgency.

ProgrammingtheatreplayssuchasAnneandWarHorseattheheartofcommemorative

events,butalsoattheheartofaworldstilltornbyconflict,isevidenceofthis.Thisiswhy,

inthewakeofthe9-11attacks,children’sliteraturescholarshavesought‘tochallengethe

boundariesofchildren’sliterature,redefiningliteraryandmaterialculturesothatchild

studies would be repositioned at the heart of cultural experience’ (Goodenough and

Immel2008,ix).AsIhavepreviouslyargued,culturaltransmissionandthecreationof

traditiontakesplaceintheclassroom.Whatfollowsisthequestionofwhatistaughtand

whatislearnedwhenchildren’swarnarrativesareembeddedinschoolcurricula?

Criticsareinfundamentalagreementthatchildren’sliteratureisbestdefinedas

‘bookswhicharegoodforchildren,’particularly‘intermsofemotionalandmoralvalues’

(Lesnik-Oberstein 2002, 16). Children’s stories ‘cultivate ethical and cultural values’

which, Stephens and McCallum (1998, 15) explain, ‘function as a replacement for or

surrogateofolderformsofsociallyinscribedtranscendentmeaning,especiallyreligion.’

Children’sliteratureisa‘crucialrepositoryofhumanistideology,’StephensandMcCallum

argue,‘embraced’byso-called‘retellersoftraditionalstories’(ibid.).Becauseschoolsare

thelastbastionofsharedculturalexperience,itisnosurprisethatchildren’sstoriesare

woven into its curriculae. Thesenarratives are another example of culturalmemory’s

abstractionintoobjects,‘maintainedandinterpretedbytrainedspecialists,’towhichthis

bookcruciallyadds teachers (Erll2011,28).Theyare foremostamongst the so-called

‘retellers’ and by choosing how andwhat to tell, teachers are at the helm of defining

culturalmemory,anargumentcentraltothisbook.Thischapterwillexamineinwhatway

teachers wield its power in the classroom by putting The Diary and it’s ‘ethical and

cultural values’ on the curriculum, thus playing a crucial role in shaping the cultural

memoryofWorldWarIIandtheHolocaust.

‘Memory […] is a site of power,’ Kim Wilson (2011, 128) argues, ‘and the

productionandmediationofitacontentiousandcontestedplace’.Canonicalchildren’s

warstories,liketheiradultcounterpart,havethepotentialtocreate‘collectiveidentities,’

to legitimise ‘political power’ and to uphold ‘value systems’ (Erll 2011, 75). This is

preciselythereasonwhytheforcefieldsofpolitics,scienceandsocietyaresoanxiousto

extendtheirinfluenceintotheeverydayclassroom.Wieldingwarnarratives,education

and itseducatorshave thepower tocontrol culturalmemory,whichasWilson (2011,

129)argues'createsasiteofpowerforthedominantvoice.'Forthecommonlyheldview

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in contemporary children’s literature scholarship is that (war)writing for children is

‘inherently didactic’ (Myers 2008, 19). The ‘ideological tenor of historical books for

children’isavery‘importantfacet’ofthegenre(ButlerandO’Donovan2012,84).‘Tone,

theprevailingcharacterorstyleasofmannersormorals'inwarliteratureaimedatyoung

readers 'caneffectachangeinperceptionandcanthereforefundamentallychangethe

conceptionofthatfixedevent,personalityoridea'(Wilson2011,144).Thisisprecisely

thereasonwhyliteratureandthepoliticsofmemoryissuchanintricatelyinterwoven

battlefield.

3.3TheDiaryVersustheForceFields

The importance of First and SecondWorldWar commemorations,which as events of

'publichistory'(Wilson2011,129)aretheagentsofculturalmemory,isunderscoredby

whatlaterbecameknownasthe‘Goveadder’debate.ThenBritishSecretaryofStatefor

Education,MichaelGove,launchedwhatGillPlain(2017,xviii)describedasa‘high-profile

attack’onteachersatthestartofthecentenaryWorldWarIcommemoration.AsIhave

showninthepreviouschapter,Gove(2014)arguedthat‘theLeft’insistedon‘belittling

trueBritishheroes’oftheGreatWar,byaddingnarrativessuchasBlackaddertoschool

curricula.PoliticianslikeGovethusdemonstratewhatWilson(2011,129)termsthe‘self-

evidentrelationshipbetweenmemoryandpower,’theextenttowhicha'state'wantsto

'controlaparticularunderstandingof thepast.’Teaching languageand literature isan

integralpartofmemorycultureofwhichpoliticiansareanimportantstakeholder.Atthe

startofthecentenarycelebrationsofWorldWarI,withactivewarsragingthroughoutthe

world,theBritishgovernmentstandstobenefitfromredirectingtheprevalentcultural

narrativethatlaysstressonthefutilityofwartowardsanarrativethatunderscoresits

necessity.Thereisnobetterwaytodosothantodirectlyaddressthegatekeeperswithin

thesuperstructureofmemoryculturethatisschool,itsso-called‘retellers’and‘trained

specialists:’teachers.

‘AnneFrankisnotsomeLeft-winghobby!’theformerDutchSecretaryofStatefor

Education, Dr Jet Bussemaker, exclaimed passionately during an interview, when I

confrontedherwithheroverseascolleagueMrGove’sclaims.72Bussemaker’sdiametric

oppositiontoGoveillustratesthatforpoliticians,thereismuchatstakewhentheyseek

to influence the formation of culturalmemory in education. As KimWilson (2011, 8)

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explains: political ‘discourses on war in historical fiction for children play a part in

decidingwhathistorywillberememberedandhowthathistorymightbecritiqued.’AsI

have shown, Jay Winter (2013) goes so far as to claim that decades of teaching the

canonicalpoetryofOwenandSassoonwasresponsibleforalanguageof‘quasi-pacifism’

thatstillenduresinBritaintoday.Itisthispresumedlegacy,aninheritanceofthesingle-

minded focus of ‘left-wing’ literature in British education on war, that the British

SecretaryofStateforEducationcriticises,andthewaythislegacyhasnowtrickleddown

to canonical children’s war narratives such as Michael Morpurgo’sWar Horse. In an

interviewbytheDailyTelegraph,Morpurgonotedthathisfeeforthefilmadaptationof

hischildren’swarnovel:

wasmoremoneythanI’veeverbeenpaidforanythingI’veeverwritten.

Butthatwasn’tthetemptation.Thetemptationwasthechanceforaniconic

filmabouttheFirstWorldWar,perhapsasgreatasAllQuietOnTheWestern

Frontwithitsoverpoweringsenseofwaste.(Gore-Langton2010)

Morpurgoisinaweofhisliterary‘anti-war’predecessor,ErichMariaRemarque(1898-

1970).Hisbest-sellingbook inspiredanavalancheofwarprosebywarpoets suchas

SassoonandGraves.73Whatistypicalofchildren’shistoricalnarratives,isthatitsauthors

wanta‘particularizedmemoryofWorldWarItoexistinthepresent,’KimWilsonexplains

(2011,130),andinthiscaseonewhichfocusesonwar’s‘overpoweringsenseofwaste.’

TowhatextentMorpurgosharedthisagendawhenwritingWarHorseisopentodebate,

one which could thrive in the classroom. What is important is that this example

underscoresAgnewandFox’sclaimthat‘adultliteraryinterest’inwarnarrativeshasa

‘trickledowneffect’onchildren’swarliterature(2001,83).‘Inthetreatmentofthetwo

worldwarsinrecentnovels,’theyargue,‘youngreadersareinvariablyurgedtoexamine

thenatureofviolenceandsuffering[…]andtosharethewriters’condemnationofwar,’

of whichWar Horse is a clear example (Agnew and Fox 2001, 53). Both Gove and

Bussemakerunderscorethecentralityofcanonical‘pathosformula’warnarrativesinthe

curriculumofteachers.YetwhereGovecriticisestheculturaldominanceofso-calledleft-

wingTVproductionsinBritisheducationsuchasBlackadder,andthewayitslegacyof

condemning war has trickled down to canonical (children’s) war narratives such as

MichaelMorpurgo’sWarHorse,Bussemakerdoestheopposite.

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AsIhavepreviouslyshown,afewmonthspriorto‘Goveadder’Bussemakersenta

lettertoagroupofteachersonbehalfoftheDutchGovernment,statingthenecessityto

fight the rise of anti-Semitism in theNetherlands. Key to this battle, according to the

Minister,arethosesheaddressed:teachers.

Teaching about the Holocaust can be very challenging for teachers in

primaryandsecondaryeducation.Itseemsthatsometeachersareafraidto

address this subject in class, because they fear negative reactions from

(someof)thepupils.Teachersseemtobegrippedbyaso-called ‘lesson-

fear.’74

TheDutchgovernmentisconvincedthatteachersplayadefiningroleinsocietywhenit

comestoeducatingcitizensonwar,traumaandtheHolocaust.Bussemakerforegrounds

literature,andspecifically,TheDiary,categoriseduniversallyaschildren’sliterature,as

anidealgatewaytooltoaddresssuchissuesofcitizenship.Furtherreasonformetoopt

forthecanonical‘pathosformula’warnarrativeTheDiaryinmybidtocreateversatilein-

andout-of-classliteraturecurricula,thatofferachancetocreatethefixed,value-driven

markstheforcefieldsofsociety,scienceandpoliticssodesperatelyseekasgatewayto

developingpupil-citizenship.

3.4BeyondTheDiary:CreatingMemoryOutsidetheClassroom

AsIcontinuetocombinethreerolesatalltimes,McLoughlinasmethodinhand(literary

historian),armedwithBiesta to fuelmyeducationalvision (educational theorist), and

with thedailypractice to intervene in(teacher), Iaskmyteacher-reader to followme

through thisnewchapter inmyexploratory literaryquest.Takinga ‘beautiful risk’ as

Biesta put it, I turned upon a road fraught with anxiety. Veering off widely frommy

experienceandexpertiseteachingFirstWorldWarpoetry,myambitionhadovertaken

myfearasIventuredintotherelativelyunknownrealmsofadifferentwar,genreand

form.HowwasIgoingtodesignanout-of-classinterventionthatwouldfulfilthegoalsI

havesetoutabove,letaloneonethatwouldtakepupilstotheunimaginabledarknessof

aformerconcentrationcamp?

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ThischapterisatestimonytothelongjourneyImadewithagroupofstudents

into World War II’s heart of darkness. Yet it was on an ancient Scottish battlefield

pulsatingintheeternalmindofScotland’sculturalmemorythatIformedthebasisofthe

answerstoBussemaker’sconcernsaboutteachingwar.Partandparceloftheculturally

immersiveprogramFastLaneEnglishthatIhaddesignedatmyschool,wasthefieldtrip

to Scotland. That year it coincided with ‘the run-up to the first outbreak of

commemorativeactivity,’surroundingthecentenaryofWorldWarI.Thecentenaryofa

warinwhichScotsandEnglishfoughtsidebysidecoincidedwiththecommemorationof

awarinwhichthesetwonationswereoppositeforces,Scotlandsecuringindependence

after their famousvictoryat theBattleofBannockburn in1314.Causeenough foryet

another, this time Scottish skirmish between academics and politicians ‘over the

relationshipbetweenmemory,history,andrepresentation’(Plain2017,xviii).Scottish

memory,however,‘wasevenmorecomplexlyfreighted,’Plain(ibid.)explains,fornotonly

did1914collidewith‘thesignifyingforceof1314butalsowithapotentiallyparadigm

shiftingIndependenceReferendum,’setfortheautumnof2014.

It was against this backdrop that my pupils paid a visit to Scotland’s ‘sites of

memory’and‘sitesofmourning’(Winter1995).AttheheartofFastLaneEnglishliesthe

didacticphilosophythatculturalimmersionthroughtask-basedlearningexercisesleads

to giant leaps in foreign language acquisition. Task-based learning ‘adopts meaning-

based, communicative tasks as the central unit for defining language learning needs,

determining curriculum goals, designing activity in the (language) classroom, and

assessing languagecompetencies.’75With the targetofScottishculturalmemoryunder

constantsiege,gainingfirmfootholdintheviolenceofmultiplecommemorativeforces

wasgoingtoprovechallenging,andyetatthesametimeitformedthebasisoftheFast

LanetaskIhadsetthemahead.Studentsweresplituptoworkineightdifferent‘task-

teams,’eachaidedbytheirownspecificarts,history,orlanguageteacher.Theirmission

wastoadoptoneormoreScottishnarratives,linkingthesetoScottishheritagesites,and

framingandpresentingthesewithinaten-minuteculturaltraveldocumentary.

Asanexample,wetookourDutchpupilstoBannockburn,whichplayedacentral

role in the Scottish 1314-1914-2014-memorymelee. Bannockburn is an example of a

‘Lieudesmémoire’asPierreNorafamouslycalled‘theprincipalplacesorsitesinwhich

memory[is]rooted,’(Landsberg2004,6).Nora’sassertionisthatitispossibletostudy

themoodofanationatsuchsites.Acaseinpointwastheinitiativetocommissionapoem

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tomarktheunveilingofarenewedmonumentatthesiteoftheBattleofBannockburn,an

eventgivenextrasignificanceduetoitstimelyproximitytotheScottishindependence

referendum(ibid.).PoetKathleenJamiewonthecompetitionwithherpoem‘Herelies

our land,’ now eternally inscribed in the so-called ‘Rotundamonument’ at Scotland’s

ancient battlefield.76As if sensing that divine interventionwas needed, Jamie’s poem,

consistingofthreerun-onlinesbrokenintothreestanzasofthreelineseach,isalinguistic

triptychinform,withsubtlereferencestotheholyTrinityincontent.Discussingasmuch

withmypupils,Jamie’spoemisgivenfurtherdepthbyherevocationineachstanzaofthe

(divine)cloudsandsun,the(mortal)‘transients’and‘smallfolk,’andfinallythe(spiritual)

‘land’or‘country’itself.‘Comeallye,thecountrysays’asthepoemconcludes,‘Youwinme,

who takememost toheart.’77With the tuneof JohnFrancisWade’s (1711-1786)carol

‘Adeste Fideles’78humming in the intertextual background, the spirit of the land thus

summonsthefaithfulforcesofman’seternalbattleoverher,andlikeafatalHelen,towin

herlovewholoveshermost.

Thefinalwinktomankind’smostfamousbattleofalltime,Troy,eternalisedinthe

epic war poem The Iliad, not only confirms the status of Bannockburn in Scotland’s

cultural memory, but also portends its undying future. Because ‘we are constantly

remindedthat“we”liveinnations“our”identityisconstantlybeingflagged’(Billig1995,

3).Thus,Bannockburnstandsasa ‘flag’of Scottishnational identity (Plain2017, xiv).

Combinedwiththepotential‘pathosformula’powerofwarnarrative‘Hereisourland,’

bothlinguisticallyandliterallytheeternalScottishbattle-landsof1314(Bannockburn),

1914(WorldWarI)and2014(IndependenceReferendum)aimtoevokeemotionand

empathywith itsvisitingreaders,bysummoningupmemories thatarenot theirown.

WhatinfactappearsatthissiteandtheinterplaywithKathleenJamie’spoem,iswhat

AlisonLandsberg(2004,2)calls‘prostheticmemory:’

Prosthetic memory emerges at the interface between a person and a

historicalnarrativeaboutthepast,atanexperientialsitesuchasamovie

theatreormuseum.[…]Thepersondoesnotsimplyapprehendahistorical

narrativebuttakesonamorepersonal,deeplyfeltmemoryofapastevent

throughwhichheorshedidnotlive.Theresultingprostheticmemoryhas

theabilitytoshapethatperson’ssubjectivityandpolitics.

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Mypupils’pathinScotlandwasbeingpepperedwithliterature,thenarrativegunswhich

aimedtomoveanddefineScotland’sculturalmemory.AsmyDutchstudentsfilmedboth

the literaland literarycontoursofScotland, theirdocumentary filmsbecameaunique

blendofDutchteenageexperiencemixedwiththeculturalmemoryofaforeignnation,

attachingitselftothemandtheirfilmtask‘likeanartificiallimb’(Landsberg2004,20).

ThesuccessofthisFastLanetaskmeriteditshonoraryselectionbythePanEuropean

TaskforLanguageLearning(PETALL)researchprogrammeasexampleofgoodpractice.

Thetasksuccessfullypromotedthecoregoalsoftheprogramme:a‘mutualunderstanding

andawarenessoflinguisticandculturaldiversitythroughICT-based[tasks]thattravel

well,securingthequalityofthecommunicativeexchangeacrossculturalandgeographic

divides.’79

SometimelaterIfacedthechallengeofdesigninganout-of-classintervention,or

task,withwhichtotackleteachers’‘lesson-fear’(Bussemaker2013)whentheyarefaced

with teachingaboutwarand theHolocaust. IknewIcouldrelyon theaward-winning

Scottishtaskdesignasitsoutline,takingmypupilsbeyondAnneFrank’sdiaryandonto

theroadshetooktoherendinBergen-Belsen.Becauseitwasimpossibletoweavesuch

anextensiveoutsideinterventionortaskintoanexistingcurriculum,letalonethein-class

preparationthatwouldbeinvolved,IwentbackandsearchedthroughtheScottishTask

videoproducts,andselectedwhatIdeemedwasthebestproduct.Andsoitcametobe

thatofthevariouspupilteamsthathadtravelledtoScotland,thosecallingthemselvesthe

‘Semi-Matured’gatheredwoundsthatsmackedofsuchhonour, that, togetherwithmy

colleagues,Iselectedthemfortheextra-curriculartask-basedliteraturecourse.It isto

thisgroupofpupilsthatIrefertointhischapterandtotheinterventionInamed‘Finding

AnneFrank,’whichIwilloutlineaccordingly.80

Warstorieshavethe‘ability…toproduceempathyandsocialresponsibilityaswell

aspoliticalalliances that transcendrace,classandgender’ (Landsberg2004,21).This

shedslightonthemotivesfortheDutchappropriationandworld-wideculturalexportof

TheDiaryasasymbolofinnocenceunderrepression,hopeafterdeath,aChristfigurefor

theincreasinglysecularDutch,actingasa ‘flag’toDutchculturalmemory.Atthesame

time,despiteitsuniversalmessage,IlanaAbramovitch(2012,177)warnsthat‘centralto

teachingaboutAnneFrankintheUnitedStatesisaninherentdistance,culturalaswellas

geographicand,increasingly,temporal.’Sheclaimsthat‘thechallengeofmediatingthat

distanceisaddressedeverytimeastudentisassignedtoreadtheDiaryofaYoungGirl’

115

(ibid.).LinkingAnneFrank’s ‘personalisedstory’ to the taskaheadwasnot justa step

towardssolvingmylessonfears.ExploringDutchculturalmemoryofWorldWarIIand

theHolocaustandcontrastingthesetoAnglo-AmericanwaysofreadingTheDiarywould

allowmetoanalysethepitfallsandopportunitiesofaddingthetenderregisterofachild’s

warstorytomypupils’curriculum,bywhichweremembertheviolentpastandframeit

forthefuture.

AsIhaveargued,engagingpupilsintheacademic,politicalandsocietaldebateand

makingthemcentrestageintheirownanalysisofwarnarrativesiscrucial.Selectinga

group of seasoned students from this former Scottish battlefield had considerable

benefits.TheiroutstandingapplicationoftheICTbasedtaskprovedthemtobeamongst

themostexcellentEnglish learnersatourschool.Happy toattend theextra lessons it

would need to prepare for their extra-curricular film-task on the culturalmemory of

WorldWar IIand theroad toBergen-Belsenon thego, Iventured todrawupon their

experiencetohelpshapethetaskahead.TheScotswereinventingtradition(Hobsbawm

1983,1)bytheirattemptatcreatinga‘prostheticmemory’upontheliterary,politicaland

historical ‘flag’ofBannockburnwith thosewhoencountered itswaving. Ithadcaused

someofitsdesiredeffectuponmypupils’task-teamfilm-narratives;theirappropriation

ofanarrativeversionofScottishculturalmemorymixedwiththeirpersonalmemories.

Wishingtoelicitanevenmorepersonalresponsetowhatmightwellproveanevenmore

potent ‘flag,’duetoitsheightenedspatial,temporal,familialandpersonalproximityto

mystudents, IselectedanarrativewhichpermeatedDutchmemorialcultureandwith

whichtheyhadallcomeintoclosecontactduringtheirprimaryschooldaysinsomeway

oranother:TheDiary.

Out-of-class Intervention Stopping Point I: Westerbork

SomehoursafterourmeetingupontheDutchheathonourwayonthatanxiousroadmy

pupilsandIdrivepastasiteofmemoryintheDutchlandscape,a‘temporalanchor’as

AndreasHuyssen(1995,7)soaptlytermedthesefixedmarksinthemidstofthememory

melee.Myeyesglancedacrossthearrayofbooksandoldnewspapercuttingsmypupils

travellinginthecarwithmehadhastilyflungaside.‘TeachersfindtheHolocaustadifficult

subjecttoteach’wastheheadlineofanarticleinaleadingDutchnewspaperthatsummer

(Dirks2015).‘ManyyoungstersbelievetheDutchNationalWarMemorialServicetobe

unimportanttotheirownlives,’writesDirks(2015),‘andatsomeschoolsteachingthe

116

Holocaustisasensitiveissue.’Mycarispackedwiththreegirlsinthebackandoneboy

infront,outofagroupofelevenstudentsintotal.Thegirlshavelostsomeoftheirshrill

and happy boisterousness but are still cackling with bewitching energy all the same.

‘We’rejustpassingCampWesterborktotherightofus,’Isay,aswenearedtheGerman

border.‘AnneFrank’sfinalstopinHollandafterherarrest.’Mypupilsshiftuncomfortably,

Andries moves the sweets he had beenmunching to the glove compartment, Geesje,

GezinaandClasinaunplugtheirearphonesandstoptheirchatter.Familiarmovementsto

me;theyweregettingreadyforalesson.

Teachers‘continuetochampion[TheDiary]asakeytextforyoungadults,’Ilana

Abramovitchargues,thusinspiring‘legionsofnewreaders’(2012,177).Yetitspedagogy

isasiteofcontention,and for thatreasonIdecideto involvemypupils in thedebate.

“Somecriticsclaim,”IexplaininthecarquotingAbramovitch,“that‘teachersandstudents

avoidinformationaboutAnnethatrevealsthepainfuleventsaftertheAnnexinhabitants'

arrestbytheNazis’”(Abramovitch2012,167).“WearenowpassingCampWesterbork,”

Icontinue,“andthediaryyouhaveallreadfamouslyendsonAugust1,1944,tellingus

nothingofAnne'sjourneyeastwardviathatcamp.InthelastsceneoftheGoodrichand

Hacketttheatreversion,Anne's fatherOttoFranktellsMiepGiesthatAnnewashappy

here.Iwonder;doyouthinkshewas?”81

Itseemsstrangetosaythis,thatanyonecouldbehappyinaconcentration

camp.ButAnnewashappyinthecampinHollandwheretheyfirsttookus.

Aftertwoyearsofbeingshutupintheserooms,shecouldbeout–outin

thesunshineandthefreshairthatsheloved.(GoodrickandHackett1995,

141)

“Maybeshewas,”Clasinawhispershopefully,andGezinaandGeesjenodinassent,but

afteraruefullookfromAndries,theybothbackdown."That'sjustbollockssir,”Andries

saysflippantly,"nobodycanbehappyinaconcentrationcamp.”Whatmypupilsstumbled

uponintheendingtothisstageversionofTheDiaryisaprimeexampleof‘characteristic

pattern of muting’ which surrounds children’s representations of the Holocaust

(Goodenough and Immel 2008, 13). Fictions such as these could lead to a ‘gross

misunderstandingofthenatureofAnne’sfate’(Abramovitch2012,168),andmypupils’

initial response to the theatre textunderscores theurgencyandrealityof thisdanger.

117

ExploringtheunwrittenpagesofAnneFrank’sdiaryafterAugust1,1944,ontheroadto

Bergen-Belsen,wasmywayofgivingavoicetoamutedchildren’sstoryofwar.Judging

fromtheirfirstreactions,mystudentswereconfusedandyetontheirwaytocompleting

AnneFrank’sstory,whichaimedtopreventthemfromformingmisconstruedideasabout

Anne’sfatalend.

HereIwas,carfilledtothebrimwith‘youngsters’,travellingalongthetracesof

WorldWarII,dealingwithmyteacher’sanxietytoaddressthe‘sensitiveissue’head-on.

Dirks’sarticleunderscoressociety’sviewofschooland its teachers,expectingthemto

take a stand at the helm of defining memory and tackle this generation’s temporal

separationtoWorldWarIIandtheHolocaust.Witheachpassingday,pupils’distanceto

thatpastincreases,asthenarrativesofwarshiftfrom‘communicativememory,’quoting

JanAssmann,into‘culturalmemory.’Myanswertosociety’spleaistogivemystudents

aniconicchildren’swarstoryasgatewaytounderstandingtheHolocaust.Designingan

out-of-classintervention,Iaimedtocouplethislinguisticculturalnarrativetoitsspatial

counterpart, the memorial road of Anne Frank’s final journey, travelling beyond The

Diary’sendingonAugust4,1944.Westerbork’saimwasto‘givethevictimsanameanda

face’bypersonalizingeachof the102000victims’and5000survivors’history, linking

themtothelives, ‘neighbourhoods’and‘school[s]’ofpresent-daypupils.82Novictimof

theHolocaust’sfaceandnamearesowellknownasitsformerinhabitantAnneFrank,I

surmised,embeddeddeeplyinDutchandWesternculturalmemory,afactIhopedwould

engagewhatDutchmediaclaimedweremydisengagedyoungsters.

Their end-product I designed to be a short film-diary ending to The Diary, by

documenting their own eastward journey and visit to Bergen-Belsen, punctuated in

preparationwiththeirownselectionsfromthetext.TheirScottishdocumentaryfilmshad

becomeauniqueblendofDutchteenageexperiencemixedwiththeculturalmemoryofa

foreignnation,whichhadattacheditselftothemandtheirfilmtask‘likeanartificiallimb’

ofwhatLandsberg(2004,2)terms‘prostheticmemory.’Similarly,theaimwastousethe

heightenedspatial,temporal,familialandpersonalproximitymystudentshadtoWorld

War II and the memory of Anne Frank, to shine light on its ultimate blind spot: the

annihilationoftheannexeinhabitantsduringtheHolocaust.Peopleareconstantlybeing

‘remindedthat[they]liveinnations’,andlikewisetheidentityoftheDutch‘isconstantly

beingflagged’(Billig1995,93).Itisarecurrentpattern:thememorycultureoftheday

strongly influencesperceptionof thepastand future,onwhatwe teachandarebeing

118

taught.Yetno‘flag’waswavinginBergen-BelsentoremindtheDutchofthestarkrealities

oftheHolocaustandtheuntimelydeathoftheirmostpopularfemaleicon.Becausethe

Scots’attempttocreate‘prostheticmemory’ofanancientbattlefornationhoodhadhad

itsdesiredeffect,theaimwastoplantanew‘flag’ofDutchnationalandpersonalmemory

intheformofthetask-team’sfilm-narratives.

3.5MagicalMoments:theCreationofanIn-ClassLiteratureIntervention.

AsIhavearguedpreviously,itisvitaltoestablishawarliteraturecurriculumthatallows

studentstoengageontheirownterms.Discussing,asthischapterdoes,theenormous

potentialofliterarytextssuchasTheDiarytoestablishgatewayswithaclassofpupilsto

lessonsonexclusion,fear,repression,terrorandtheHolocaust,Imeanmyteacher-reader

tounderstandtheselinksshouldbeappliedbroadly.The‘narrowviewofcitizenship,’as

NeilHopkinshaspointedout,‘onethatsimplydefinesthetermastheabilitytorecount

andrememberkeyhistorical,political,religiousandculturalaspectsof[British]society’

should be avoided (Hopkins 2014, 118). In other words, by strongly advocating the

inclusionofpupilsinthewidevarietyof21stcentury(war)literaturecurriculaIestablish

in this book, it is important to realise this engagement, though established on an

individualbasis,isneverthelessagroupprocess.

Movingaway fromaneo-liberalistviewof individualresponses, IamwithGert

Biesta and Robert Lawy (2006) when they argue for a shift from the ‘teaching of

citizenshiptowardsthedifferentwaysinwhichyoungpeopleactuallylearndemocratic

citizenship,’somethingwhichisideallyacquiredatschool,inaclassroomsetting.Asthe

previouschapterhasshown,pupil’sownpoeticresponsetoWorldWarI’sliterarycanon

and the ‘sites of memory’ and ‘sites of mourning’ (Winter 1995) around Ypres, for

example,aremostlycomposedinduosandareallpresentedtotheentireclass.Likewise,

this chapter will show that the extra-curricular interventions I will outline here,

foregroundingspecificextractsfromTheDiarythatstandouttoindividualpupils,arealso

presentedinagroupsetting.BiestaandLawry(2006)arguethatdemocraticcitizenship

‘mustalsoincludeattentiontothewaysinwhichyoungpeoplelearnnottobeinvolved

withquestionsaboutdemocracyandcitizenship.’The longroad toBergen-Belsenwill

showthatalthoughthisparticulargroupofpupilshasbeenespeciallyselected for the

programIoutlineinthischapter,bynomeansdoesthismeantheyadheretoitatalltimes.

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Inthenextchapterofthisbook,Iwillgointomoredetailabouthowwatchingwarmovies

might facilitatemy teacher-reader togain controlof a groupofpupilsunwilling tobe

involvedintheeducationalprocessfullstop,letalonethedemocratic.

Askingpupilsto(re)introducethemselveswiththeultimatecanonicalchildren’s

wartextduringamorematurestageoftheirteenageyearsmakesthemseethatnarrative

anew.Dividedas critics areonhow to represent conflict andatrocity in literature for

children,Iwassearchingforwaystoincludemypupilsinthedebate.‘Thetensionwithin

moderntraumatheory,’MargaretHigonnet(2005,51)explains,is ‘betweenthosewho

believethattruetrauma(asintheHolocaust)isunrepresentable,andthosewhobelieve

that thememoryofa traumaticexperiencecanandshouldbe relivedandnarrated in

ordertoputittorest.’LawrenceL.Langer(1998,1)hasnoqualmsstatingtowhichcamp

hebelongs,arguingthata‘majorlegacyoftheevent[theHolocaust]isthedefeatofthe

wordsthattrytodescribeit.’Whatisoftenunacceptableforveteransandvictimsofwar,

BesselvanderKolkexplains, is that theconstructionofanarrativeabouta traumatic

eventsuchaswarandtheHolocaustmakesofthiseventsomethingthatcanbecaptured,

understood,andclosedoff.BasedonhisinterviewswithVietnamveterans,anareaIwill

returntointhefollowingchapter,VanderKolkarguesthatmovingbeyondtraumaisnot

anactofforgivingbutforgetting.Feelingsofsurvivors’guiltandloyaltytothedeadare

theprimereasonpreventingthemfromtellingtheirstoryandthusmovingon.83

Thisbombardmentfromtheacademicforcefieldillustratesthedifficultyteachers

facewhen selecting texts about theHolocaust for classroomuse,when contemporary

scholarsreservesuchsternjudgementfornarrativesthatclaimtorepresentit.Theodor

Adornohascastthegreatestshadowontalkingandwritingaboutwar,dictatingthat‘to

writepoetryafterAuschwitzisbarbaric’.84SusanGubar(2003,4)explainsthatAdorno’s

‘axiomatic’dictumwas interpreted inavarietyofways, as an ‘admonition (bewareof

writingpoetry),sometimesadirective(poetryoughtnottobewritten),sometimessimply

adiagnosis (poetry cannotbewritten).’ In a sense, it hasbecome impossible towrite

poetry,i.e.tocreateart,afterTheodorAdorno.TheHolocaustisan‘“eventatthelimits,”’

which‘testsourtraditionalconceptualandrepresentationalcategories’(SaulFriedländer

(1992, 3). In the light of the grand scale failure of both literary and historical

representations, it isevenmoredifficult forteacherslikemyselftofindrepresentative

textstouseinclass.Selectingcertainwarnarrativesmightbeconstruedaschoosingsides.

Whatthischapterandthisbookaimtoshowisthatchoosingthewarnarrativesisnota

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teacher’smaingoal.Rather,itistofacilitatedebatewithpupilsaboutthesetextsandthe

darksubjectsinhistorywhichtheyclaimtorepresent.

Bearinginmindthatmanycriticsarguethereisa‘characteristicpatternofmuting’

aroundthesubjectoftheHolocaustinliteratureaimedspecificallyatpupils,theironyis

that children’s texts ostensibly fail a step further (Goodenough and Immel, 2008, 13).

‘Children’sbooks,’MikeandNikkiThomson(2012)argue,‘oftenactassitesintowhicha

culture’sethics,expectationsandhopesarepoured.’Children’swarstoriessuchasWar

HorseandTheDiaryreveal‘whatwewantchildrentoknowandlearnbutalsowhatwe

alsowishinourhonestmomentsforourselves’(ibid.).Tokeepthis‘ideologicaltenor’in

historicalchildren’snarrativestenable,adultstendto‘pussyfootaroundtheur-terrors,

[…]outofanxietyandoutoftenderness’,LoreSegal(2008,94)explains.‘Toexposethe

truthtoachild[…]feelslikeanobscenity.’Children’snarratives,criticsargue,donottell

thefulltruthaboutwarandtheHolocaust,becauseatthesametime,theyhavetoreassure

thereader:‘whatisdistressingisoftensoftenedandwhatistraumaticismadecoherent’

(Kerzter2004,254).Thehorse‘Joey’inWarHorse,aftersufferingterriblehardshipsat

WorldWar I’s front, survives against all odds and is reunitedwithhis owner ‘Albert.’

DespiteMorpurgo’sself-confesseddebttoAllQuietontheWesternFront,hedoesnotcopy

thefateofRemarque’smaincharacterPaulBäumer,whodiesinthetrenchesjustlikeall

hiscomrades,somemonthsshortofthearmistice.Likewise,AnneFrank’sdiarydoesnot

tellthestoryofherarrest,herdeportationtoWesterbork,AuschwitzandBergen-Belsen.

GoodrichandHackett’stheatricalversionofherdiaryproveshowOttoFrank’sfinallines

softenthedistressingtruthaboutAnne:herdeathinaconcentrationcamp.

Andso,Iintroducemypupilsintheextra-curricularclasstoGaryWeissman,who

arguesthatstoriesabouttheHolocaustoftenhave‘ahappyending,therebydenyingits

truehorror’(2004,12).Weissmancallsthis‘sugar-coatingtheHolocaust’andarguesthat

‘storieswithmagicalmomentsandhappyendingscontinuetoproliferate[…]inorderto

appeal toasbroadanaudienceaspossible’ (ibid.).TheplayandmovieversionofThe

Diaryisapointincase,inwhichAnneFrank’sfinalwordsare‘inspiteofeverythingIstill

believethatpeoplearereallygoodatheart,’ foregroundedfromTheDiaryandnotthe

dark‘thereisanurgeandarageinpeopletodestroy,tokill,tomurder’writtenjustafew

weeksearlier(Frank2002,332,280).ConfrontingmypupilswithWeissman’scritiquein

a bid to activate them in the debate, I put to them the ethical dilemmawhether it is

possibleforabookwrittenbyaHolocaustvictimtocontain‘magicalmoments.’Lawrence

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L.Langer(1998,1)argues,forinstance,thatthereareno‘positivelessons’tobelearned

from the Holocaust, something which he calls an ‘unshakeable conviction’, he writes

vehemently,andoneweneedtodrop.Yetonthecoverofthe2002editionofTheDiary,

children’s author Jacqueline Wilson unabashedly states the book is ‘uplifting and

enriching’andthereforedeservesaspecialplaceoneverybookshelf.85Thenextstepwas

toputmypupilscentrestagetothispolemicdilemma.

Breakingbeyondmyanxietiesandtakingthebeautifulrisk,Iaskmystudentsto

selecttheirso-called‘magicalmoments’fromreadingAnneFrank’sdiary.Theirpersonal

responsetoboththediaryandthecritiqueonitspervasiveuseineducationisvitalto

establishing awar literature curriculum that allows students to engage on their own

terms.Formypupilsareopinionatedteenagers,likeAnne,acoupleofmonthsshortof

herfifteenthbirthday,whowrites:

IknowwhatIwant,Iknowwho’srightandwho’swrong,Ihavemyown

opinions,ideasandprinciples,andthoughitmaysoundoddcomingfroma

teenager, I feel more of a person than a child – I feel I’m completely

independentofothers.(Frank2002,222)

Byreadingtothemthisexcerpt,oneofmyownmagicmomentsfromTheDiary,Ihopeto

showmypupilsthatthey,likeAnne,areintheprocessofdevelopingideasandprinciples;

theyarestartingtodiscernrightfromwrong,independentoftheirfamilialsurroundings.

Yet unlike Anne, my pupils have not been locked up in a small space in occupied

Amsterdamformorethantwoyears,constantlyawareandinfearofdiscoveryandthe

terrible end this would entail, despite Otto Frank’s claim his daughter was happy in

Westerbork,halfwaytoAuschwitz.Thein-classinterventionImadewastosetthemasa

task topinpoint themagicalmoments from thebookevery fortnight,discussing these

momentswiththegroupinreactiontoWeissman.FollowingthechronologyofTheDiary

in-class,theout-of-classintervention,creatingtheirownfilmfromtheirfieldtriptothe

gates of concentration camp Bergen-Belsen, would provide an ending to the in-class

intervention:Anne’sstorybeyondherdiary.

‘Butthat’sabookforchildren,sir,’Egbertexclaimed,whileHubertjustsighedand

mumbled ‘oh no not a book’ quietly to himself. These were the first disheartening

reactions I got when, during the extra-curricular class with the pupils of the ‘Semi-

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Matured,’IoutlinedthecentralityofTheDiarytothecourse.Iknewthatgettingpupilsto

readaliterarytextaslengthyasanovelwasabattleanyhow,whichteachersoflanguages

hadbeen steadily losingover thepast twodecades.VanSteensel,Vander Sande, and

ArendsstressthedepthoftheproblematDutchsecondaryschoolsspecifically,arguing

thatanever-growingnumberofpupilssufferfromlowreadingmotivation,andwrestle

withreadingproblems.Pupils’readingmotivationissuccessfullyincreased,theyargue,

by supporting students’ autonomy, activating their intrinsic interests and addressing

theirsocialmotivation,especiallywhensetwithinclearlyestablishedgoals(ofcommand)

(VanSteensel,VanderSandeandArends2017,3-13).Asitstood,thetaskformatasit

hadbeendevelopedandcarriedoutinScotlandtickedthreeoutofVanSteensel,Vander

Sande, andArends’ four boxes. The last one, intrinsicmotivation, I hoped this icon of

Dutch culturalmemorywould spark off. Upon the outset, however, it did exactly the

opposite.

Thoughmanyofthe‘Semi-Matured’werenotaversetoreadingbooks,nonewere

motivated to read thisnovel theyall associatedwith childhoodand theirown timeat

primaryschool,farremovedfromtheyoungadultstheynowconsideredthemselvesto

be.AfterallthoseyearsofhavingbeendruggedwithTheDiary, itseemedtheseVWO-

pupils were suffering from ‘empathy fatigue,’ a ‘numbness’ that ‘is a form of self-

protectivedisassociation’(Dean2004,1).Addingtotheprognosis,mypupilsmightalso

besufferingfrom‘Holocaustdissociation,’nolongerfeelingany‘specialcommitmentto

commemorating or “witnessing” this part of the distant past’ (Weissman 2004, 7).

QuestioningtheirpresentreluctancetoengagewithAnneFrankandtheHolocaustmy

pupilsprotested.Theyexplainedtheyhad“watchedthefilmandreadthebook,”theyfelt

they had “done” the Holocaust. And they weren’t looking forward to engaging with

anythingtheliterarylengthofabookeither,butonemeantforchildrensimplyseemedto

offendthem.Attheheartoftheproblemwasthefacttheyexpectedanddreadedthetone

ofthischildren’snarrativetobeprescriptive,obviouslyideological,toofullofthemilkof

humankindness.Inthemidstoftheshadyno-man’slandbetweenlateteenageyearsand

adulthood,my‘semi-mature’teamofelevenrefusedtobenothingmorethananempty

vesseltobefilledinbyadults’wishfulmedicinalmorality.

‘Themostremarkableaccountofnormalhumanadolescentmaturation,’poetJohn

Berryman (2013, 48) argues, The Diary has been ‘valued for reasons comparatively

insignificant.’ By the time Berryman wrote his acclaimed essay, in the midst of the

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revolutionary ‘60s’ commemorative cycle (25-year commemorationWorldWar II, 50-

commemorationWorldWarI),itwasthe‘sentimentalpopularity’ofAnneFrankthathad

madeherdiaryintoaglobalhit(ibid.).Buildingonmypreviousresearch,TheDiaryhas

sufferedthesamefateasthatother ‘pathosformula’andcanonicalcornerstoneofwar

literature,sopervasiveineducation:thepoetryofWilfredOwen.Inotherwords,Anne

Frank’s‘normativestatus’hadreducedherproseintoacollectionof‘convergentphrases

andmemorableepigrams’(Rawlinson2007,114).TheDiaryhadturnedintoeducation’s

simplified international moral compass, a sentimental pedagogic medicine for good

behaviour, an antidote to Holocaust and war adults had forced upon generations of

schoolchildren.Nolongerwantingtobetreatedlikechildren,mypupilswererefusingto

taketheirmedicine.

OneofthecentralproblemsinthecriticalevaluationofTheDiaryisthatthebook

is not deemed great literature, something Berryman seeks to correct. Questioning

whether‘AnneFrankhashadanyseriousreaders,’andfindingno‘indicationinanything

writtenaboutherthatanyonehastakenherwithrealseriousness,’Berryman(2013,49)

findshimselfforcedtoreadAnneFrankasaliterarymasterpiece.Doingsohechallenges

futurereaderstofollowinhisfootsteps,andthosewhohavereadherdiarypreviouslyto

‘reread the diary’ with ‘even more powerful feelings than before but now highly

structured’ (Berryman 2013, 47-48). Here lies the key to tickingmy pupil’s last box:

gettingthemintrinsicallymotivatedtore-readTheDiary,forcingthemtoviewthepastit

portrays as a foreign country, ready for their exploration. Intervening, I set them the

combined task to seeking so-called magical excerpts from this educational icon, yet

avoidingWeissman’s‘sugar-coat,’butaddingBerryman’schallenge.Myinterventionisa

variety on what Walter Benjamin (Erll 2011, 22) terms reading ‘against the grain,’

challengingthemtorereadandfindtheliterarymomentsinthewarnarrativesetloose

from the sentimental pedagogical side effects ofTheDiary. Thus,mypupilsmight yet

circumventadulthoodandeducation’sprescribedmoralcodingofTheDiaryinsearchof

theirownmedicine.

Andanyway,besidesmybidtotickthelastofmypupils’fourreadingmotivation

boxes according to Van Steensel, Van der Sande andArends, (2017) namely ‘intrinsic

motivation,’ I still had three of them fulfilled at the outset of the task ahead: student

autonomy,cleargoalsandsocialmotivation.IneededtheirScottishtaskexpertiseand

experience,andtheywerelookingforwardtothecreativeself-determinationthiswould

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givethemasagroup.Thetask,thoughadaptedtoadifferentwarandadifferentwarzone,

wascleartothem.Thegoalsofcommandforthisteamofeleven,threeboysandeightgirls

selectedfromtheScottishbattlefieldsearlierthatyear,wastomakeanotherten-minute

film venturing beyond the narrative boundaries of The Diary. In preparation, each

fortnight would be spent reporting to me about their selection of so-called ‘magical

moments,’ withwhichWeissman’s claim could be corroborated or countered. Critical

engagementwiththeacademicdebatewouldserveasanextramotivationaltriggertothis

group.GaryWeissman(2004,12)arguesthat‘themarketplaceshapeshowtheHolocaust

getsrenderedforpublicconsumption’farmorethanliterarycriticism.Sincemypupils

arethat‘marketplace,’theirautonomousselectionswouldbeallthemoresalient.

In-Class Intervention: Selecting The Diary’s Magic Moments

I hoped my pupils in the extra-curricular class would break beyond the sentimental

epigrammaticnatureofAnne’snarrative legacy,as itwasembeddedintheircollective

memories,sotheycoulddiscoverthereasonswhyaGermanborngirlofGermanparents

who died in Germany had been ‘flagged’ as a Dutch Jeanne d’Arc, becoming a moral

cornerstoneinDutcheducation.Noweagertoengagewiththe‘adult’societal,political

andacademicdiscussion,IpromisedtostrewmypupilsroadtotheEastwithselections

oftextstakenfromthevarietyofforcefields’polemicdebates.Forreasonsofpracticality

andscope,broadening thenarrativewidthofour journeywasnecessarily limited.Yet

tracing the footsteps of this teenage civilian diarist eastwards we were bound to

encounterthoseofjournalistsandsoldiers(poets)whotravelledinthesamedirectionin

1945asmypupilsweredoingsome70years later.Thegroupofelevenpupils looked

forward toencounteringotherstories than the iconicvoice theyhadbeenbroughtup

with,especiallyfromaroadthathadnotbeentakenbyanybeforeintheirteam.They

expressed sheer joy during that first extra-curricular meeting at hearing the exact

Novemberdateoftheirdeparture,andnothingintheirattitudeandeagerfacessuggested

theirtravelswouldtakethemtoaplacethathadwitnessedultimatehorror,andthedeath

ofAnneFrank.

Theiranticipationoftheirfieldtripwaspalpableduringourclassestogetherand

would remain intact rightup to themorningofdeparture somemonths later, as they

boisterouslysangtheir‘ro-ro-roadtrip,ro-roroadtrip’song.86Thiswaspartlyduetothe

deepfriendshipsthatpermeatedbetweenthemembersofthisgroup(socialmotivation),

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throughtheirsharedScottishexperiences(studentautonomy),andalsoinanticipationof

theexperiencetocome(cleargoals).Theybehavedasiftheywerepartofanelitegroup,

selectedforaspecialmission,uncoveringasecretnoneoftheirpeersknew.Itwastrue,I

was leadingthemintoanexclusiverealmnootherpupilatourschoolhadaccessto,a

journey thatmightgive them ‘asecretknowledgewhichonlyan initiatedeliteknows’

(Campbell1999,204).Backintheclassroom,theyreadtoeachotheroneoftheirfirst

magicalmoments.

Magic Moment I

Father, Mother and Margot still can’t get used to the chiming of the

Westertorenclock,whichtellsusthetimeeveryquarterofanhour.Notme,

Ilikeditfromthestart;itsoundssoreassuring,especiallyatnight.Youno

doubtwanttohearwhatIthinkofbeinginhiding.Well,allIcansayisthat

Idon’treallyknowyet.Idon’tthinkI’lleverfeelathomeinthishouse,but

thatdoesn’tmeanIhateit.It’smorelikebeingonholidayinsomestrange

pension.Kindofanoddwaytolookatlifeinhiding,butthat’showthings

are.TheAnnexeisanidealplacetohidein.Itmaybedampandlopsided,

but there’s probably not a more comfortable hiding place in all of

Amsterdam.No,inallofHolland.(Frank2002,18)

ThisdiaryentrymadeonJuly11,1942waswrittenonlythreedaysafterhavingbeen

forcedintohiding,anditsuggeststhattheharsherrealitiesofAnne’simprisonmentinthe

so-called‘Secret-Annexe’locatedatthePrinsengracht263inAmsterdamwereonlyjust

sinkingin.Thus‘AnneFrank,facingmortalperilinoccupiedHolland,strugglestonarrate

hersituationasanadventure’,arguesKatieTrumpener(2016,505), ‘althoughFrank’s

diaryrevealsfamilylifereshapedbyduress:’Anne’sfatherOttohadbeenpreparingthe

moveforatleastayear,andhadslowlystartedtobreakthenewsofgoingintohidingto

Anne(Frank2002,26).

Moreover, anti-Jewish restrictions had gradually become more tangible in the

FrankfamilyandAnne’sdailylife,closingthenetmoreandmoretightlyaroundallJews

living in Amsterdam. ‘Our freedomwas severely restricted by a series of anti-Jewish

decrees,’writesAnneon20June1942,listingmorethanhalfapageofshockingracial

lawswhichmeant,‘youcouldn’tdothisandyoucouldn’tdothatbutlifewenton’(p.8).

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Whenthedreadedcall-upnoticefinallyarrivesontheFrankfamilydoormat,summoning

Margot Frank to forced labour by the SS, then thirteen-year-old Anne had no qualms

imaginingherworstfearsandwritingthemdown:‘Iwasstunned.Acall-up:everybody

knowswhatthatmeans.Visionsofconcentrationcampsandlonelycellsracedthrough

myhead’(p.19).YetdespitetheserealitiesandtheveryrealfearsAnneFrankfacedin

occupiedAmsterdam,herfirstdiaryentriesarelightlylacedwithsomeoftheelementsof

thrillandadventurewhichAnneassociateswithgoingonaholiday.WhythenshouldI

feelanxiousformyyoungpupilsadventurousnessduringtheclassesinpreparationof

departuretoBergen-BelsenonasunnySundaymorningin2015,ortheirfailuretograsp

thefullweightoftheirjourney,wheneventeenageAnneFrank,livingundertheharsh

conditionsoftheNazisrestrictivelaws,couldnotbepreparedtoimaginethestarktruths

oflivinginhiding?

‘Representations of war are inherently anxiogenic,’ I read out to my pupils. It

‘resistsdepiction,anddoessoinmultifariousways’–turningtoMcLoughlin(2011,6-7)

forliterarytheoreticalsupportintheclassroom.Inthissense,Iexplained,AnneFrank’s

failure to grasp the dark reality of her incarceration in the ‘Secret-Annexe’ was

symptomaticofabroaderfailureofliteraturetocapturetherealityofwar.OrdidAnne

Frank‘depictasurrenderinthefaceofrepresentingwar,’because,asachildnarrator,she

wasessentiallyshieldedfromthedarkesttruthsofhersituation?(McLoughlin2011,5).

PerhapsthesimpletruthwasthatnoJewlivinginhidingcouldguesswhathorrorswere

awaitingthemintheNazideathcampsofBergen-BelsenandAuschwitz.AdrienneKertzer

(2008, 207) argues that children’s fiction ‘continues to be dominated by a variety of

narrativestrategiesintendedtosoftenthedepictionoftrauma,andtherebynegatethe

likelihoodofsecondarytraumatization.Theprotagonistinmostchildren’swarfictionis

rarelytraumatized,andifsheis,sheveryquicklyrecovers.’Thus,Iexplaintomypupils,

the darkest truths of war are veiled to shield their tender hearts against trauma, a

commentwhichvisiblyinsultsthem:theydonotfeeltakenseriously.

ThemainprotagonistinTheDiary,Anneherself,doesnot‘quicklyrecover’atall,

andneitherdoanyoftheotheroccupantsoftheannex,saveherfather,OttoFrank.They

alldie,butKertzerstressesanimportantpointthatisrelevantforAnne’sstory;itdoes

notgobeyondAugust1,1944.Therefore,outofnecessityofleavingthediarybehind,it

doesnottellofhertragicendeightmonthslaterinBergen-Belsen.AsIwillcontinueto

showbelow,mypupils’selectionofmagicalmomentsfromAnneFrank’sstoryuntilthat

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fatefuldatealoneshowthatshedoescertainlywriteaboutwar,itsviolenceanditsfears.

Yetinasense,AnneFrank’sdiaryiswhatMcLoughlin(2011,152)termsa‘diversion,’in

thatitdoesnotrelateherterribletogetherwithmorethansixmillionJewsduringthe

Holocaust.Itisnotsomuchaformof‘not-writing’aboutwar,whichmypupils’selection

ofmagicmoments alonewill showshedoes, as a ‘not-writing’ about the terrible end:

Anne’scaptureandmurderinBergen-Belsen.Allthemorereason,Isurmised,totakemy

pupil-readersonthesameeastwardroadtotrytograsprealitybehindtheabruptending

ofAnne’sstory.

Asnarratorofthestory,sheisconsciousofherroleaswriter,criticandeditorof

herwork,allinone.

Magic Moment II

Tobecomeajournalist,becausethat’swhatIwant!IknowIcanwrite.Afew

ofmystoriesaregood,mydescriptionsoftheSecretAnnexearehumorous,

muchofmydiaryisvividandalive.[…]I’mmybestandharshestcritic.I

knowwhat’sgoodandwhatisn’t.(Frank2002,250)

‘AnneFrankseesherdiaryaswork’(Brenner2010,74),andthisdiaryentry,chosenasa

magicalmomentbythetaskteam,isapointincase.TowhatextentOttoFrank,assole

survivoroftheannexeeightandfatherofAnne,intentionallyshieldedthedarkertruths

ofwar fromher story is a subject of continuous academic discussion and beyondmy

pupils’range.IwantmystudentstounderstandthatliketheGoodrich&Hacketttheatre

version,AnneFrank’sdiaryhasbeensubjectedtoanarrativisationprocess.Thus,Anne’s

publisheddiarydeviatesfromheroriginalhistoricaleyewitnessaccountintotherealmof

the literary, though as such still firmly rooted as a ‘fixed point’ in cultural memory

(Assmann and Czaplicka 1995, 127). The tug of war over the ‘cultural formation’ of

memory(ibid.)viawarnarrativessuchasTheDiary,betweenthosewhoedit,read,teach,

seektoinfluenceandofcourse,writethediary,wasforegroundedbymypupilsintheir

selectionofmagicalmoments.

Magic Moment III

DearestKitty,MrBolkestein,theCabinetMinister,speakingontheDutch

broadcastfromLondon,saidthatafterthewaracollectionwouldbemade

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ofdiariesandlettersdealingwiththewar.Ofcourse,everyonepouncedon

mydiary. Just imaginehowinteresting itwouldbe if Iweretopublisha

novelabouttheSecretAnnexe.Thetitlealonewouldmakepeoplethinkit

was a detective story. Seriously, though, ten years after thewar people

wouldfinditveryamusingtoreadhowwelived,whatweateandwhatwe

talkedaboutasJewsinhiding.AlthoughItellyouagreatdealaboutour

lives,youstillknowverylittleaboutus.(Frank1993,191-2)

ItisatthismomentthatAnneFrankbecomesawareofthepublicpotentialofheruntil

thenprivatediaryandstartstoedititaccordingly.Politiciansthenandnowfullyrealise

the enormous potential (children’s) narratives of war have on a nation’s collective

culturalmemory;Bolkestein,GoveandBussemakerarenoexception.Itgoestoshowonce

again that literature and the politics ofmemory are intricately interwovenwith each

other. The appropriation of this children’s narrative by the Dutch as a symbol of

innocence, of resistance, one marked even by what David Wertheim explains are its

‘religious overtones,’ must therefore be analysed with some scepticism. Anne Frank,

Wertheim(2009,158)argues, ‘hasbecomeasourceofmoralandreligiousvalues–of

meaning–andhassometimesliterallybeendescribedasasaint.’Ithasbeenarguedthat

the process of re-narrativisation, most notably the first and most successful theatre

versiontodate(Goodrich&Hackett),TheDiaryanditsyoungrefugeewriterhavebeen

subject to Americanisation. It has subsequently become a truly transnational war

narrative:TheDiaryanditsGerman-bornauthorhavebeenappropriatedbytheDutch

andmostlybyAmericansasasymbolofinnocenceandhopeafterdeath.Ithasturned

into education’s globalhumanistBibleof ethical and cultural values (cf. Stephens and

McCallum). Indeed, which government and tourist office would refuse a saint figure

wieldingsuchapowerfuliconasnationalsymbol?

TheeyesofmillionsoftouristsvisitingAmsterdamarecertaintomeetthoseofthe

mostfamousfifteen-year-oldgirlintheworld,staringatthemfromthecoverofherbook

setprominentlybetweenthetouristguidesastheypassthenewspaperstandsinthetax-

freeareaoftheairport.AshortwalkfromCentralStationtothelocaltouristoffice,and

amongstthedrovesofminiatureclogs,tulips,cheese,andcannabisplants,touristsare

stimulated to download the ‘Anne Frank App’ to help guide them through the Dutch

capital.87Howdifferentthis21st-centurywelcomefortouristsis,tothatoftheveryfew

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surviving Jewsupon their return toAmsterdam, after the horrors of theHolocaust in

AuschwitzorBergen-Belsen.DuringtheSecondWorldWarcloseto75%ofDutchJews

weredeported. In fact, ‘theNetherlands is theonlyWesternEuropeancountrywhose

ratesofJewishdeportationandmurderresemblethoseofanEasternEuropeancountry’

(Wolf2007,55).The fewwhoreturned to theirhouses, likeOttoFrankhoping foran

unlikely reunionwith their kin, often found them occupied.Most of thosewho could

reoccupytheirhouseweresentahugebillforoutstandinghereditarytenurefeestothe

Amsterdammunicipality,plusanextrafineforlatepayment.88

‘A likely candidate for the explanation of the high victimisation rate in the

Netherlands,’MarnixCroes(2006,494)explains,‘istheferocioushuntforJewsinhiding

insomepartsofthiscountry.’LikeAnneFrank’sbetrayer,theseDutchcollaboratorsand

Nazi informants received 7.5 guilders per Jew they gave up, and some of themmade

thousandsof guilders from this line ofwork (VanLiempt2016).Whereas the “World

Holocaust Remembrance Center Yad Vashem” in Jerusalem highlights the tragic and

wholesalebetrayalofJewsintheNetherlands,backintheNetherlandsitisapartofDutch

memory that is being repressed and in danger of being forgotten altogether.89Dutch

nationalheroineAnneFrankwasvictimofaDutchbountyhunter,yetthisplaysonlya

peripheralroleintheculturallandscapeoftheNetherlands.Worsestill,‘thehuntforJews

inhidinginAmsterdam’byDutchpoliceandNazisympathizerswas‘moresevere’thanin

otherpartsoftheNetherlands(Croes2006,490).Formypupils,scholarlyrevisionssuch

as these shednew lightonAnneFrankandhernarrative, providing amore complete

backgroundtoTheDiary,andexplainthewillingnessofDutchsocietytoadoptAnneFrank

astheir‘saint’figure.

Giventhepreviouslystatedpowerof ‘pathosformula’prosesuchasTheDiary to

shape the canon and its ability to create ‘collective identities,’ to legitimise ‘political

power’andtouphold‘valuesystems,’inthewordsofAstridErll,thisstorycontributesto

re-writingtheDutchmemoryofWorldWarIIfromanarrativeofcompliantwitnessesto

innocent suppressed. The ‘inherent didacticism’ (Myers 2008) and ‘ideological tenor’

(Butler & O’Donovan 2012) of The Diary complement this, making it an even more

powerfulmemory-shapingtool.GlossedoveristhefactthatdespitetheDutchhospitality

towardsJewishGermanrefugeessuchtheFrankfamily,andthehelpgiventheminhiding,

theywereallbetrayednonetheless,‘followinginformationfromaDutchinformer’forjust

ahandfulofguilders(SchnabelinFrank1993,278).Sincehernarrativedoesnotinvolve

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theAnnex inhabitants’betrayal, arrest,deportationanddeath, its relativelyoptimistic

toneremainsintact,andthussusceptibletobecomingthedominantmemory.

WarnarrativeslikeTheDiaryare‘markersofprostheticmemory,’thatevoke‘both

pleasureandpain’withmyDutchpupils(Plain2017,xiv).Bearinginmindthetendency

forchildren’swarnarrativestobesodidacticallyandpedagogicallyidealistic,thecritique

beingthatsuchstoriesoften‘sugar-coat’thedarkestrealitiesofhistory(Weissman2004),

inorderto‘negatethelikelihoodofsecondarytraumatization’(Kertzer2008),mypupils’

‘magical’selectionsfromthetextthatevokepainareallthemoresignificant.

Magic Moment IV

To our great sorrow and dismay, we’ve heard that many people have

changedtheirattitudetowardsusJews.We’vebeentoldthatanti-Semitism

hascroppedupincircleswhereonceitwouldhavebeenunthinkable.This

facthasaffectedusallvery,verydeeply.[…]It’sbeingsaidinunderground

circlesthattheGermanJewswhoemigratedtoHollandbeforethewarand

havenowbeensenttoPolandshouldn’tbeallowedtoreturnhere.[…]The

warisn’tevenover,andalreadythere’sdissensionandJewsareregarded

as lesser beings. […] To be honest, I can’t understand how the Dutch, a

nationofgood,honest,uprightpeople,cansitinjudgementonustheway

theydo.[…]Andiftheycarryoutthisterriblethreat,themeagrehandfulof

JewsstillleftinHollandwillhavetogo.(Frank2002,301-2)

It is clear from the start thatbypinpointing thisparticularlypainful episode inDutch

history, someofmypupils are looking fora fight.Egbertgets really firedupover the

currenttidesofturmoilandtheriseofpopulismintheNetherlandsandtherestofEurope,

asnationscreakandbendunderthestrainofthebiggestsurgeofimmigrantssinceWorld

War II. IS-terrorattackscontinue topervadeEuropeat themomentofwriting,Egbert

argues,andthereforeAnne’sdiaryentryabovehighlightsthedangersDutchsocietyfaces

today,heconcludes.Unconsciously,Egbertmakesuseofthe‘parallelsbetweenthetime

depictedandthatofcomposition,’hisreadingandselectionofthisexcerptinclass,which

is an ‘established tradition of historical writing’ (Butler and O’Donovan 2012, 12).

Egbert’spointisthatthediary’sexampleofanti-SemitismprevalentinDutchsocietyas

thestrainoftheNazioccupationbegantotakeitstolltowardstheendofWorldWarII,is

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arealdangerinDutchsociety70yearslater,astolerancetowardsMuslimminoritiesin

theNetherlandsbeginstodwindleanddescendintooutwardhostility.

Egbert’s concerns with the current polarisation within Dutch society act as a

‘boosterstationtointensifytheimmediacyofthepast’(ButlerandO’Donovan2012,12).

And‘intensify’itdoes,forthoughsomeofthissquadofpupilsagreewithhispointofview,

itisIngeborgwhoobjectsvehementlytowhatshebelievesisasimplisticwayofcoding

thepastseenthroughAnneFrank’seyes,asamorallessonforcurrentproblems.There

are‘toomany[Islamic]refugeesenteringtheNetherlands’,Ingeborgcomments,anditis

afactthat‘terrorattacksarelinkedtoIslam.’Shecontinuesherargument,sayingthatit

is too easy to “compare peoplewho are concerned about these issues to Dutch anti-

Semites duringWorldWar II, just for saying so.”90Egbert had resorted to using the

historicalmoralmetaphorinAnne’sstorytoprescribeforhisclassawarningoftolerance

towardsimmigrants.YetIngeborgwasresistingthisfoul-tastingmoralmedicinebeing

shoveddownherthroat.Theexampleshowsmypupilsaretheprimaryownersofthe

educationalprocessastheintrinsicmotivationofthetaskteamwasnowheightenedto

boilingpoint.Iobservemyclassisenjoyingthisdiscussion,rediscoveryandre-evaluation

ofTheDiary,evenamongstthosewhoweremostopposed(Egbert)toitsplaceontheir

currentcurriculum.

TeachersusingTheDiary in theclassroom,oranywarnarrative for thatmatter,

shouldavoidtakingsidesinthevariousforcefields’debates,butratherinvolvepupilsin

them,pointingthemtothepotentialpowerofcanonicalmoraldidacticismofchildren’s

warnarratives.Atthismomentintheeducationalprocess,havingcreatedtaskownership

withmystudentsandwitnessingtheensuingdiscussion,Ipointedouttothemanother

part of Gary Weissman’s research. Weissman (2004, 12) stresses the dangers of

‘sweetening’theHolocaust,aswellasthedangerof‘trivializing’and‘universalizing’the

Holocaust.Whereas‘trivializing’theHolocaustoccurswhenthenarrativefails‘tohonour

the gravity or magnitude of the Nazi genocide, […] universalizing occurs when the

historicalspecificityoftheNazipersecutionoftheJewsiscompromisedorneglected’.In

thisway,Weissmanexplains,‘theHolocaustisdivestedofitshistoricalspecificityinorder

to be valued as a symbol or archetype’ (ibid.). My pupils had used Egbert’s excerpt,

portraying Dutch anti-Semitism during World War II, as a universal symbol for a

discussionon21st-centuryxenophobiaandracism.

Oneofthegreatestdifficultieswhenputting(war) literatureonthecurriculum,

132

especiallywhenthetext inquestionisnovelsizeandlength, istocreatethat ‘intrinsic

motivation’ for pupils to read. The Catch-22withwar texts, andHolocaust narratives

specifically,isthatmotivationisoftenachievedthroughstudents’identificationwiththe

narratives’ subject, settingandcharacters.Yet this ispreciselywhatWeissmanargues

leadstoa‘universalized’versionoftheHolocaust.Thecentralquestiontotheparadoxis

whetherstudentsneedtoknow‘aboutthewhen,whereandwhyoftheHolocaustinorder

to grasp its significance as a moral paradigm’ (Weissman 2004, 13). Empathy for a

characterlikeAnneFrankisagreatmotivatorforpupilsto(continue)read(ing)herdiary.

Andyet,asa21st-centuryreader,empathywithAnnecanleadtoherpredicamentbeing

‘dejudaized’(Weissman2004,12).IlanaAbramovitch(2012,168),forinstance,asksthe

questionwhether‘empathizingwithAnne’makesit‘difficult,ifnotimpossible,forsome

studentstocometotermswiththedetailsofherarrest,imprisonmentanddeath?’Since

noneofthe‘Semi-Matured’havebeenarrestedorimprisonedonthebasisoftheirrace

andundergonethehorrorsoftheconcentrationcamps,howcantheyeverhopetograsp

this vital aspect of Anne’s fate, and that of more than six million Jews during the

Holocaust?

Nothavingthisexperienceeither,Ihadtoldmystudentsthatteacherslikemyself

areanxioustoaddresstheHolocaustandAnneFrank’sfateinclass.TheDiarydoesnot

provide this information either, proving that ‘sustained exploration of psychological

traumaremainstheexceptionratherthantherule’inchildren’snarratives(Kertzer2008,

208).Andyet,thetrendinchildren’swarliteratureischanging,KennethKidd(2008,161)

argues,for‘thereseemstobeconsensusnowthatchildren’sliteratureisthemostrather

thantheleastappropriateliteraryforumfortraumawork.’Thus,formypupils,‘subjects

previouslythoughttooupsettingarenowdeemedappropriateandnecessary’(ibid.).The

fact thatmypupils, despite thenarrative constraints ofAnne’s iconic children’s book,

activelyselectwhatarepotentiallythemostupsettingpartsofAnne’snarrative,servesto

underscorethistrend.

Magic Moment V

Theack-ackgunsmakesomuchnoiseyoucan’thearyourownvoice.[…]I

wasshivering,asifIhadatemperature,andbeggedFathertorelightthe

candle.Hewas adamant: therewas tobeno light. Suddenlyweheard a

burst of machine-gun fire, and that’s ten times worse than anti-aircraft

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guns. Mother jumped out of bed and, to Pim’s great annoyance, lit the

candle.Herresoluteanswertohisgrumblingwas,‘Afterall,Anneisnotan

ex-soldier!’(Frank2002,86)

AsIstressedearlier,contrarytothedominanceof‘combatgnostic’poetsinthecanonof

FirstWorldWarnarratives, as far as theSecondWorldWarwas concerned, thebest-

sellingbookwasnotwrittenbyasoldierbutbyacivilian.Thenoiseofwarragesright

aboveAnneFrank’sbedroom,givingher‘bagsunderhereyesfromlackofsleep’(Frank

2002, 98).McLoughlin (2011, 23) explains that ‘conflict announces or expresses itself

through noise and commotion,’ and this clamour of war is no longer confined to the

battlefield, a secluded and cordoned off warzone, and thus of relative safety to non-

combatants:thiswastotalwar.ThoughAnneisindeed,ashermothersnapstoherfather

atnight,‘notanex-soldier,’sheisaffectedbytheviolenceofthesoundsofwarindaily

civilianlifeinoccupiedAmsterdam.

The‘firstreporterofwariswaritself,’arguesMcLoughlin,‘theboomandcrackle

andwhineandthudofweaponry’(ibid.).Unwittinglystruckbythenoiseofwar,these

studentshadselectedmoreexamplesfromthediarythatillustratedtheviolent‘thuds’of

warandtheterrortheyinspiredintheyoungwriter.‘Itstillmakesmeshivertothinkof

thedull,distantdrone that signified theapproachingdestruction,’Annewrites (Frank

2002,112), asAmsterdamsufferedunder successive alliedbombardmentsduring the

summerof1943.‘Afterwashing-up,’anotherpupil-selectedexcerptreads,‘anotherair-

raidwarning,gunfireandswarmsofplanes.[…]Theplanesdivedandclimbed,theairwas

abuzzwiththedroneofengines.Itwasveryscary’(Frank2002,114).Inthemeantime,

news from the outside world brought the occupants of the secret annexe news of

traditionalbattlefields,withAlliedarmiesfightinginItalythesamesummer.‘TheBritish

havelandedinSicilyandFather’sallsetfora“quickfinish,”’Annewrites(2002,107),as

theykeptvisceraltrackoftheadvanceonamap,whichisstillafeatureinthemuseum

today.Yet,asMcLoughlin(2011,23)dictates, ‘warinsistsondrowningallothernoise,

deafeningpeacetimediscourses.’ThewarinAmsterdam‘demand[s]completeattention’

fromitsinhabitants,asmuchasthebattleinItalydoesfromitssoldiers(ibid.).

Itwastellingthatmypupilshadbroughttheseexcerptsforward,preciselybecause

theydescribedviolence.ItprovedMcLoughlin’stheoryworkednotonlyduringwartime

itself,butalsowithinitsnarrativeframe:withinthischildren’swarnarrativethesounds

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ofwarprovedveryliterallytobeasalientreporterofwartothem,andtheexamplesin

thetextmystudentsweredrawntounderscorethispoint.Thisrelativelyviolentliterary

selectionmadebymystudentsiscriticallybelievedtobeanexceptiontotheruleofwhat

AnneFrank’sdiaryisabout.AsKateAgnewandGeoffFox(2001,154)explain,‘thediary

chroniclesthedailylivesofthehiddenfamiliesbuttheirconfinementinevitablymeans

thatfeweventsoccurtointeresteitherAnneorindeedherreaders.’Notforthefirsttime,

the students I taughtweredrawn likemoths to the flameofwar stories’ portrayal of

violentnoise, as I have shown in the earlier chapter, for example, toFirstWorldWar

combatpoetRobertNichols’s‘ragetokill’amidthe‘hurricaneofshell’inhistrenchpoem

‘The Assault’ (1918, 58-59). This first selection of ‘magical moments’ confirmed that

teenagers are not at all averse to a role as voyeurs of violence. Consciously and

unconsciously,theyseekoutpocketsofwaraction,eveninthissupposedlyuneventful

children’swarstory.

The in-class intervention, seekingmagicalmoments,provesTheDiary doesnot

divertascompletelyfromwar’shorrorassomecriticsargue,althoughitsyoungreaders

doremainshelteredagainstthedarkoutcomeofAnne’sfate.Judgingfromtherelishwith

whichmystudentshavechosentheviolentsoundsandterriblefearsAnneFrankisbeset

by, then, answering Abramovitch question, ‘empathizingwith Anne’ does not prevent

themfromcomingtotermswiththerealitiesofalifeinhidinginacityatwar.Infact,my

teenagersactivelysearchforthose‘fewevents’thatdointerestthem,andtheresultsare

remarkably violent. Thus the ‘shift away from the idea that young readers should be

protectedfromevil’seemstohavethewholeheartedsupportofmyperusingpupils(K.

Kidd 2008, 161). Their motivations were a mixed bag of narrative thrill-seeking and

searchingfor‘anunmediatedTruth’aboutwar(Campbell1999,207),towhichasIhave

shown,‘onlythosewhohaveundergonetheliminaltraumaofcombathaveaccess:’the

warriorpoets(ibid.).Mypupilsareinterestedinthe‘autopsy’(McLoughlin2011,42)of

TheDiary’snarrator,drawntothenon-fictional‘thuds’thatpockmarkit.Itthusbreaks

withthecanonicalboundariesandproveswarnottobe‘anexclusivelycombatant,and

[…]masculine experience,’ thoughTheDiary is limited inwhat it illustrates ofAnne’s

experiencenonetheless(ibid.).ForAnne,therewasno‘quickrecovery,’(Kertzer2008,

207),andexposingthiswouldmeantoliterallymovebeyondherdiary.

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Out-of-Class Intervention Stopping Point II: The Road to Liberation

My pupils lack of revulsion and moral indignation at the prospect of witnessing the

remaindersoftheworld’sworstwound(Sassoon1983,153)mademeanxioustoseek

waysto ‘presentthemoralcomplexityoftheHolocaustexperience’tomy21st-century

students,whowere‘accustomedtobasingtheirconductonstablevaluesystems’(Langer

1998, 190). This I hopedwould both preparemy pupils to their impending visit and

somehowguidetheireagernesstobecomingthevoyeur,awishIhadalsowitnessedwhen

IintroducedstudentstothegraphichorrorofFirstWorldWarcombatpoetry.Oneway

of doing this is by ‘multiplying voices’ of the Second World War and the Holocaust

experience ingeneral,andAnne’sexperience inparticular(ibid.).Asa teacher-scholar

withdirectaccesstothearchive,purposefultoreveal‘thepainfuleventsaftertheAnnex

inhabitants’arrestbytheNazis,’IrealisedthatthetracksleftbyyoungAnnedidnothave

tobetheonlyonestofollowonourwaytoBergen-Belsen.Foritwasexactly70yearsago

that the11th armoureddivisionof theBritish army travelled along the same roads to

Bergen-Belsen,liberatingitonApril15th1945,causingwarreporterRichardDimblebyto

reportbackuponthehorrifictrailthisarmyunithadunexpectedlytaken(Flanaganand

Bloxham2005,i-xviii).

IhavejustreturnedfromtheBelsenconcentrationcamp.[…]Ifindithard

todescribeadequatelythehorriblethingsIhaveseenandheardtoday.But

here,unadorned,arethefacts.[…]Beyondthebarrierwasaswirlingcloud

ofdust,thedustofthousandsofslowlymovingpeople,ladeninitselfwith

thedeadlytyphusgerm.Andwiththedustwasasmell,sicklyandthick,the

smell of death and decay, of corruption and filth. I passed through the

barrierandfoundmyselfintheworldofnightmare.Deadbodies,someof

themindecay,laystrewnabouttheroadandalongtheruttedtrack.Oneach

sideoftheroadwerebrownwoodenhuts.[…]Behindthehutstwoyouths

andtwogirls,who’dfoundamorseloffood,weresittingtogetheronthe

grass in picnic fashion, sharing it. Theywere not six feet from a pile of

decomposingbodies.(Dimbleby2005,xi-xii)

Dimbleby’sBBCdespatchis ‘alandmarkinthehistoryofbroadcasting,’DavidLowther

writes, and after an initial period of disbelief, it was followed some days later by

136

newspaperspublishingafewphotographs(Lowther2015,117).Thefullbulkofhorrific

pictureswerelefttobeviewedinespeciallydesignedreadingroomsacrossthecountry.

Parentswerewarned‘thatyoungchildrenshouldnotbetakentoseethesepictures,’the

DailyExpressreportedon21April1945.91Doingpreciselytheopposite,Ishowedboth

picturesofthevictimsofBergen-Belsenfeaturingthecorpsesofchildren,andDimbleby’s

report,highlightingthelugubriouschildpicnicamongstthedeadanddying.Despitemy

pupils’cognitiveknowledgeofwhathappenedtoAnneFrank,therewasanundercurrent

presentduringtheextra-curricularclasseswiththeseyoungDutchgirlsandboys,awish

to see the horror for themselves, to gain their own much admired ‘autopsy.’ The

authenticityofDimbleby’sreporthadmovedthembuthadsimultaneouslymadetheir

desiretofollowinthefootstepsofreportersandcombatsoldiers liberatingthecamps

evenstronger.

Looking forclues to findingAnneFrank,accounts like these fromwarreporter

Dimbleby,howevershockingtheglimpseof thegirls’picnicwas,gavethemasenseof

getting closer to the full story of the girl they had been raised with. Another war

correspondent,theJewish-AmericanMeyerLevin,vowedtomakesure‘theworldwould

learnwhathadhappenedwiththeJewsduringtheWar’afterhehadseenthecampslike

Dimblebyhad(Wertheim2009,161).Levin,choosingotherformsthanthewarreportto

tellhisstorytothebroaderpublic, ‘wasoneofthefirsttocallforanadaptationofthe

diaryofAnneFrankintoaplay,’DavidWertheimexplains,believingthediaryhad‘the

potentialtofulfilthatmissionbutalsothatitcoulddosobestifitweretranslatedinto

othermedia’(ibid.).LevinwantedmaximumexposureofAnne’sdiarynarrative;‘itshould

be on television and on radio’ he argued, convinced that any loss of detail would be

‘compensatedforbyanexperiencewhichpretendstobemorerealasitismoredirect’

(ibid.).Hisappealdidnotmissitseffect:Levin’s legacyisstilltangibleinthestreetsof

Amsterdam70yearslater,filledwithneonlitsignsadvertisingforAnne,thetheatreshow.

The irony is that theremediatedstoryofAnneFrank, thoughtouchingmillions

globally,wasultimatelyanarrativethatinspiredwhatGaryWeissman(2004,12)termed

the ‘universalization,’ ‘trivializing,’and ‘sweetening’of thatultimateeventofhorror. It

wasthe‘widespreadsuccessofaplayadaptedfromit,andafilm,’JohnBerryman(2013,

48)explains,thathadmadethediaryintoa‘sentimental’globalhit.TomyDutchpupils,

allofwhomhavebeenraisedwiththeseremediationsaspartoftheirlivesonarecurring

educationalbasis, the ‘sentimentality’ofTheDiary hadbecome the ‘normative status,’

137

(Rawlinson2007,114).AnneFrank’sdiaryhadtaughtmystudentsthatthey‘neednot

know much about the when, where and why of the Holocaust in order to grasp its

significanceasamoralparadigm’(Weissman2004,13).However,reintroducingthemto

thediaryinthislaterstageoftheirteenageyears,aswellasinvolvingtheminthesocietal,

political and academic discussions that pervade this ‘pathos formula’ narrative and

activatingthemviathetask-basedlearningexerciseincreatingtheirowntestimonyand

readingexperienceofthediaryandtheirjourneytoitsunrecordedend,hadallservedto

makethembreakbeyondthesentimentalepigrammaticnarrativelegacyofAnneFrank’s

diaryasitwasembeddedintheircollectivememories.

Their initial antipathy to reading this icon of children’s war literature had

dissipated, and I hadmanaged to turn their relatively huge prior knowledge of Anne

Frank’sdiaryinall itsformsintothedrivingmotivationalforcetocompletetheirfilm-

task.NowhopingtogetevenclosertounderstandingwhatAnnewentthrough,especially

after thestorytheyknewsowellendsabruptly in thesummerof1944, thetask-team

pupilsweremakinghugeefforts‘tofeel,toexperiencesomething,whateverwouldenable

[them]toovercome[their]senseofestrangementfromtheHolocaustpast,’(Weissman

2004, 4-5). In short, despite having ‘no direct experience of the Holocaust’ they had

become‘nonwitnesses,’aphrasecoinedbyGaryWeissman(2004,4),‘deeplyinterested

instudying,rememberingandmemorializingit.’ByfocussingonembeddingTheDiaryin

theireducationaltask,Iconsciouslyandnecessarilylimitedmyresearchinscopeaswell

asgenre.Mypupils’voyeuristicwishes,however,necessitatedustobreakthroughthe

‘inventedtradition’ofusingchildren’swarnarrativesineducationasintroductiontothe

Holocaust. Iwas forced toopen thearchiveupever so slightly, tounlock the ‘combat

gnostic’narrativestestifyingtothehorroroftravellinginAnne’sfootprints.

During theSecondWorldWar, ‘thecatastrophiceffectsofaerialbombardment,

Nazism,and theHolocaustaffectedeveryone,notonly thearmed forces,’arguesHugh

Haughton(2007,423).Thistotalwarcausedablurringofthedistinctionsbetweensoldier

andcivilian.Infact,continuesHaughton,the‘linebetweenthefieldofbattleandordinary

lifebrokedown’(ibid.).Thus,WorldWarIIcausedthedisappearanceof‘thetraditional

distinction between soldier and civilian’ (Howard 2009, 1340). With this watershed,

civilians,includingwomenandchildren,acquired‘first-handexperience’ofwar:a‘crucial

ingredient’toauthenticityin‘warreporting’(McLoughlin2011,42).DuringWorldWarI,

soldier’staleswerebothconsolingandsalienttotheirreadersinmourning,whichwas

138

reasonenoughforanthologiststoomitwomen’sverse.Itwouldtakewomen’spoetryof

theFirstWorldWaratleastthreequartersofacenturytobreakbeyondthemasculine

canonicaldominance,yetherewasastorywrittenbyaciviliangirlwho,withinadecade

after the Second World War had ended, ‘became the emblematic wartime child,’

(Trumpener2016,506),andthecanonicalauthorofWorldWarII.

Out-of-Class Intervention Stopping Point III: In a German Wood

So ‘wherearetheWarPoets?’Iwondered,asmypupilsandIventuredourjourneyto

WorldWarII’sdeepestscars.92BesidesDimbleby’swarreports,Isoughttodelveintothe

genre,whichhadprovensuchapowerfuloneinScotlandandonthebattlefieldsofYpres

andtheSomme.‘Commonwisdomhasit,’HarveyShapiro(2011,3)argues,‘thatthepoets

ofWorldWarIleftusamonumentandthepoetsofWorldWarIIdidnot.’Thismightbe

becauseWorldWarII ‘representsthenation’sbestself,’andtheliteraturethatreflects

this‘isnotcanonical’(Rawlinson2009,209). ‘Poemsaboutthehorrorsofthetrenches

wereoriginallywritten tostir the ignorantandcomplacentpeopleathome,’warpoet

RobertGraves(1949,311)explainsin1942.Potentialpoets‘willnotfeelobligedtowrite

horrifically’about‘theterrorsofanairraid,’hecontinues,becauseofauniversalsenseof

‘justiceoftheBritishcause’(ibid.).Theveteranpoetglossesoverthefactthatmanyfelt

exactly that way aboutWorldWar I two years into that war. The real issue at hand

involves notions of entitlement and authenticity. The mechanisation of war and

conscriptionof thearmieshaddemocratisedtheexperienceofwar insuchawaythat

WorldWarIIwas,onallaccounts,atotalwar.Whereoncetheexperienceofwarfarehad

beenuniquetosoldiersonly,nowtheycouldnotbesuretheir ‘rendezvouswithdeath

[was]morecertainthanthatof[their]AuntFanny,thefirewatcher,’asGraves(1949,310)

commentswryly.

Withthefloodgatestowritingaboutwarthuswrylyopened,drivingprofessional

poets to reticence, it isno surprisewhenHölblingestimates ‘between1500and2200

AmericanWorldWarIInovels’tohavebeenwrittenabout‘“thegoodwar”astheSecond

WorldWarcametobeknown’(Hölbling2009,209).Havingsuchvastamountsofnovels

atmydisposalwasnohelp, formypupils’ timeandmotivationwerenot onmy side.

Gettingmy pupils to read novel-length literaturewas a battle that teachers had been

losingsteadily.Bothpoetry’sshortformanditsimmeasurabledepthmakethegenreideal

forclassroomuse,wherelessonsareoftenbrokenupinlengthsvaryingfrom40to60

139

minutes long. Put simply, ‘poetry tends to be short, self-contained, andwell suited to

practisinglinguisticandstylisticanalysis.’93Despitethesebenefits,Iamsurprisedtofind

there is a ‘widespread ignoranceof SecondWorldWarpoetry,’which JonStallworthy

(2014, xxxv) argues is a ‘curriculum imbalance that educationalists should urgently

correct.’AlthoughStallworthydeclinestoswallowhisownmedicine,forthevastmajority

of his anthology selection consists of FirstWorldWar poems, I have been given the

academicincentivetoaddpoetrytomypupils’pathtoBergen-Belsen.

ForalltheSecondWorldWarpoets’supposedreticencethereis‘anabundantbody

of poetry’ available (Hölbling 2009, 209). In fact, Diederik Oostdijk (2011, 3) argues,

‘WorldWarIIpoetsarebelievedtohavebeensilent,butwereactuallyextremelyprolific,’

something he calls the ‘strange paradox’ of World War II poetry. For ‘American

experiences of the SecondWorldWar,’ Hölbling (2009, 212) argues, ‘provided ample

scope – andneed – for storifying.’More than everbefore, especially for the relatively

youngUnitedStatesarmy,itstroops‘facedamultitudeofdifferenttheatresofoperation

andtypesofmilitaryaction,’amongstwhichthehorrortheyfoundwhenliberatingthe

Nazideathcamps(ibid.).Infact,onhiswayeastwardswiththe97thDivision,soldierpoet

Anthony Hecht (1923-2004) marched through defeated Germany to discover its

Holocaust extermination camps and struggled to define their horrific impressions

poetically(McClatchy2016,ix-xiv).Theselinesfromhispoem‘MoreLight!MoreLight!’

bearwitnesstohisexperiences:

WemovenowtooutsideaGermanWood.

Threemenaretherecommandedtodigahole

InwhichthetwoJewsareorderedtoliedown

Andbeburiedalivebythethird,whoisaPole.(Hecht2016,62-63)

Hecht,knownforhisverbosity,writeswithadictionOostdijkdescribesas‘deliberately

lucid,starkandalmostpurelydescriptive,’mixingtheauthenticityofthenarrativepower

of his own experiences liberating Flossenbürg concentration camp with stories of

Holocaustsurvivors.94

Never in the history ofwarfare towhichpoets have bornewitness has ‘man’s

inhumanitytomangeneratemoreeloquenttestimonyfrommorepoetsthaninthetwo

worldwars,’Stallworthy(2014,xxxv)argues,‘theSecondnolessthantheFirst.’Yetnone

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ofmypupilscannameasingleSecondWorldWarpoetwhenIhandoutHecht’sfrequently

anthologised war poem. In contrast, the British poets of the Great War are steadily

becomingfrequentlyusednarrativesatDutchsecondaryschoolsandthusappropriated

intoDutchculturalmemory.AddingamodestselectionofcombatpoetryofWorldWarII

tomypupil’scurriculumisamoderatebutmuchneededcontributiontotheeducational

canonofteachingWorldWarIInarratives.LikeWorldWarI,Dutchhaveno20thcentury

literarytraditionofsoldier’snarrativescomparabletothatofBritain,ortheUnitedStates

forthatmatter.HavingnocombatexperiencetoactasmuseduringWorldWarIdueto

Dutchneutrality,theveteransofMay1940werebeateninabattlefortheNetherlands

thatlastedonlyfivedays.Manyoftheseso-called‘May-veterans’endedupintheDutch

policeforcesandamongsttheDutchvolunteersfortheGermanSS,estimatedattwenty

thousand(Hondius2010,212-15).

BesidesthisblackpageinthemarginalroleoftheDutchmilitary,whatiscrucial

to the remembrance ofWorldWar II in theNetherlands, is thatDutch forces did not

liberate Holland (Hondius 2010, 213-14). In fact, extremely few Dutch soldiers were

involved in thewar,with just twelvehundredsoldiersof the ‘Prinses Irenebrigade’ in

activeservice,andeventhisunitmerelyperformedasymbolicfunction.Thesecombined

factors have inhibited history writing from a Dutch national perspective (ibid.). By

necessity,Dutch literary inputwasprovidedbycivilians living inoccupiedHolland,of

whom German-born refugee Anne Frank was the most successful exponent,

complementedbyheroicnarrativesofcivilresistance.NowthatIwasliterallytravelling

towards‘aGermanWood’asHechtwrites,Iwantthepoettotake‘the[Dutch]readerby

thehand’,inthewordsofOostdijk(2011,116),‘beforeilluminatingthisonehorrificevent

thatencapsulates thehorrorofNaziGermany’s cruelty.’As theplotevolves, the ‘Pole’

refusestocomplywiththeorderandistoldto‘changeplaceswiththeJews’,onlytobe

dugoutagain.BothJewsarefinallyburiedaliveandthePoleis‘shotinthebelly’(Hecht

2016, 62-63). The last stanza shows great indebtedness to Hecht’s literary combat

forbear,WilfredOwen,andhispoem‘AnthemforDoomedYouth,’juxtaposedbelow:

Noprayersorincenseroseupinthosehours

Whichgrewtobeyears,andeverydaycamemute

Ghostsfromtheovens,siftingthroughcrispair;

Andsettleduponhiseyesinablacksoot.(Hecht2016,62-63)

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Nomockeriesnowforthem;noprayersnorbells;

Noranyvoiceofmourningsavethechoirs,–

Theshrill,dementedchoirsofwailingshells,

Andbuglescallingforthemfromsadshires.(Owen2014,xxxv)

ThesubtletyofHecht’sstyledreferencetotheGreatWarpoetisbestillustrated

whenthelineswrittenbythetwowarpoetsareplacednexttoeachotherasillustrated

above.Rightfromthefirstlineandthefirstheavilycodedword‘No’negatingeverything

to come, God importantly, Owen’s ‘mockeries’ run cleverly parallel to Hecht’s never

sounding ‘prayers,’ a mockery like Owen’s later prayers and his ‘bells’ not sounding

parallel toHecht’s ‘incense’ not rising: religion is dead in both thesepoets’wars. The

parallelcontinues,the‘muteGhost’fromHecht’scleverrun-onlineasilencinglikeOwen’s

‘voiceofmourning’bothbeatingtheirunheardbeattotheiambicpentameterthesepoetic

warrhythmsaresetto.BytheendofHecht’spoemnothingisleftofthedeadbutthe‘soot’

thatcompares toDimbleby’s ‘dust’uponBergen-Belsen’s liberation, towhich the Jews

wereburnedlikebeastsintheNaziovens.Thesootgentlyfallsontheeyesofthe‘Pole,’

soothingbeforehediestoo.Similarly,forthosesoontodielike‘cattle’inthetrenchesof

WorldWarIthereisnoconsolationbutOwen’s‘sad’callofthe‘bugles,’itsgentlesound

reachingthesoldiers’earsinconsolation,butsoondrownedoutbythe‘shrill’soundsof

warastheymarchtotheirdeaths.

HechtandOwenareouttogetthe‘costsacknowledgedandthetruthstold,’which

as I have previously shown, is a universal characteristic drive that war poets share

(Kendall2013,xxi).HechtlikehisforebearOwentriestofacethereaderwiththefactsof

warwithinthesemanticlimitsofpoetry.Thoughittookhimabelatedtwentyyearstodo

so,itisavitalelementconnectingwarnarrativeswitheachother,acrosstimeandspace.

Yeats famously criticised the ‘blood, dirt and sucked sugar-stick’ (Yeats 1940, 124) of

Owen’swarpoems,statingthat‘passivesufferingisnotathemeforpoetry,’(Yeats1936,

xxxiv).Yetitispreciselytheterse,languidandstiflingelementsofHecht’sversewhich

capturethepassivityofthe‘twoJews’andthe‘Pole’inthefaceoftheirNazitormentorin

perfectunisonwiththepassivemarchofOwen’ssoldierstotheirinevitabledeaths.Itis

shockingtotheyoung21st-centuryreader,andyetprovidesawelcomecontrastformy

pupilstothetenderregisterofAnneFrank,aswellasawelcomecontinuationofwhere

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hernarrativeends.Buildingupon thegiant shouldersofhispredecessorOwen,Hecht

hammers home to them what ‘the final solution’ meant for the young heroine who

capturedtheheartsofmillions.

Out-of-Class Intervention Stopping Point IV: Anne Frank Platz

‘WemovenowtooutsideaGermanWood,’Andrieswhispersominously,thememorised

wordsofAnthonyHechtingrainedinhisbrainashenavigatedusoffthemotorwaypast

Bremenandintoarural,woodlandareatowardstheGermantownofCelle.95Astheforest

grewdenseranddarker,wetookasharpleftturnandparkedourcarontheAnneFrank

Platz,nexttothemuseumofconcentrationcampBergen-Belsen.Thethreegirls inthe

backofthecarhadprophesiedonwhattheeffectoftheirafternoonvisittoAnneFrank’s

placeofdeathmightbe.Aswemetupwiththerestofthegroup,Iaskedeachpupiltojoin

infrontofthecameraofHubert’siPadandtelltheirexpectations.‘IexpectBergen-Belsen

tobejustreallyoverwhelming;’‘Itwillhelpputthefuturemoreincontext[ofthepast];’

‘Itwillhaveahugeeffectonallofus;’‘Ithinkitwillbeveryconfronting;’‘Iexpectittobe

veryemotional.’96Thesewerenomeanprophecies;mypupilswerebracingthemselves

foranemotionalcollision.ThelastgirlinlinewasGeesje,hesitantlywaitingherturn.‘I

hope…itisgoingto…change…thewayI…seeallthesethings…inmyhead,’sheexplained

falteringlywiththecamerarunning,afterwhichshequicklyturnedaway,redfacedand

tearsinhereyes.97

ElizabethBaerhasvouchedfortheimportanceandimminentneedfor‘achildren’s

literatureofatrocity’coupledwithwhatshecalls‘confrontationaltexts’(Baer2000,384).

As‘nonwitnesses’totheHolocaust,andinparticularthewishtowitnessAnne’sfate,my

pupils were irresistibly drawn to both Hecht’s ‘confrontational’ narrative to break

throughthesugar-coatedlayersooftenprovidedtochildren’swarnarrativestosoften

theblowofhorror.LawrenceL.Langerarguesthatthereisaneedto‘useothernarratives

to amplifyAnne Frank’s diary’ (Langer 1998, 190). The out-off-class intervention had

done exactly this, juxtaposing the poets, reporters and ego-documents of the road to

Bergen-Belsen, each pathos formula unleashing its power to signify what this

concentrationcampmusthavemeantforAnneFrankandmeanstomypupilsnow.Infact,

thesoundsandsightsofatrocityweregettingsoloud,thatsomeinmytaskteam, like

Geesje,werebeginningtobreakunderthestrainoftheinescapableanddeafeningnoise

oftheHolocaust’s‘confrontationaltexts’combinedwiththeirvisittoBergen-Belsen.My

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pupilsmovedintothememorialmuseum,whereanexhibitionfocussedon‘memoirsof

formerprisoners,’andencouragedmyteenagerstoengagewiththese‘withoutpressure,’

contributingtheirown‘knowledgeandskills’inan‘interactive’way.98Andso,camerain

hand,theyinteractedwiththesources,weavingthememoryofBergen-Belsenwiththeir

individualandcollectivememoriesofAnneFrank:

Ihaveseenmanyterriblesightsinthelastfiveyears,butnothing,nothing

approachingthedreadfulinteriorofthishutinBelsen.Thedeadandthe

dyinglayclosetogether.Ipickedmywayovercorpseaftercorpseinthe

gloom until I heard one voice that rose above the gentle undulating

moaning.Ifoundagirl.Alivingskeleton.Impossibletogaugeheragefor

shehadpracticallynohairleftonherheadandherfacewasonlyayellow

parchmentsheetwithtwoholesinitforeyes.(Dimbleby,citedinFlanagan

andBloxham2005,xii)

Thistime,Dimbleby’swordssmashedhometomypupils’heartsastheywalkedaround

likeghosts,movingfromthesourcesonthepanelledwalltothewindowbayoverlooking

the site of tragedy. ‘But it’s so peaceful here,’ Andries whispered, Egbert adding ‘it’s

beautiful,’someofthefewwordsspokenastheywalkedmutelyacrossthegrassyfields

alongthepathtowherethediseaseriddenandover-crowdedbarrackshadstood,oneof

whichhadhousedAnneFrank.99Geesje andher friendsweremoving on silently, and

keepingveryclosetogether,mypupilsneverlettingmeoutoftheirsight.‘Warmuseums

failtorepresentthewar,’because‘therewasthenandisnownoconsensusastowhat

constitutedthewar,wieeseigentlichgewesenwar–asitactuallywas’(Winter2012,152).

Mypupilsreflectonthesewordsastheself-styled‘Semi-Matured’werematuringbythe

minute,continuingtheirwalktowardstheplacemarkingthegraveofAnneFrank,their

final stop. Reflecting on their experience, their expectations,Winter’s admonition, the

camera started rolling and one by one they broke down, some refused to speak and

walked away, thosewho did strained to findwords, rasping and halting, whispering,

crying...

Geesje:‘I’mjustreally…shockedand…disgustedbywhatpeoplearecapable

ofdoingtoeachother…’

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Egbert:‘Itfeltsobeautifulanditfeltlikeabeautifulwalkintheparktoday

butontheotherhandit…youknowthatallthesemassgraves…liehere…’

Hubert: ‘Theareajustdidn’taddupwiththestoriesthathavehappened

here…andthatreally…scaredme…’

Jantina: ‘AfterwalkingthroughthisforestIthinkIhaveapictureofhow

things…musthave…gonehere…’

Riekje:‘It’sjust…that…people…can’tdothis…theygotthemessage…thank

God…’

My task teamwas incrisis.Nothing in their life-longeducationaboutAnneFrank, the

SecondWorldWarandtheHolocausthadpreparedthemforthis.DienkeHondius(2010,

83, 97) explains that during the ‘50s, history education in the Netherlands promoted

‘patriotismandnationalpride.’Thelate‘60sand‘70sistheperiodwhenthehistoryofthe

persecutionoftheJewscomestotheforeground.The‘AnneFrankHuis’inAmsterdam

functionedasaplacewhereonecouldtalkfreelyandaddresssensitiveissuesofthewar,

whichwerenot‘discussedathome’oratschool(Hondius2010,100).Itwasduringthis

periodthatTheDiarywasembeddedineducation,breakingthewargeneration’ssilence.

The Diary turned out to be a powerful weapon for their children, who in their

revolutionarywakeapplieditspowerasamoralparadigminthemaelstromofprotests

againsttheVietnamWar,the50-yearcommemorationofwhatIanParsonstermedthe

‘Holocaust of the Somme’ and as accusation against their parents generation of

perpetrators.

Thus, the Holocaust attaches itself as a ‘floating signifier to historically very

different situations,’ (Huyssen 2003, 99). The ‘60s surge of First World War poetry

anthologiesandtheiruseinBritishclassroomsmightwellhavebeeninfluencedbythe

delayedliteraryreactioninresponsetotheHolocaust.‘Itistwentyyearsnow,Father.I

have come home,’ Hechtwrote as late as 1967, in his hauntingwar poem ‘Rites and

Ceremonies.’Hecht’smemoryoftheHolocaustis‘home.’TheDiaryprecededhisreaction

bythosetwentyyears,itssuccessduetoits‘sentimental’remediation.TheDiary’scentral

placeineducationofthe‘60s,coupledwiththewarpoemsofSassoonandOwen,served

as catalyst to a surge inWorldWar II andHolocaust representations. Together these

pathosformulawarnarrativesprovedtheirincrediblepowerwhenappliedineducation.

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They have shaped a lasting canon from within, attached to each other as ‘floating

signifiers’ofmemory,advocatingalessonofwarning.

Meanwhile,IwasleftstandinginthemiddleofAnneFrankPlatzwithadishevelled

bunchofteenagers.Gonewastheiradventurousnessandexcitement,theiryouthfulgusto.

Theglintintheireyeswasdulled,washedawaybythetearsmanyhadshedatwitnessing

whatwasleftofthehorrorthattookawayAnne’slifeandsomanyothers.Fromtheoutset,

Ihadexpressedmyanxietyregardingtheirwillingnesstoplaythevoyeurandtheirinitial

lackofprotest,revulsionorindignationatourimpendingfieldtrip.Astheirteacher,Ihad

instigatedtheprocesstowhichIgraduallybecameanobserver:theirtransformationinto

‘nonwitnesses’oftheHolocaust.ShoshanaFelmanarguesthat‘intheeraoftheHolocaust,

ofHiroshima,ofVietnam–intheageoftestimony–teachingmustinturntestify,make

somethinghappen’(1995,56).Felmangoesontoarguethatteaching,likepsychoanalysis,

has to ‘live throughacrisis,’ for ‘botharecalledupontobeperformative,andnot just

cognitive’ (ibid.). These pupils who now found themselves in a formerWorldWar II

concentration camp, had departed from the ‘sugar-coated,’ and ‘muted’ diary of Anne

Frank.Theyhaddonesoviathe‘magicalmoments’theyhadbroughtforwardinclass,and

out-of-classbyexploringtheroadAnnewasforcedtotake,passingthroughthegateway

ofthedarkestplaceimaginable.

Showingmypupils the larger literary-historicalandculturalsignificanceofThe

Diary has proven the gateway to the crisis my pupils were now facing. Children’s

literatureisthe‘mostratherthantheleastappropriateliteraryforumfortraumawork,’

Kidd(2008,161)argues.Trueasthismaybe,mytaskteamhadsoughtwelcomehelp

from‘adult’narrativesbyjournalistssuchasRichardDimblebyandpoetssuchasAnthony

HechttoprovidetheextracolourtothepagesAnneFrank leftblank.ThroughHecht’s

‘GermanWood’tothe‘twoJews’beingburiedaliveby‘aPole,’walkingfurtherpassedthe

barracksDimblebydescribesofwhichnownothingmoreremainedthanitsovergrown

foundations,wereonceyoungstershadtheirlugubrious‘picnic’amongstthedead,right

uptomeetingthe‘girl’s’eyeslike‘alivingskeleton.’Allthewhilemypupilswheregetting

closertofindingAnneFrank.

Mypupilshadbecome ‘obsessed’withAnneFrank, andnow ‘entirelyat a loss,

disoriented’andliterally‘uprooted,’forheretheywereinBergen-Belsen,afarcryfrom

home(1995,50).Closerthanever,emotionallyandspatially,mypupilswereinanideal

positiontocreateatestimony.Forhavingmadethishappen,itwasnowmyjobto‘resume

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authorityastheteacheroftheclass,andbringthestudentsbackintosignificance’(Felman

1995,50).BasinghertheoryonherexperienceofHolocaustteachingthathadresulted

intoaclassbreakingintoanunprecedentedcrisis,Felmanadvisesherstudentstoview

theirendproduct,apaper,as ‘theirtestimony’tothecourse(1995,54).Thissquadof

studentshadwieldedtheircameraduringtheentireout-of-classinterventionbecauseI

hadconstantlyremindedthemofthenecessitytofilm,torecordaprocesstowhichthis

chapter in turn stands as testimony. My pupils had created a ‘prosthetic memory’

(Landsberg2004,2)oftheHolocaustinrelationtothefateofAnneFrank.Itwasajumbled

mixoffootprintsthatincludedtheirheroine’s,thoseofcombatgnosticsoldierpoetHecht

andjournalistDimbleby,butalsotheirownDutchtread.

Thischaptersetouttoexaminetendernessofcanonicalwarnarrativesbyandfor

children,suchasAnneFrank’s literaryfootstepsandthe legacy ithad inthecollective

culturalmemoryofmypupils.Theharshandbrutal‘costs’and‘truths’ofcombatpoet

Hecht andwar reporterDimbleby confrontedwith the endgame, notwithstanding the

physicalrealityofaformerconcentrationcamp.Formypupilsthishadtransformedthe

diary’s legacy into something ultimately more brutal. It shows that the equivocal

distinctionsbetweenadultwarliteratureandchildren’swarliteratureareblurred:adult

Holocaust literature and spatial narrative of a Nazi concentration camp enable this

children’s narrative to be reappraised and give voice to the pages that have been left

blank.Whatthischapterhashopedtoshowisthattheidealsofchildren’snarrativesdon’t

stick. It is the ‘ur-terror’ adults tend to ‘pussyfoot’ around, quoting Lore Segal,which

attract and lures teenagers,making a lastingmarkupon theirmemories. It is the ‘ur-

terror’ofOwen’sgas-attack in ‘DulceetDecorumEst’ aswellas thedeeply imbedded

terrorofTheDiaryuncoveredviamypupil’smagicmoments,whichcontinue todraw

pupil readers to war narratives. In the next chapter my teacher-reader will discover

whetherthesameholdstruewhenpupilswatchmoviesportrayingtheur-terrorsofthe

VietnamWar.

This chapter set out to take yet another qualitative analytical step beyond the

boundariesofFirstWorldWarpoetry,andintotherealmofadifferentwar,adifferent

genre, both applied to a unique and selected set of pupils. I hope to have shownmy

(Dutch)teacher-readerthatarenewedintroductiontoTheDiary,thoughfraughtwiththe

pitfallsofpupilsresistanceandlackofmotivation,hasuncoveredsomeliterarypearlsin

theformofso-calledmagicmoments.Allowingpupilstorediscoverandreappraisethe

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canonicalwarnarrativethemselvesanddiscussingthisinpeer-to-peergroupsessions,

strengthened pupil’s autonomy, activated their intrinsic interests and addressed their

social motivation (Van Steensel, Van der Sande and Arends 2017). Given the low

motivationontheoutsetoftheextra-curricularcourse,andthetantalisingsupposition

that Owen’s poetry and Anne Frank’s diary are both adult stories read by children,

confounding the boundaries of genre even more, the next chapter promises to offer

similar literary solutions topupils inbigger turmoil and lower inmotivation than the

studentsportrayedhere.Crossingoverintoyetanothereraandwar,namelytheVietnam

war, and to its ‘natural form’ of narrative output, quotingMcLoughlin (2011), namely

Vietnam war movies, I will analyse their pearls and pitfalls when applying them in

education.

Exposing children to war and its horrors, the flipside of tenderness, as an

educational tool topreventwar in the future, is thecornerstoneof teachingchildren’s

literaturesofwar.Thischapteranditsinterventionscannotconcludethatbyputtingwar

literatureandspecifically, literaturewrittenbyachildonthecurriculumthatwarand

Holocausthasbeenpreventedforthefuture.Yetitremainsteachers’eternalroletokeep

openingdoorsfortheirstudents,evenwhentheyleadtothedarkestrealmsofhumanity

andguidethemontheirvariousexplorations,whatevertheoutcome.Inthecaseofthe

Holocaust, ‘they are obliged to opendoors of impossibility, an equally compelling but

more arduous task, because the obstacles to gaining entrance are somany, the usual

rewardssofew’(L.Langer1998,198).Allwecando,teachersandpupilsalike,istakethe

medicineandtestify.Takingthebeautifulriskwasterrifying,yethavingdonesoIhopeto

inspiremy teacher-reader todo the same, intervening to takepupils on anout-of-the

classroomliteraryfieldtrip.Ultimately,thischapterisatestimonyofhowI,asahuman

beingand,fundamentaltothisbook,ateacherandscholar,byapplyingwarnarrativesin

andoutsidetheclassroom,trytohelpexplainthewaymypupils‘seeallthesethingsin

[their]head[s],’quotingmypupilGeesjeatthegatesofthe‘unimaginable,’andmakethem

imagineit.Allmypupilscando,istestify.

148

Epilogue

ShoshanaFelmanarguesthatinthe‘eventofteaching’intheeraoftheHolocaust,

therecipientsoftheinformation,inallitsperformativityandtestimonialofnature,must,

importantly,lookbackathaving‘transformedthemselves’(Felman1995,56).Enteringmy

classroomattheendofabusyschooldayayearandahalflater,areEgbert,Gerda,Gezina,

Ingeborg,ClasinaandJantina...

‘Look, there are the ‘Semi-Matured,’ see them sitting together again,’ I say

welcomingthem.Theylaughshyly,lookingateachothersomewhatcoyly.Themagicthat

boundthemduringtheirearlierschooldayshasgone,thefirethatlitbetweenthemisspent.

Theyareontheirwaytoadulthood,awayfromthisschool.‘YouaretheMaturednow,’Isay,

andtheyinstantlygetme.Scottishiceisbroken.Theiroldteachisspeakingplainlytothem.

‘I’mwritingmyowntestimonialchapteraboutourexperiencestravelingtoBergen-Belsen,

andIhadacoupleofquestions.Lookingback,howhasthetripandthetask,shortthoughit

was,affectedyou?’

Ingeborgisthefirsttoanswerandfocusesontheearlycareeropportunitiesthathad

beengiventoher,explainingthatonthebackoftheexperienceofhavingmadeyetanother

task,anditssuccess,meritingapresentationattheclosingconferenceofthePETALLproject.

‘Thesecondtaskwasevenmoresuccessfulthanthefirst,andIwashappythatourschool

andourtaskteamgotselectedtogototheconference,thatGeesjeandAndriesandIcould

go.’Gezinanodsandadds‘itwasgreattobetogetherSir,wehadfun,anditwassuchan

experiencedesigningourtaskattheGermanschoolandpresentingittoourpeersthere.’

Gettingallboisterousandworkedupnow,sittingdownrelaxedlyandlaughingtogether,I

decidetopopthebigquestion.

‘WhataboutBelsenthough?’

Theyreactquickly,interruptingeachother…‘Thatwas…I’llneverforgetthatagainSir…’‘It

waslikeaparkbutwhydoIrememberitsoclearly…?’‘Itwashorrible…‘Riekje,’someone

said,andtheyallrepeatedhernameseveraltimesinassent.‘Riekje,Riekje.Riekje…’

AskingGerdaifsheremembersbeingaffectedbeforethevisit,shenodssilently,and

adds: ‘butafterRiekjebrokedowninfrontofthecamera, itwasworse,wayworse.Even

when I thinkabout itnow.’Egbertnods, saying ‘youknow, Ihavebeenbroughtupwith

149

storiesofresistancetoldbymygrandfather,whohidcheesefromtheGermans.Cheese!It’s

patheticreally,comparedto…youknow…’

‘Yeah,Ihadthat,’Gerdaadds,‘mygrandmotherwasinacampthough,inIndonesia.

Iguessthat’skindathesame,butInevertalkedaboutitwithmyfamily.’Suddenly,themost

silentofall,Jantina,speaksup.

‘Youknowsir,allofushadreadAnneFrank’sdiaryalreadywhenyouaskedustore-

readit.Andtobehonest,somerefusedtore-readitdespiteyourpleadingrightuntiltheday

ofdeparture,andI’mnotnamingnames.WehadallbeentotheAnneFrankHuistoo,allof

us,nottogether,butduringourseparateprimaryschoolcareers.AndIhaveevenhadthe

honourofmeetingMiepGies,whocametotalkatmyschoolwhenIwasyoung,andshewas

stillalive.Didyouknowshe lived inHoorn?Everyone inHoornknewMiepGies, shewas

worldfamousandcametospeakatsomanyschoolswhenwewerestillveryyoung.And

still...stillIdidnotunderstand,reallyunderstandwhatthestoryofAnneFrankwasabout.

GoingtoBergen-Belsenchangedusforever.Wecompletedthestorysir,whenwewentto

Belsen.Wecompletedthestory.’100

150

Atruewarstoryisnevermoral.Itdoesnotinstruct,norencouragevirtue,norsuggestmodelsofproper

humanbehavior,norrestrainmenfromdoingthethingstheyhavealwaysdone.Ifastoryseemsmoral,do

notbelieveit.Ifattheendofawarstoryyoufeeluplifted,orifyoufeelthatsomesmallbitofrectitudehas

beensalvagedfromthelargerwaste,thenyouhavebeenmadethevictimofaveryoldandterriblelie.

Thereisnorectitudewhatsoever.Thereisnovirtue.Asafirstruleofthumb,therefore,youcantellatrue

warstorybyitsabsoluteanduncompromisingallegiancetoobscenityandevil.(O’Brien2015,77)

4.DirectingScenesofWarBuildingBildung:VietnamWarMoviesinthe21stCenturyClassroomasGateway

toPupilCitizenship

Things fell apart right from the start. Unceremoniously shacked up in a different

classroomthanmyown,thelightsfailing,thelastraysofNovembersunlightblockedby

a large looming fence directly opposite themurky windows, I tried to switch on the

projectorforthethirdtime.Mydeskstillindismalarray,Iturnedmyhopefuleyetothe

old-fashionedblackboard,crammedwiththepasttenseofthegrammarlessonbefore,but

stillthelopsidedandshakilyhangingcanvasfrontoftheboardprojectednothingmore

thananerrorsignatitscentre.Thenthedreadedsound,thebellbuzzingitsrelentless

leveltone,thegaggleofjuvenilesspreadingoutintheirpreciouslyselectedpeergroups.

Segregatedinthenooksandcranniesoftheir19th-centuryschoolbuilding,themorning

breakofthese21st-centurychildrenispiercedtoitsend.Ihaveonlyfiveminutestoget

thislessonstraight,anddespitemydecade’sworthofexperiencedealingwiththisfight

againsttime,Ifeelthebeadsofanxietystartingtoformdropletsonmybackasthefirst

sullenteenagersshuffleintofindaseat.Soonthetideisloosenedasmoreandmoreboys

anda fewgirls, in twosand threes, silently file inas ifon theirmournfulway to their

funeralsinsteadofanafternoonlessonofEnglish.

ItwasMondaymorning, the firstdayat school after theParis terrorattacksof

Friday13November2015.WhathadbeenaParisianeveningoutenjoyingfootball,music

and dinner turned into a nightmare attack by Islamic State, killing 130 people and

woundingmanymore.101Theshockof thedeadliestattack inFrancesince theSecond

World War reverberated throughout Europe and The Netherlands. 102 That Monday

morningafter,IwasbattlingtimetoadheretotheEuropeanUnion’scallforaone-minute

silencetobeheldatnoon.ThiswaspreciselythemomentIwouldbeteachingwhatwas

151

arguablythetoughestgangofscarredandhardenedteensIhadtaughtforalongtime.103

Theanimosityinthisgrouphadbeenpalpableformonths,gettingthemtocometoschool

andmylessonwasdifficult,toproduceanyworknighonimpossible.Thingshadreached

boilingpointonlytheweekbefore,when,leavingtheclassroomforamomentIcameback

tofindseveralboysinatremendousfight,throwingtables,rippingcurtainsandknocking

downcupboards,all thewhileeggedonbyaraucouscackleofswearingandshouting

classmates.HowonearthwasIgoingtolullthisclassintoasilentandrespectfulquietude,

evenforjustaminute,atnoonthatday?

Walkingwearilytoschoolthatmorning,IpassedAndriesandGeesjeandsmiled,

rememberingwhyIfeltsowornout.Thepreviousweek,justfivedaysbeforetheattacks

inParis,wehadstoodtogetherat thegatesofBergen-Belsen.Geesje’sheartfeltwords

joggedmymemory.Howwould Ibeable tohelpexplain ‘theway [they] seeall these

things in [their]head[s],’ Iwondered, if I couldn’t stop thisclass fromclawingateach

otherduringaneverydayEnglishgrammarlesson?104Iwasjustbackfromthismission

for theDutchSecretaryofState forEducation,addressingwarandtheHolocaustwith

pupils, viamy literary interventions.Andherewas theEuropeanUnion forcingme to

addressyetanotherformofconflictintheclassroom.Withtheforce-fields’expectations

thuspressinguponme,Ihadnotimetodesignanentirecourseortorelyonthe‘pathos

formula’narrativesthathadproventheirworthteachingbothWorldWars.Therefore,I

resolvedtoseekouttheonlineadviceofmypeers.ShortlyaftertheCharlieHebdoattacks

earlierthatyear,agroupofDutchteachershadcometogethertodiscussthebestwaysof

addressingsuchsensitivetopicsinclass.Theiradviceissummedupasfollows:‘Talking

helps–provideinformation–emotionsaregood,factsarebetter–donotjudgebuthelp

themjudge–withinclearlysetboundaries–startpersonal–reflectwithyourteam–find

managementsupport.’105Feelingover-workedandanxiousaboutfacingthisparticularly

volatileclassaddressingsuchasensitiveissue,Itooktheirhelptoheart.

Teuniswas the first to come in, the smallest of the platoon, taking a seat near

Anton,Aart,andRoelof,thelargestofthemall, inthetightfitofthecoopedclassroom

RuudandAlfredflankedtheirpositionsasusual.Moresulkilythanevertheytaketheir

seatsbehindthethousand-milestareofGerard’sred-rimmedeyesrevealingasomewhat

troublesomedigestionofhisnon-solidlunch,leavingtheabsentJozefbehindinthepark.

The slumped body of Lammert who started a morning nap as soon as he sat down,

droopedoverhisdesk,theinseparableandargumentativeSjoerdandMarinustogether

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upfront,Abasssittingsolitaryintheback,nothingseemedoutoftheordinary.Despite

havingclaimedtheirpositionsontheflanksofthemasculinerockatthestartoftheschool

year,therewassomethingwronginthewaythefewgirlsinthisclassanxiouslypositioned

themselves.ThetwinsJanandBernardinasatnexttoeachotherwithIvo,whospentmost

ofhisweekendsandeveningsbehinddecksduetohisgrowingsuccessasaDJ.Yethewas

amoreloyalattendeeofthisclassthanmanyofhisbrothersinarms.Ivowasanxiously

eyeingme,andIshouldhavereadtheheads-uphegave,aclearwarningsignofthebattle

tocome.

Alfred:‘Arewegonnabesilentsir?’–talkinghelps–Ruud:‘whyshouldIbesilent

foryou,dumbass?’Sjoerd:‘ofcoursewe’llbesilent,won’twe,Abbas?’Jozef,walkingin

dazedly: ‘why aren’t we silent for those attacks in Beirut?’ – provide information –

Marinus: ‘causewe live in Holland, idiot, we need to defend our country.’ Ivo: ‘racist

asshole.’ Jan: ‘thoseFrenchflagsonFacebookarehypocritical.’Sjoerd: ‘whyman,have

younorespect?’–emotionsaregood,factsarebetter–Marinus:‘it’sgonnahappenhere,

thenseehowyoufeel.’Sjoerd:‘yeahAbbas,anyplans?’Ivo:‘leaveAb’aloneyoufucking

racist!’Dirkje: ‘but it is always theMuslims, sir?’ –donot judgebuthelp them judge –

Sjoerd:‘I’mgonnajointhearmy,dosomethingaboutit’–Herman,walkinginlate:‘ohno,

notagain,I’mouttahere.’–withinclearlysetboundaries–Jan:‘yeahcoward,leavewhen

there’sawaron!’Teunis:‘shutupman.’Bernardina:‘dowehavetotalkaboutthis,sir?’

Ruud:‘thisclassisfullofracists,sir.’Sjoerd:‘what’swrongwithdefendingourcountry?’

–startpersonal–Teacher:‘thisishowwarstartslads…that’swhyweneedtotalkabout

it,it’swhatIamwritingaboutinmybookrightnow’–reflectwithyourteam–Teacher:

‘justhadatoughlesson.’Colleague:‘really?Silentforaminuteandthenonwithmaths.’–

findmanagementsupport–Principal:‘I’msureasawarliteraturescholarthatwaseasy

foryou…’106

WhatwasItodowiththisunwilling‘fight-class’?Ihadencounteredreluctanceto

my narratives of conflict before, when I put The Diary of a Young Girl on the extra-

curricular program of a pre-selected group of high achieving Vwo-pupils. Yet their

curricular confrontation with this canonical war narrative has shown that pupils

reengage with literature when teachers involve them on two levels: by letting them

contributetoabroaderdiscoursevis-a-visliteratureandtheforcefields,andbyletting

themcreatetheirpersonaltestimoniesofwar.Andso,thequalitativepathIhadchosen,

asascholarandteacher,asaliteraryhistorianandeducationalcritic,hasledmebeyond

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the remit of an English teacher, tackling a Dutch canonical narrative, exploring other

genres,fromFirstWorldWarpoetrytoSecondWorldWarprose,andbeyondthelimits

ofmyclassroomfromYprestothegatesofBergen-Belsen.Thischapterwillcontinueon

theroadlesstravelled,andbuildonmypreviousliteraryinterventions,workingtowards

anewdesignthatwouldstandthetestinthistumultuousclass.Forwhatwashappening

inthis‘fight-class’wasbeyondreluctance;itwaspureresistance.Giventheverydifferent

natureofthisgrouponbothapedagogicalanddidacticlevel,beingmorecognitivelyand

culturally diverse, I was convinced the next step to engage this troubled Havo-class

necessitatedanevenfurthertravailfrommycomfortzone,intotherealmsofanotherwar

andanothergenre:Vietnamwarmovies.

Thischapterwillanalysethemeansbywhichtoestablishgatewaysbetweenthe

effecttheblurredboundariesbetweenzonesofwarandpeacewerehavingonmypupils’

lives,andthepossibilitiesmultimodalwarnarrativesmightgivethemtounderstanding

thepresent.StandingontheshouldersofthepreviousinterventionsIhaveoutlinedin

thisbook,usingthepowerof‘pathosformula’narrativesthatteachingliteratureoffered,

I knew I could rely on literary tools to address the tensions the ‘Paris-lesson’ had

uncovered.Ineededtodesigntherightliteraryinterventionandchoosetherightgateway

warnarrativestofacilitateadiscussionrelevanttothis‘fight-class’’currentpredicament.

As I will show in further detail in this chapter, adding Vietnam War movies to the

educationalcurriculumservesvariousgoals.Firstly, it letspupilsbeintroducedwitha

war and its dominant narrativewhich has hitherto been ignored, in Dutch education

certainly, but also on a broader global scale. Secondly, by adding war movies to the

curriculumIwish toopenup traditionalEnglishcurricula in theNetherlandsandadd

visualliteracytotheteachinggoals,aswellasopenuppossibilitiesforinter-disciplinary

cooperationwithother subjects at school.Thirdly, Iwill show that the averageHavo-

pupil’sgrowingadversitytoreadingbookswillmotivatethemtoengagewithwarmovies

onshortnotice.Thisgenreandformwillneedlesseducationalintroductionthannovels.

Warmovieswillserveasarelativelyaccessiblegatewaytoaddressthemorecontentious

topicsofwarintheirdayandage,andtobringsomeordertothechaosofthisfight-class

aftertheParisattacks.

Withno(educational)waranthologies likethoseonFirstWorldWarpoetry,or

longstandingteachingtraditionsuchasTheDiarytodrawfrom,thischapterwilladdto

educationaltraditionbyteachingwarmoviesanditseffectsintheclassroom.Ofcourse,

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otherdisciplinesatschoolwillhavebroachedtheuseofvisualaidsincludingfilminclass,

but not in the literary historical sense that this chapterwill suggest. It is one of two

important aspects to this chapter: to showwhat the outcomeof puttingVietnamwar

movies on the Havo-curriculum is, and whether and in what way thesemovies have

servedthepurposeIhavesetthemabove.BeforeIdoso,however,thefirststepIwill

need to take formy own andmy teacher-reader’s benefit is to understandwhatwas

botheringthisdisruptivesetofHavo-pupils;inwhatwayeducationwasfailingthem.This

willrequiremetoforegroundmyroleaseducationaltheoristinthischapter,asIdelve

deeperintotheeducationaltheoriesinvolvingcitizenshipeducation.Thisisthesecond

aspecttothischapter,clearlylinkingcitizenshiptoliteratureeducation.Itwillmakemy

reasoningbehindmychoiceforVietnamWarmoviesmorelucidtomyteacherreader.By

delvingdeeperintoeducationaltheory,Iwanttoshowtheparticularforcesatplaywith

thisgeneration,andtheirbroadersocialpoliticalcontextlivinginaclimateofwar(Hynes

1998).

4.1AddressingtheSensitiveIssues:LiteratureandCitizenshipintheClassroom

Literature,asthepreviouschaptershaveshown,haslonghadapowerfullinktoteaching

citizenshipvalues,ofshapingpupils’moresandmorals,beforeandduringtheFirstWorld

War as much as after the Second World War, when The Diary of A Young Girl was

establishedasanimportantcanonicaleducationalgatewaytexttoaddresstheHolocaust.

Whatfollowsisthequestionwhatwarmovies,asthe‘naturalform’totheVietnamWar

according to KateMcLoughlin (2011), will yield in the classroom, besides awelcome

multimodalgenreshift?107Itisaquestionthischapterwillseektoanswer,bytakingthe

beautiful risk of education (Biesta 2013) via a wide variety of qualitative literary

interventions in the classroom, and using the power of canonical ‘pathos formula’

literature: Vietnam War movies. This chapter will build upon and add to previous

innovations to the curriculum such as ‘Finding Anne Frank’ and ‘Adopt aWar Poem,’

intrinsic as they are to the ‘exciting […] re-emergenceof […] school-based curriculum

development’(BiestaandPriestley(2013,1).AsIhavearguedthroughout,theliterary

interventionsinthisbookarebuildingstonestothis‘NewCurriculum’(ibid.).

Yet as an English language teacher in the first place, the primary goals of my

lessonsaretoteachthemEnglish.Foregroundingliteratureinmycurriculatotheeffect

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thisbookhashithertoshown,wasIfinallyarrivingatthecoreofwhateducationisreally

for?Itisthisquestionwhichliesimplicitinthisbook,andmycontinuingambitiontoplace

literaturecentraltolanguagecurricula.Acurriculum,whichpurposefullychoosesnotto

be‘drivenbyeconomicconcerns’butrather,by‘widerhumanconcernssuchasconcern

fordemocracy,socialandecologicaljusticeandpeacefulhumancoexistence’(Biestaand

Priestley2013,233). ‘TheParisattacks,’Biestacontinues, ‘oncemoreshowthatthisis

wherethetruechallengesofeducationlie,’andputsmyrockylessonaftertheseattacks

in a broader perspective.108I felt proud for having conquered an anxiety universal to

teachersjustaweekearlier,takingpupilstoaformerNaziconcentrationcamp.Theresult

wasataskdesignedtoenablepupils’ownershipofandpartnershipwiththeforce-fields

aswellascomingtotermswith,reflectingonandcreatingtheirowntestimonytothe

culturalmemoryoftheHolocaust.Itwasaprideshort-lived.Theimmediaterealityofthe

world’s events had ‘rumbledon since those gaggeddays’ (Sassoon1983, 145). Itwas

clearly having an immense effect onmany of the pupils Iwas teaching that year.My

troubled‘fight-class’inparticularhadforcedmetoaddressthewar-tornpresent.

Delving into the archive of educational scholarship for help, a report

commissionedbytheDutchMinistryofEducationconcludesthatduetothewaypupils

grow up in their own peer groups any given class suffers from ‘mental segregation’

(MargalithKleijwegt2016).Pupilswithdifferentideassitsidebysideinclass,Kleijwegt

(2016) explains, but they can easily be each other’s political and social opposites,

harbouringatotallackofinterestineachother.ThetoughteensIhadtaughtthatMonday

were a case in point. Following from the conclusions in this report, the formerDutch

SecretaryofStateforEducationJetBussemakerarguedthatcitizenshipor‘civicschooling,

should be the set primarymission of education.109Bussemaker’s advice raised by the

concernsinKleijwegt’sreportissupportedby‘PlatformEducation2032,’acommission

designedtoformulateavisionforDutcheducationofthefuture.Thisisaprecursorto

Curriculum.nu,agroupofteachers,teacher-leadersandeducationaltheoristswho,atthe

time of writing, have been given the task to roll out the Platform’s benchmark and

visionary advice foregrounding the vital importance of teaching citizenship values in

primaryandsecondaryschools.110

Narrowingdownon theplatform report, its extensive research amongstDutch

pupilsisuniqueinitskind.Theresultsarestriking.Studentsargueforacurriculumwith

more‘freedomofchoice,’onethatincludeselementsof‘globalisation’and‘citizenship,’

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ona‘personalised’level,leadingto‘subjectification.’Itisacurriculumthatteachesthem

‘societal skills’ and reflects on (‘backgrounds’ to) prevalent political and social

‘developments’and‘topics.’111Totopallthis,pupilsfindit importantto ‘discovertheir

talents and become socially skilled.’ 112 All these aspects belong to a concept called

‘Bildung’;the‘cryofthelandofpoetsandthinkersagainstthedemandsofcredentialism,

professionalism and careerism,’ (Waters 2015, 4). A variety of definitions of ‘Bildung’

apply, including ‘self-cultivation,’ ‘personal and cultural maturation,’ ‘philosophy,’

‘existentialism,’ or significantly: plain ‘education’ (ibid.). At an individual level these

propertiesareessentialtocitizenshipeducation,andbyandlargeabsentfromthe‘Havo’-

streameducationmy‘fight-class’enjoyed.AneducationaltierdownfromVwo,therewas

no field trip (Bergen-Belsen/Ypres) or extensive literature course (First World War

poetry)incurricularview.Rather,withayearofploughingthroughEnglishgrammarand

preparing for their reading exam ahead of them, it was no surprise that both their

languageandmotivationlevelswerelowerthantheirpeersatVwo.

Andso,byrebellingastheydidinmyclass,thesepupilswereimplicitlypleading

for‘Bildung.’TheParisattacksanditsripple-effectintheclassroommakeclearthatthe

appealtoeducationtoformulateanswerstocrisesandgainacertaincontroloncalamity

isurgent.Thisiswhyforce-fieldscontinuetopressuponteacherstocreatefixed,value-

drivenanchorsineducationtodevelopingpupil-citizenship,tochannelsocietalturmoil

andsafeguardagainstthedevelopmentofextremism.Issuesofcalamityandconflictare

inextricablyboundwithpupils’ currentcry for integrationof themoresof ‘Bildung’ to

educational curricula. Their reflection on the subject of war is both part of pupils’

individualdevelopmentashumanbeingsandascitizenswithinademocraticsociety.The

literaryinterventionatthecoreofmyresponseintheclassroom,therefore,neededtoact

asflywheeltoaddressthe‘mental-segregation’(Kleijwegt2016)prevalentinmycurrent

Havo-classheadon.ThisiswhyIchosethemostdirectvisualconfrontationwithviolence

andconflictpossible:warmovies.Moreover,movieswillproveapopularformofchoice

with pupils, especially with cognitively and culturally diverse Havo-classes. Because

economicbackgroundsdifferjustaswidely,choosingfilmwouldgetpupilsascloselyas

theycouldtoseeingabattlefieldastheirpeersinVwo,bywhichImeantoofferalow

budgetandbroadlyapplicableeducationalliteraryinterventiontomyteacher-reader.

Concretely,thismeansthetaskIwilloutlineinthischapterwillnotincludeany

formoftravellingtoasocalled‘siteofmemoryandsiteofmourning’(Winter1995),for

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theserequirebothaneconomicandtimeinvestmentwhichnotallpupilscanafford.The

visualrealitiesofVietnamwarmovieswouldhavetoreplacethatexperience.Thisiswhy

the scope of this book is purposefully wide, my qualitative, tentative and intuitive

approachallowingmyambitiontocometofruition,developingamuchwidercollection

ofmultimodalliteraryinterventionsformyteacher-readertopickandmixtotheirbenefit

thanmypreviouslackoftimeandaccesstoscholarshipwouldhaveallowed.Designing

another literary intervention fromscratch, Iwelcomed theopportunitymyqualitative

analyticchoiceprovided:truewidth.Bynowmyteacher-readerwillhavegottenusedto

thethreedifferentrolesIcombinethroughout.Thischapterwillanalysethehistoryof

Vietnam War movies (literary historian), its (lack of) influence in and on education

(educationaltheorist)anditsuseinthe21stcenturyclassroom(teacher)asmultimodal

literarygateway(allthreecombined).Drawingfromthelessonsinpreviouschaptersin

mydesignofanewliteraryintervention,thischapterwillaimtoavoidthe‘narrowview

ofcitizenship’towhichtheforcefieldsareparticularlysusceptible,pressingastheydoon

pupils’ ability to simply ‘recount and remember key historical, political, religious and

culturalaspectsof[American]society’(Hopkins2014,118).Doingso,itisvitaltoembed

pupils’ individual testimonies (Felman1995),which are a formof prostheticmemory

(Landsberg2004),inagroupprocess,especiallyindisruptedclassessuchasthis‘fight-

class.’

4.2EngagingTeenagers:IntroducingVietnamWarMovies

Back in the classroom,my lessonon theParis attacks of 13November2015withmy

‘Havo’-stream ‘fight-class’ filledwith boisterous boys had been tumultuous to say the

least.YetasthebuzzersoundedatnoontomarkEurope’smomentofsilence,theseboys,

andthefivegirlsinthisclass,didwhatwasexpectedfromthem:theyallremainedsilent.

Judgingfromthenationalnewspaperheadlinesthenextday,thiswasmorethanIcould

sayofpupilsatotherDutchschools.113MostmediafocusedonIslamicstudentsdisrupting

lessonsbyshouting‘AllahuAkbar,’whichinturnreceivedoutragedcommentsthrough

socialmediaaimedatthesepupilsbutalsotheirteachers.Theprobleminmyclasswas

theopposite,butnotlessproblematic:hadanyonetakentoraisingtheirvoice,‘kickall

Muslimsout’wouldhavebeenamorelikelyphrase.Itwasevidenceofsociety’sincreased

polarisation,mostpresentontheInternet,andphysicallypalpableinschools.Andasthe

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buzzersoundedforthesecondtime,thistimesignallingtheendofclass,Inoticedaripple

of relief flow through the group, signifying more than just gladness to have got the

dreadedhouroverwith:theyhadjustsurvivedalessononcitizenshipwithoutitigniting

into chaos. This English class, a pick andmix of social, political, ethnic and economic

backgrounds,wastakingitsfirststepstowardssomethingbroaderthanEnglishgrammar:

society’smostsensitiveissueswerebeingaddressedtogetherinclass.

Confrontingpupilswiththis‘climate,’‘pathosformula’warnarrativeshaveproven

tobepowerfulgatewayswithinthewarcurriculaIhavepreviouslyoutlined:‘fixedpoints’

(J.AssmannandCzaplicka1995,127)intime‘flashingbackwardsandforwards’(Johnson

2012)as ‘temporalanchors’(Huyssen1995) inthememorymelee.Allowingspace for

pupilstocreatetheirowntestimony,whetherintheformofpoetry(WorldWarI),prose

(WorldWarII),orfilm(Vietnam)iseffectiveonavarietyoflevels.Firstly,itallowspupils

toinvolveandengageinatangiblewaywiththesocietal,academic,andpoliticaldebate.

Secondly,pupils’experiencesand insightsarebrought intosignificance.What ismore,

pupils’reflectionsonandcontributionstotheculturalmemoryofwarmovebeyondthe

boundariesofthetopicofEnglishasaforeignlanguage,andthusinvitecross-curricular

teaching. Last, but not least, their testimonies are examples of citizenship education,

framedthrough(war)literature,whichreflectsupontheirdailylivesandthuscontributes

totheirindividual‘Bildung.’Somuchfortheory,forwhenIintroducemyliteraryplansto

my ‘fight-class,’ they are not convinced at all, respondingwith a deflating: ‘Oh no sir,

please,what’sthepointofthat?’114

It was essential forme to find away tomotivate these pupils. Tomake these

lessonssticktheyhadtobecomepartoftheir‘Bildung.’Thoughrocky,theParislesson’s

limited success had been their silence, a ray of light after the storm. A report

commissionedbytheSecretaryofStateforEducationpresents‘classroomdialogue’asan

essential tool for future teachers to apply for future citizenship lessons.115The ‘Paris’

lessonhadatleastshownthat‘confrontationwithuncomfortabletruthsisthefirstand

crucialstep’(Kleijwegt2016).ItwasanelementtothelessonIneededtotakewithmein

my design of the Vietnamwarmovie curriculum. Looking back, I had triggered such

dialogueintheVwo-classesonthedowningofflightMH17byjuxtaposingSassoon’sand

VanAmerongen’spoems,thewaythattravellingtoBergen-Belsentofindtheendingtoa

child’snarrativehadwonovertheheartsandmindsofmyextra-curriculargroupayear

later.Motivatinga(pre-selected)groupof(highachieving)Vwo-studentswasonething,

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captivatinganaverageanddifficultHavo-classquiteanother.Myhunchwasthatputting

warmoviesonthecurriculumofdifficultclasseswouldengagetheserebelliouspupils,

forthiswasamediumclosetotheirhearts:movieswerepartoftheirdailylives.Andso,

Isetouttodesignatask-basedwarmovieexercise,whichwoulddeveloptheirlanguage

skillsandculturalliteraryhistoryinanengaging,motivatingandpersonalisedway,thus

achievingitsfly-wheeleffect:citizenshipthroughBildung.

Put in a broader context of society today, my pupils’ primary reaction is no

surprise.Thereisaprevalentclimateineducationtomeasureeverythingaccordingto

yield,somethingwhichthischapterandthisbookseekstocounter.Testsandmarkswin

significantgroundovercreativity,Bildungandcitizenship.‘Cultureandeducationalpolicy

makers are inclined to give technocratic and economic priorities their approval,’ Van

Iseghemconfirms(2015,43).Doingso, theyopenlyquestion ‘thebenefitsof literature

anditsuseineducation.’Dutchyoungstersfindthe‘legitimisationofliteratureeducation

particularly important,’TheoWitte (quoted inVan Iseghem2015,42)argues.Though

WitteandVanIseghemarguewithreferencetotheuseofliteratureinDutchlanguage

classes at secondary schools, there are equal arguments to ‘integrate and strengthen

literatureinforeignlanguageeducation’intheNetherlands(VanderKnaap2015,209).

Definingtheuseofliteratureinschoolandsocietyasawholeismoreimportantthanever,

towhichthischapterseekstocontribute.Forbesidesitscommunicative,linguisticand

‘aesthetic’value,literature‘offersknowledgeofacountryanditspeople,issuitablefor

interculturaleducation,andisanimportantsourceofintellectual,emotionalandmoral

development,’aspectsthatareintegraltocitizenshipandBildung(VanderKnaap2015,

211).Thesequalitiesarehardtomeasureeconomically.Yettheyarevitaltodemocracy

and reverberate throughout the variety of multimodal war literature interventions I

outlineinthisbook.

The fight-class pupils are part of the post-9-11 generation, raised to expect a

violent world. ‘Twentieth-century wars systemised attacks on civilians, including

children,’Trumpener(2016)argues,and theSeptember11attacksat thedawnof the

21st-century were a dark foreboding of the ever-shifting battlefields of war. For the

millennialgeneration,‘9/11istheirequivalentofPearlHarbor’(Fairbanks2011),catalyst

toperpetualglobalviolence.ThewarsinIraqandAfghanistandraggedonrightintothe

seconddecadeoftheyoungcentury,spirallingintotheSyrianwarandterrorattacksin

Europe,affectingboththeMillennialgenerationandthenext,GenerationZ.This isthe

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generationmy‘fight-class’pupils(andallthestudentsinthisbook)belongedto;theyare

described as an ‘ethnically diverse’ generation which is both ‘progressive’ and ‘pro-

government.’116TimewouldtellwhetherterrorattackssuchasMH17and‘Paris’would

become Generation Z’s very own 9-11. These attacks brought war to an unsettling

geographicalproximitytomystudents,‘akindofwarfarewherethenotionofseparation

between combatants and civilians’ is overturned (Goodenough and Immel 2008).

Drawingconclusionsfrompreviousliteraryinterventions,itisthe‘ur-terror’(Segal2008)

ofOwen’s gas-attack in ‘Dulce etDecorumEst’ and the imbedded terrorofTheDiary,

whichcontinuetodrawpupilreaderstowarnarratives.ThisiswhyIhopedtotrulyshock

andawemyunwillingfight-classpupilsbyshowingthemcanonicalwarmoviessuchas

Platoon(1986)andApocalypseNow(1979),boundtoberifewith‘ur-terror.’

Teenagersaretreatedtootenderly,especiallyinaworldthatisrivenwithterror

attacksandrefugeesfleeingfromconflict,invadingpupils’relativezonesofsafety.Infact,

someofthefirstchildrenontherunfromthewarinSyriawereclaimingtheirseatsinmy

classroom.DefendingtheDutchNationalchildren’sliteratureweek’sthematicchoicefor

storiesinvolvinghorror,children’sliteratureauthorRianVisser(2017)stressestheneed

fornarrativesthatreflectthebleakandgruesomesideoflife.Thishelpedexplainwhythe

booklistIhadgivenmy‘fight-class’earlierthatyearwasveryunpopular.Thereweretwo

sidestotheproblem:contentandform.Bothstemmingfromthedominanceofthescreen

intheirlives,thenon-violentproseliteratureontheircurriculawastoomuchofacontrast

withtheirlivesonsocialmedia,asNetflixsubscribers,aspupilsofthevisualGeneration

Z. These teenagers are ‘digital natives’ on course to become the ‘most well educated

generation yet,’ yet with ‘little or no memory of the world as it existed before

smartphones.’117The Paris attacks, the downing ofMH17, IS decapitations and terror

attackswreakinghavoc in cities inEurope: the content of theirTV andmobile phone

screensbroughtthemeverydaywasincreasinglyviolent.Myguesswasthattheviolence

in Vietnam War movies, though different in nature and setting, would nevertheless

reverberateinformandcontentwithwhatmystudentswereusedto.

Thisviolentbackdroptomypupils’everydayliveshasincreasedthementaland

physicalproximityofwar.What is importanttomyteacher-reader isthatthischapter

arguesthatteachersmightbenefitgreatlybyseekingoutconnectionsto21st-century’s

visualrealities,inabidtoteachwiththegreatestpossiblerelevancefortoday’sstudents.

Younglearnersare‘continuallyconnectedtoglobalcrises,’EinhausandPennell(2014,

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35) argue. They ‘are visual learners, in many respects, and respond better to the

accessibility and familiarityof visual sources rather than theprintedor spokenword’

(Einhaus and Pennell 2014, 43). Yet these two scholars showed ‘an overwhelming

dominanceofpoetryanalysis as themain context for teachingaboutFirstWorldWar

writing’ and ‘conflict writing’ as a broader genre.118Its relatively short form forces a

powerful message, distilled to maximum strength, is ideally suited for the similarly

limitedyetpotentiallypowerfulislandsofclassroomtime-on-task.119Itgoestoshowthat

warpoetrywasnotlosingtheterritoryJonStallworthybitterlyclaimedithadlosttowar

prose.120However,whatisimportanthereisthatoutsidetheboundariesofeducation’s

walls, the ‘Word,’quotingStallworthy,was increasingly losinggroundtothe ‘Image,’a

battlethatwasgivenadecidingblowontheeveoftheInternetrevolution.121

More reason to opt forwarmovies as narrative of choice for the task at hand,

‘naturalform’totheVietnamWarquotingMcLoughlin(2011),whoarguesthateachwar

bringsachangeofnarrativewithit,itsownstapleform.‘Toomanyschoolchildren(and

toomany teachers) need to be remindedhowwarfare [has] changed since1918,’ Jon

Stallworthyargues(2014,xxxv).Hisconcernisthatbothpupilsandtheireducatorsneed

toconsiderwhatNickMansfield(2006,4)definesasa ‘truism:eachwarredefinesthe

nature ofwar itself, due to changes in arms technology,military organisation or geo-

strategichistory.’Ihaveshownthatthesechangeshaveledtoanincrementalincreasein

civilianwitnessesandvictimsofwarandhavethusgivenwaytoabroadenedscopeof

warnarratives.Pupilsandeducatorsneednotsomuchconsiderthechangednatureof

warfare,asStallworthyandMansfieldpointout,but that thischangehas, importantly,

causedashiftinnarrativesconsideredasauthenticandassuchappealmosttostudent

audiences,aswellasashiftinform:frompoetrytomovies.

During my design of previous literary interventions and their effect in the

classroom,KateMcLoughlin’s(2011)tropesofwarprovedagreatassettounderstanding

theworkingsofteachingwarliterature.Hertheoriesappliedineducationhaveuncovered

thatwarnarratives’‘autopsy’isacrucialingredienttoestablishing‘credentials’withits

pupilaudience.Themoreviolentasoldier’snarrativeis,themoreautopsyithas,students

argue.Thesamegoesfor‘details’ofwar(McLoughlin2011).ThemoredetailsofwarThe

Diaryrevealed,themorecredibleitbecametoitsteenagereaders.Inbothcases,themore

crediblethestorythemorepopularitiswithteenagereaders,thoughofcourseitremains

opentodiscussionwhetherthesewarnarrativesaretrulyauthentic.Thevisualdetailsof

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along-gonewar,thebrutalityofabattlehalfwayacrosstheglobedisheduptomypupils

inthecomfortoftheirDutchclassroom,howwouldpupilsjudgetheirfilms’authenticity?

McLoughlin’stheoryhasbeenenlighteningsofar,andmeritsfurtheruseinthis

chapterresearchingwarmoviesintheclassroom.YetIamawarethatuptillnow,myuse

of her theory is somewhat haphazard. Begging my teacher-reader’s patience, time-

pressedasIamtoresearch,designandapplyabroadwidthofliteraryinterventions,this

willremainsofornow.However,forthebenefitofall,Iwillpresentamorestructured

anddetaileduseofhertropesofwar,peelingtheirmeritsoffonebyoneinrelationto

theiruse in theclassroomin thenextchapterof thisbook.Fornow, it is timetostart

introducingandapplyingmyintervention,aworkinprogress,tomyclass.Iwilldosoin

emulationofthewayIhavepresentedmyliteraryinterventionstomyreaderpreviously.

For clarity’s sake it is important to realise, however, that the difference is, that the

interventions in this chapter are parts of a larger whole. Task-based learning theory

speaksof theWillisapproach: threeso-calledphases: ‘Pre-task,’ raisingconsciousness

activities,‘during-task’and‘post-task,’reflectiveandfocussedcommunicationactivities

(Ellis,Skehan,Natsuko,LiandLambert2020,365).Thus,insteadofseparatelyapplicable

taskssuchasthefiveWorldWarIpoetrytasksofchaptertwo,orthesplitbetweeninand

outsideinterventionswhenapplyingTheDiaryinchapterthree,theVietnamwarmovie

interventionispresentedhereasonewholetaskinthreeseparateparts.

Intervention Part I: Introducing Images of War in Class

‘IfVietnamwasthefirstTV-war,thenladiesandgentlemen,weareinthemiddleofan

App-war…’My boisterous boys and anxious girls stopped talking,many putting away

theirmobilephoneshastily,thinkingasuddendeclarationofwarhadbeenaimedattheir

most treasured possessions. It was some time after their ‘Paris lesson,’ and the

declamatoryopeningannouncementofanewlydevelopedcurriculum,bothembedded

withinmyresearchdomainasascholarandreflectiveofthetimesofturmoilinvading

teachers’everydayclassroomshadthemquietandallears.‘Thetelevision,’Isaid,battling

on and aided by Marshall McLuhan and Quentin Fiore (1968, 134), ‘along with the

computer[…]hasalteredeveryphaseoftheAmericanvisionandidentity.’Exactlyhalfa

century after the revolutionary 1960s I was looking at the children of the Internet

revolution, McLuhan and Fiore’s words seemed equally fitting to the cell phone

generationinfrontofme.‘Indeed,wearenowinthemidstofourfirst[Internet]war,’I

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continued,paraphrasingMcLuhanandFiore, ‘thewaytheteenagersofthe60swerein

themidstof their first “televisionwar”’ (ibid.).So farsogood,no fightsor insultsand

nobody had walked out: all was quiet on this fight-class’s front. ‘And this is why,’ I

concludedtentatively,‘inordertoreflectmorefullyonthetimesweliveintodaywewill

focus on 1960s American cultural revolution, paying special attention to the role of

Vietnamwarliterature…’

A loud groanwas let forth andprotest fromoneof the lads, ‘Oh, no sir, please.

What’sthepointofthat?’122Yetconsideringallthathadbeensaidandshoutedduringthe

Paris lesson, and fought out during the ordinary hours of English grammar, then,

notwithstandingthisoutcry,myso-called‘fight-class’wasalldocilitynow.Still,Iwanted

everyindividualinthegroupinonthiswar,andthereforeIcontinuedmybattle.‘Because’

Iexplained,‘therearemanycomparisonsthatcanbedrawnbetweenthetroubledtimes

youliveinandthoseoftherevolutionary1960s.’Exactlyhalfacenturyago, ‘theliving

roomwasthespace inwhichhouseholdmemberswouldclusteraroundthetelevision

andbeanaudience,’explainsAndrewHoskins(2004,13;italicsinoriginal),‘inthehighly

routinized timesofnewsprogrammes’ thatwere filledwith footage fromtheVietnam

War.Besideswarinvadingtheirhomes,thefifty-yearcommemorationsofWorldWarI

and the ensuingwarpoetry anthologyboomhad simultaneously started topunctuate

pupils’ daily rhythm at school. Poets such as Owen and Sassoon and their visceral

battlefieldpoetry,portrayingthecataclysmicstarttotheircentury,struckachordwith

theteenagersofthe ‘60s.TheyhadbeenraisedbyagenerationscarredbytheSecond

WorldWaryetsilentaboutitandwerenowconfrontedwiththeincredibleloudnessof

warontwofronts:theirgrandparents’waratschoolandtheirownwaronTV.

The 1960s generation protested loudly against the wars that pervaded their

existence, because ‘war insists on drowning out all other noise’, writes McLoughlin,

‘deafeningpeacetimediscourses,demandingcompleteattention’ (2011,23).For these

students,atthemedialmeetingpointofthe20thcenturywars,eithertelevised,inpoetry

or stooped in scarred silence, theywere at a vital crossroads of their bloody century.

Confrontedwith the ‘endinglessness’ (McLoughlin 2011, 107) ofwar,many teenagers

rebelled.ThusJeffreyWalsh(2009,227)argues,‘Vietnam[became]associatedwithbox-

office cinema, anti-war songs, the Civil Rights movement, West Coast rock, pop-art

posters, political protest theater [and] artistic photography.’ At the same time many

teenagersweredraftedintotheUnitedStatesarmy,‘mostlyasnineteen-year-olds,’fresh

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from high school (ibid.). They entered into a war ‘involving attrition and bloody

stalemate,’Walsh(2009,226-7)explains,‘withfewclear-cutvictories,endlesswrangling

overprisonersofwar,andasingularlyfutileending’whichwasafarcryfromthe‘morally

justifiable fight to defeat fascism and genocide in the SecondWorldWar.’ The fate of

Vietnamsoldiersstruckmoreofachordwiththeirgrandfathers’plightandthepoetry

thatflowedfromtheirtrenches,thantheirfathers’fightandsilentlegacy.

Television changed the 1960s society in that it enabled theVietnamwar to be

‘foughtintheAmericanhomeasmuchasinVietnam,’which‘canbeillustratedbynoting

someofthefavouritemusic,painting,andliteratureoftheyoungteen-agersoftheirtime,

fornearlyallofwhomthiswarandallwarsareanathema’(McLuhanandFiore1968,

135).Inmuchthesameway,therichvarietyof(social)mediaAppsconstantlyfeedmy

pupilswith liveandbreakingnews, turning theclassroomintoa liveaudienceofwar.

Phonesaremoreindividualandintrusiveincomparisonto‘60sTVexperience,whichwas

physicallyboundtotheproximityofatelevisionsetorcinemascreen,aswellassettimes

eachdayinsteadof24/7,andassuchitwasasharedandsocialevent.Incontrast,the

placepupilssharetheirnewsfeedsisincreasinglylocalisedinthenon-physicalrealityof

thevirtualInternetitself,suchastheirFacebookfeedsorInstagrampages,makingita

muchmoresingularaswellasperpetualexperience.However,theonetangiblephysical

locationtheydosharetheirphonedrivenmediaexperienceisintheclassroom,where

theymeettheir‘virtual’peersonadailybasis.Thus,schoolsbecomethesitewherethe

mainactionofmodernwarfareisbroughttothescreen(s)andfoughtout,whichsheds

somelightonthesuddenflaringoftensionsinmyfight-classearlierthatyear.123

‘I’mgonnajointhearmy,dosomethingaboutit’mypupilSjoerdhadvowedduring

the ‘Paris lesson.’124AsDutch jet-fighterscontinuedtoscramble fromtheirbase in the

MiddleEasttodroptheirbombsonIStargets,Sjoerdwasnotaloneinhisresolve,marking

perhapsthebiggestdifferencebetweenteenagersofthe‘60sandthoseIwaspresently

teaching,forwhomwarwasnotan‘anathema’(McLuhanandFiore1968,134).Rather,

mypupils regardedwar as a given fact, part of theirdaily lives andnot something to

dislikeorlike;unlikethe1960sgeneration,theyhadnotgrownupina‘countercultureof

rebellionthatsuppliedglamorousslogansandimages’(Walsh2009,227).Researchinthe

United States shows that relatively few of the millennial generation choose an army

career.125Yet‘9/11fuelledadeepandabidingsenseofpatriotisminmanyyoungpeople’

(Fairbanks2011).Whereas‘politically,millennialsleanleftandarerecognizedfortheir

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tolerance,’thepost-9-11millennialgeneration,theGenerationZtowhichallthepupilsin

thisbookbelong,‘couldbecomestronglynationalisticifprovoked’(Wagaman2016).This

makesthem‘similartothe“G.I.generation”thatcameofageduringtheGreatDepression

andWorldWarI’(Wagaman2016).FormanyofmyDutchpupils,theperpetualattacks

byISonEuropeancitiesfuelledamountingwish,especiallysincetherocketattackon

flight‘MH17.’Thus‘provoked,’GenerationZboyslikeSjoerdactivelywelcomeanarmy

career.

Televisionhasan incrediblepowerasanation-buildingmachine. Ithas ‘helped

reproduceanillusionofmass–inadvertisingandmarketing,inways-to-bring-up-your-

children’(Hoskins2004,13).‘Citizenship,’MaritaSturken(1997,14)explains,‘couldthus

be enacted through live television.’ Whenever British, Dutch, or American audiences

‘watcheventsof“national”importance,’shecontinues, ‘theyperceivethemselvestobe

part of a national audience regardless of their individual political views or cultural

background’(Sturken1997,13-14).BroadcastsonTVactasareminder‘that“we”livein

nations,“our”identityisconstantlybeingflagged’(Billig2017,xxv),justlikeitiswhen

readingpoetryonaScottishbattlefield.Atthesametime, ‘television’sre-enactment’ is

‘muchclosertothefluidwaysinwhichmemoryoperatesnotasastableforcebutasa

constantly rewritten script’ (Sturken 2002, 200, cited in Hoskins 2004, 13). This is

‘renarrativization’asSturkendefinesit, tellingthestoryofwaroverandoveragain, ‘a

constant rescripting, […] retelling the past’ (Sturken 1997, 42-3). It is ‘essential in

memory;indeeditisitsdefiningquality’(ibid.).Thispastisundercontinualinfluenceof

avarietyofforcefields,seekingtoinfluencememory:politics,academiaandsociety.The

Vietnammoviesthatappearedduringandafterthewarhavesinceretoldandreframed

thememoryofthatwar.

Ihaveshowninthepreviouschapterhowteachers’curriculacontributetopupils

formingamemoryofwarwhichtheycannotanddidnothavebeforetheytackledwar

narratives.Thesestoriesarepowerful‘pathosformulas’thatthusbridgetimeandspace,

signalling anewmemoryof thepast, forming inpupils’ so-called ‘prostheticmemory’

(Landsberg 2004). The problem is, that memory is under huge contestation during

conflictoritscommemoration,as‘Goveadder’hasshown.Thequestionthatsurfaces,is

whatpupilsrememberandcarry intothe futurewhentheyreadcombatpoetryof the

FirstormemoirsoftheSecondWorldWar.AndtheVietnamWarisnoexception.Itisan

event ‘throughwhich the concept of the nation hasmost powerfully been called into

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question,’ Sturken (1997, 14) argues, and nowhere more so than through the film

narratives representing that conflict. Like all war narratives, Vietnam War movies

representthe‘livingmemoryofthechangingsame,[which]directtheconsciousnessof

thegroupbacktoitssignificantnodalpoints’intheircollectiveculturalmemory(Gilroy

1993,198).Assuch,theyaremalleablethroughtheirdialoguewiththepresent.Itisupto

mypupilstopinpointthewaysinwhichthefilmnarrativesoftheVietnamWarcontinue

tobeinfluenced,andtodecideforthemselvesinwhatwaysthesevisualre-writingsof

warshedlightonthetroubledtimestheyliveintoday.

Backintheclassroom,IsayasmuchtomyHavo-pupils.Criticsargue,Iexplain,

that the narratives of the Vietnam War provide ‘prescient comment on America’s

subsequent military engagements, such as her lengthening involvement in Iraq and

Afghanistan’ (Walsh2009,237). “And to these Iwouldadd thebattlefieldsof Syria,” I

declare challengingly, “the consequences ofwhich are spilling over into theEuropean

streetsofyourdailylives,intheformofrefugeesandterrorattackslikeinParis,andto

which you have daily and unremitting access through your mobile devices.” Combat

movies ask ‘eternal questions’, and ‘most of them are basic to our understanding of

ourselvesandourhistory’(Basinger2006,179).Seekingbothwhat ‘eternalquestions’

theVietnamWarfilmmightaskandtheindividualanswersmypupilsmightprovidewill

helpreflectontheirdailywar-infusedlives.“This,”Icontinue,“prettymuchsumsupthe

reasonswhywewill startwatching and analysing VietnamWarmovies at home and

duringclass,”Iconcludemyopeningspeechcarefully.Atonceaterriblenoisebrokeout,

notofverbalorphysicalfights,butofcheering.Assoonasithadbecomecleartotheclass

that theywere toanalysevisualnarratives rather than textual,high-fivesandsighsof

reliefrippledthroughtheclassroom.‘SocanwewatchRambosir,andgetamarkforthat?’

Lammertasked,awakeforthefirsttimethatyear,turninghissleepyheadindisbelief.

‘Netflixchill!’theboysshoutinunison,thegirlsshakingtheirheadswearily.126

‘Few art forms […] continue to be utilizedmore often to depict warfare than

cinema’,DanielBinns(2017,3)claims,andasfarastheVietnamWarisconcerned,Ihad

madeapopularchoiceofgenrewithmypupils.Buttherewasmoreathandthanjustmy

warmoviechoicethatstrucksuchachord.Thesuccessofany(extra)curricular(literary)

project rested on a variety of important pedagogical and didactic educational pillars,

which I had to establish from the outset. Defining the rules of successful classroom

engagement,theformerchaptershaveunderscoredtheimportanceofestablishingways

167

of involving the students, both critically and creatively. Allowing pupils to seriously

engagewiththespecificscientific,societaloracademicdebatesthatrevolvearoundthe

warliteratureatthecoreofthecourseisessential.Teachersguidethemthroughtheno-

man’sland,buteventuallyeverypupil’sfight,thoughshoulder-to-shoulder,willleadto

theirowncreative individualengagement.Tobeable toachievesuch looseningof the

didacticreins,keepingthempedagogicallytightisvital:watchingVietnamfilmswasby

nomeansthe‘Netflix-chill’theyhadhopedfor.Pupilsneedtotrusttheteachertoleadby

example: sticking to any agreements, takingpupils seriously by involving them in the

forcefield’sdebateandallowingstructuredcritiqueonthecoursecontentaswewent

along.Also, by engagingwith thempersonally, by showingyou care as a teacher; and

clearly establish the end goals, marking and evaluation of the curriculum by

communicatingthisinatimelyfashion.

Ironically,theParislessonthathadfeltsorockyhadbeenaturningpointinthis

class.VeeringofffromthesetEnglishgrammarcurriculumandengagingwiththewarring

realitiesofthepresent,Ihadfinallytouchedupontherawnerveofthisclassinwhichthe

boisterous energy of the boys had sometimes flared up into outright aggression. This

lessonontheterrorattackshadproventhegatewaytoaddresstheindividualissuesthat

mypupilsweredealingwithasfuturecitizens.Thoughtheirindividualsensitivitieswere

oftenexpressedinamorethancolourfulway,engagementwiththemasateacherhad

paradoxicallytightenedmycontrolonthegroup,thusestablishingthemostimportant

pedagogicalparametersofall:pupilshadstartedtofeelsafe,theywerebeingseenand

takenseriously.Withthishurdletaken,itwaseasiertoengagethemwiththeliterature

taskahead.Didactically,theyacceptedcontinuingadialogueonwar,eventhoughParis

wasalongtemporalandspatialshotawayfromSaigon.Itoldmypupilstheycouldchoose

aVietnammovietowatchfromanIMDB-listIhaddesignedforthisproject.Expectinga

visceralthrill,theywerehappytoengage.127

Intervention Part II: Critical Engagement with Vietnam War Movies

In order to adhere tomy owndictumof ‘safe-seen-serious’ pupils in the classroom, I

startedbyengagingmystudentscriticallywithrecentscholarlyinsightsintothegenreof

warmovies,‘themostimportantvehicleforprojectingthemeaningofwarasastruggle

ofGoodagainstEvil’sinceWorldWarII, JayWinterclaims(1999,442).Warmovies, I

explain tomyclass,arepartofa ‘grandnarrative,’and ‘frequently featureheroes that

168

overcomeinsurmountableodds,whohelpeachother,andwhohavetimetoreflectonthe

futilityofwarandtherighteousnessoftheirownside.’128VietnamWarfilmsthuseither

adheretoordivergefromtheso-called‘grandnarrative,’whichcanbeinterpretedas‘the

ur-textofHollywoodwarcinema’(Binns2017,13-14).Concretely,such‘grandnarrative’

war films are characterized by a set of components summarised to great acclaim by

JeanineBasinger.Thesehaveresultedina‘listofelements[…]whichrepeatandrecurin

thecombatgenre,’Basinger(2006,175)explains,anditisthatlistwhichIpresenttomy

spellboundclassontheblackboard.BasingherargumentontheWorldWarIIcombatfilm

Bataan, Basinger extricates a list ofwarmovie components that are universal towar

movies.

IwantmypupilstoengagecriticallywithBasinger’stropes,whichhavebecome

theyardstickforallcombatwarmovies.FromtheseDanielBinns(2017,11)foregrounds

‘akeygroupwithademocraticethnicmix,anobjective,groupconflicts,afacelessenemy,

and death,’ as key elements that emerge fromBasinger’s analysis. Givenmy previous

research, I would add to these the importance of establishing ‘credibility’ and the

presence of a messenger or ‘parrhestiastes’, in McLoughlin’s terms, in the form of a

journalistorwriter.129Iwantmypupilstoengagecriticallywiththeuniversalwarmovie

characteristicsasforegroundedbyBinnsandmyselffromBasinger’slistinrelationtothe

VietnamWarmovieof their choiceandestablish towhat extent their filmadhered to

them.Basinger,however,indicatesanother,non-cognitiveeffectofwatchingwarmovies

which could be deemed to be of interest to a classroom situation. ‘The audience is

ennobled for having shared their combat experience, as they are ennobled for having

undergoneit’,Basinger(2006,177)explains.Thus,Iintendedtoengagemypupilsboth

cognitivelyandemotionallyandexaminetowhateffectwatchingVietnammovieswould

haveonmyclass.

In otherwords,watching thewar film equals suffering thewar traumawhich,

havingundergoneitbyviewingit,purifiesandelevates.Thus‘writingaboutwarcan[…]

functionasacatharsis,’McLoughlin(2014,31)argues.WhetherviewingtheirVietnam

Warmovieofchoiceathomewouldhaveasimilareffectonmypupilsremainedtobe

seen,butitdoesunderscorethevisceralnatureofthegenreandhighlightsthenecessity

tostop‘pussyfoot[ing]aroundtheur-terrors’(Segal2008,94),andconfrontchildrenwith

them.GiventhefactthatthemajorityofcanonicalVietnamWarfilmshavebeenrated

appropriateviewingforaudiencesof15or16yearsandolder,childrenhavealwaysbeen

169

an important part of the target audience ofwar’s filmic narrative.130It could even be

arguedthattargetingteenageviewersisdonewitharecruitingeffectinmind,whichisa

possibleandsomewhatunexpectedsideeffectofso-calledanti-warmoviesIwillreturn

tolateron.Mostcanonicalwarfilmsaregivensimilarageratings,Holocaustmoviessuch

asSchindler’sList(1993)andSonofSaul(2015)aswellasrecent(Iraq)warmoviesThe

HurtLocker(2008)andZeroDarkThirty(2012).131Itmeansallthepupilsinmyclassare

allowedtoviewthesefilms,theiragesrangingbetween16and19years,whichisaverage

toHavo5.

Manyofmystudentsareatanagewheretheyareeligibletojointhearmy(18+).

Itis,therefore,nosurprisethatwarfilmsthusincludeteenagersintheirscope.Sincethe

1960spupilshavebeendiligentlyreadingandprocessingtheharshrealitiesof‘hurt’in

WorldWar I combat poetry within schools’ safely sanctionedwalls. Over time, these

graphicadultrealitiesofwarhavealsoshiftedintotherealmofchildren’swarliterature.

‘Ifsomethingistostayinthememoryitmustbeburnedin,’arguedFriedrichNietzsche.

‘Only thatwhichneverceases tohurt stays in thememory’ (1967,61).Bynow, Iwas

addingwarmoviestothewideningscopeofwarnarrativesapplicableinaneducational

setting,whichhadthepowerto‘hurt’and‘burn’inthememoryofmypupils.Sofar,the

testimoniestotheperformativescarsfreshly‘burned’inmypupils’memoryaretheYpres

poetrytheyhadwrittenandBergen-Belsenfilmtheyhadcreated. Ihadsetadifferent

testimonial task to this Havo 5 class: ‘directing scenes of war.’ I was asking them to

pinpoint a number of key-scenes from their war movie and by applying film-theory

directingthewaytheywereconvincedtheirclassmatesshouldview‘their’film.‘Itisoften

throughre-enactmentthathealingtakesplace,’Sturken(1997,43)argues.Thisprocess

wouldshowtowhatextentmy fight-classpupils’viewing,analysingand teachingofa

VietnamWarmoviewouldeffectuatesimilartestimonialscarring;towhatextentmight

thesefilms‘heal?’

TheprominenceoftheVietnamWargenrewithinthecanonofwarfilmsleadsto

thesuspicionthatAmericancitizenstohavegonethroughacollective‘catharsis’ofthis

trauma,andtohavewellandtrulyhealedfromit.TheVietnamWartaughttheUnited

States a ‘traumatic lesson in the new realities ofwarfare’ (Walsh 2009, 236). Despite

United States’ technological superiority and their presumedmoral high ground giving

themtheostensiveupperhand,Walshexplains:

170

USmilitarytheoristsremainedfixatedonconventionalwarasfoughtonthe

battlefieldsofEurope,anditspoliticianstoooftenignoredlowtroopmorale

and motivation. […] The American public, after an initial period of

enthusiasm, soon grew disillusioned, and the US soldiers found it

increasinglydifficulttobelieveinthecausestheyweresupposedlyfighting

for.(ibid.)

Theresultwastheappearanceof ‘pathosformula’warnarrativessuchasPlatoon,Full

Metal Jacket (1987), and a decade earlier,Apocalypse Now. The previous chapter has

shown how GreatWar poetry of the likes of Sassoon and Owen, together with Anne

Frank’sDiary,wasfirmlyembeddedineducationduringthe‘60s,enablingittoserveasa

moralparadigmintheprotestagainsttheVietnamWar.Replace‘US’and‘American’by

‘UK’and‘British’inWalsh’statementabove,anditwouldbeuncriticallyacceptedasatext

ontheFirstWorldWar,whichdoesindeedhighlighttheparallelsbetweenthetwowars

and their reception in popular culture. The point here, formy teacher-reader, is that

comparisons to historical and contemporary culture are vital to these literary

interventions, and when time allows, offer opportunities for inter-disciplinary

cooperationbetweenEnglishandsubjectssuchashistory.

ThemoraleoftheBritishpeopleduringWorldWarI,however,nevergrewlow

enough,despitetheunprecedentedlossoflife.Combatpoemsdrenchedwiththerealities

of battle published during thewarwere few, and despite Sassoon’s infamous protest

againstthecontinuationofthewar,readoutloudintheHouseofCommonsandpublished

inTheTimesthefollowingday,supportforthewarremainedhigh.Had‘Passchendaele’

beentelevisedlikethebattlesofVietnamwerehalfacenturylater,thenthismightwell

have effectuated a considerably lower public moral. Vice versa, the ‘60s generation,

watchinglivetelevisedwarforthefirsttimeinhistory,couldnowstarttopaintamental

pictureofwar.Itfilledinthevoidleftbytheirparents’silentgeneration,andforthefirst

timeprovidedapossibleproxy-backdropforthecombatpoetsoftheGreatWartheywere

nowbeingintroducedtoatschool,andthusprovedprescientcommentonthenatureof

waranditsproceedings.Waroftenhasadelayedeffectonitsculturaloutput,andinthe

absenceofnarrativesfromVietnam’scombatants,SassoonandOwen’svoicesofautopsy

acted as temporary belligerent ventriloquists until Vietnam’s veterans found their

‘combatgnostic’(Campbell1999)voice.

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ThebiggestproblemwiththeVietnamWarwas,thatunlikeWorldWarIandII,

theUnitedStates lost thiswar. Itmaybeconsideredas theprimaryreasonwhywide

scope of warmovies from that war, which spans over four decades, has not had the

‘cathartic’effect.Thescarisstillhealing,becausethe‘codesandconventionsofthewar

moviegenrewerefoundinadequatetothetaskofdescribingtheexperienceoflosinga

war’(Westwell2006,57).Inotherwords,theVietnamWar‘disrupt[s]masternarratives,

thoseofAmericanimperialism,technology,science,andmasculinity’(Sturken1997,16).

At first this causedHollywood to simply ignore thewar inVietnam.Vietnam filmThe

Green Berets (1968) was a notable exception. Regarded as the earliest VietnamWar

movie, itstarredandwasdirectedbyall-AmericanheroJohnWayne,andstilladhered

strongly to Basinger’s traditional rules of engagement. Ultimately, however, the

conventionalwaysofportrayingwardidnotfitwiththerealitiesofVietnam.So-called

grandnarrativesdonot allow fordefeat and therefore, theVietnamWardemandeda

‘radicallydifferentkindofsense-making’(Walsh2009,230).Backintheclassroom,itwas

timeformypupilstostartmakingsenseoftheirchoiceinVietnamWarmovies.

Ifeltpupilsneededtobetaughthowtoreflectcriticallyontheirfilmchoiceand

anyacademic,socialorpoliticaldebateaboutitandVietnamWarfilmsingeneral.Having

namedmyinterventionintheclassroom‘directingscenesofwar,’itinvolvedpinpointing

anumberofkey-scenesfromtheirwarmovieofchoice.Highlightingthese,Ihopedpupils

wouldtakethedirector’sseat,asitwere,andconveytheirbirds-eyeviewofthishitherto

widelyignoredgenreineducation.Ifeltpupilsneededtobetaughthowtoreflectcritically

ontheirfilmchoiceandanyacademic,socialorpoliticaldebateaboutitandVietnamWar

filmsingeneral.Moviesarecomplexverbalandvisualtexts;therefore,mygoalwasfor

themtobecomevisuallyliterate.Inordertoachievethis,theyneededtoacquireacertain

film-vocabularyandbasicfilm-viewingtechniques.Forthispurpose,Idesignedaconcise

classroomhandbookforviewing,writingandpresentingaboutfilm.Drawinguponthe

workofscholarssuchasTimCorrigan,Iaimedtoaidmypupils‘throughtheprocessof

convertingthefunandpleasureofwatchingamovieintothesatisfactionofarticulating

ideasaboutthem’(Corrigan2012,xi).AlthoughVietnammovieswerebeyondtheremit

ofanEnglishteacher,enhancingtheirvocabularyandgettingthemtowriteandtopresent

inEnglishwasnot, therebykeepingwithin rangeof the language-based targetsof the

Dutchcentralexamstheywouldtakelaterthatyear.132

172

Inthissense,allthetasksIhavedesignedandanalysedinthisbookaredouble-,

maybe even triple-edged swords: (visual) literature education as a way to enhance

languageskillsandasapathwaytolessonsoncitizenship,bothofwhicharevitalsteps

withinpupils’individualBildung.Sinceintroducingthetroubled‘fight-class’Itaughtthat

yeartothevisualnarrativesofVietnam,manyothershavefollowedintheir footsteps.

Fromthisexperiencecomesaclearviewofpupils’popularchoices,aswellasstudents’

reflectionsontheirfilmchoiceandtheorycombined.Iwilldivulgearangeofobservations

in furtherdetailbelow,yetthewidescopeofmyresearchsimultaneouslynecessitates

brevity.Istimulatedpupilstoformpairsorgroupsofthree,hopingthiswouldwinenough

classroomtimetoallowtheirpresentationstoevolveanddevelopthecharacteristicsand

depthofminiaturelessons.ThusIallowedmoreroomforcreativityandleftenoughtime

for theoretical reflection; they would show their favourite scenes, explaining their

technical quality to the class. Working together would be pedagogically rewarding;

watchingthemovieasasocialexercise,aswellasdidacticallystimulating;twoorthree

pairsofeyesseeingmorethanoneIenvisagedheateddiscussionsoncontentandtheory.

Thenext stepwas to involve them, their film and their scenes of choice in the

currentacademicdebate.Inordertoachievethis,Iwantedthemtofocusinparticularon

JeanineBasinger’sacclaimed‘listofelements’andmeasuretowhatextentthesedoordo

not‘repeatandrecur’intheirselectedVietnamcombatmovie(Basinger2006,75).Inthis

waytheymightestablishwhethertheirfilmsdivergedfrom,oradheredto,Binns’s‘grand

narrative’ofwarmovies,anddoingsowouldallowthemtopositionthemselves,bothin

relationtotheirclassmates’filmanalysesandwithinthecurrentdebate.Binnsisamongst

those scholars who claim that Hollywood’s combat movies have ‘most recent[ly]

return[ed] to the grand narrative,’ a development which, he writes, ‘is all the more

intriguing,giventhefragmentedandglobitalnatureofmodernwarfare’(Binns2017,5).

Inmyview,thisdevelopmentisespecially‘intriguing’withregardtothepervasivenessof

warinmyGenerationZpupils’post–9-11lives,especiallybecause‘thegrandnarrative

can be both a representation of former glory, and a powerful inspiration for or

justificationoffutureengagements’(ibid.).Becomingfamiliarwithfilmtheoryandskilled

inapplyingittotheirwarmoviewouldmakepupilsunderstandcurrentwarsandhow

warnarrativesmightinspireorjustifythem.

Thus,engagedinthesubjectmatterIwelcomedtheircombinedintellecttodissent

from and discuss the Basinger theory. All thewhile I was also aiming to target their

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discussions on Vietnam’s narrative representations of war to a broader one, on the

conflicts thatmarktheir lives todayandtheirreactionsto them.Binns iswearyof the

‘connectionbetweenpolitics,Hollywood,andmemory’(ibid.),whichmakesthepupils’

analyticalprocessall themoresignificant.‘RecentHollywoodwarfilmshavereviveda

viewofwarfareas,ifnotglorious,thenatleastessential,’Binnsargues(ibid.).Atthesame

timeGenerationZisparticularlysusceptibletoseewarasanecessaryevil.Theyarenot

signingupindroves,but‘ifprovoked’theywilljoinupandfight(Wagaman2016).This

generationmorethananyothersincethe‘G.I.generation’ofWorldWarII,arerespectful

oftheirparentsandacceptinstitutionalauthority.Thus,thegovernment-drivencallfor

schoolinstitutededucationoncitizenshipandvalue-driveneducationisacallmadeon

fruitful teenage ears. Yet with post-9-11 Vietnam films such as We Were Soldiers

reframingoldwarsandreturningtothe‘grandnarrative,’thequestioniswhateffectthis

latest ‘renarrativization’ of the VietnamWar has on their civic values as well as this

generation’sunderstandingofwhatwarfareand(all)battleislike.

Thereisanotherimportantaspecttotheprocessof‘re-tellingthepast’(Sturken

1997,42) in (Vietnam)warmovies. It is the idea that awarmovie can justifywaror

opposeit.Morespecifically,afilmaboutaformerwar(Vietnam)caninspirethesupport

foranewwar(onTerror)oropposeit.Thiswouldimplywarnarrativesshowcertain

universal commonalities common to all wars. Kate McLoughlin supports this claim,

arguing that there is a ‘common ground between conflicts separated by thousands of

years’ (McLoughlin 2011, 15). ‘Conveying these elements’ through war narratives,

McLoughlinexplains,‘comprisesasharedsetofchallenges,’whichhasresultedinstrong

resemblancesbetweenthewarnarrativesofthe20thand21stcenturies.Itisanimportant

reasonwhythesenarrativeshavealwaysplayedacentralrole ineducation, fromepic

HomertosonneteeringSassoon.YetmovingbeyondAnneFrankandWorldWarIItothe

VietnamWarandbeyond,teachersaspiringtoembednarrativesfromthiswarwillfind

nopre-existingteachingtradition.ThefallofSaigonseemedasmuchnewsto[students]as

the fall of Troy, and rather less welcome’ Stallworthy comments wryly on teaching

Americanstudentsattheturnofthecentury(2001,vii).Their‘inabilitytoreconcilemyths

ofnationalvirtuewiththehistoryoftheconflict’hasledtoaneardenialofitsnarrative

existence(Walsh2009,229).

ThiseducationallacunastarklycontrastswiththeblockbusterstatusandOscar-

winning critical attention the VietnamWar has garnered from Hollywood. Given my

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pupils’ enthusiasm to engagewithVietnamWarmovies, it begs thequestionwhether

Stallworthyshouldhaveconsideredputtingtheseonhisstudents’curriculum.Duringthe

conflict, ‘just onemajor film about thewar appeared in cinemas,’ Andrew J. Huebner

(2008,241)writes,a‘commerciallysuccessfulyetcriticallypannedapologiaforthewar:’

Basinger-proofTheGreenBerets(1968).Thoughithasbeenwidelyarguedthat‘Vietnam-

relatedor-inspiredthemescoursedthrough’many1970sfilms,itwasn’tuntil‘afterthe

fall of Saigon in 1975,’ Huebner argues, ‘thatHollywood pictures interpreted thewar

directly’ (ibid.).GuyWestwell (2006,62)discerns threeVietnamWarmoviecycles. In

‘genericterms,’thisfirstcycleofthelate‘70swas‘strange,ramblingandinchoate,’and

includes filmssuchasTheDeerHunter (1978)andApocalypseNow.Their commercial

success ‘re-establish[ed] the viability of thewarmovie,’ and paved theway forwhat

Westwellcallsthecommerciallyunrivalled‘Rambocycle,’oftheearly‘80s,reframingthe

VietnamWar as a worthy purpose, reinstating the veteran as both ‘hero and victim’

(Westwell2006,63,76-77).Thethirdcycleofthelate‘80sandearly‘90sresistedthis

development, with films such as Platoon and Full Metal Jacket, movies devoted to ‘a

powerfulrealisteffect,’whilemaking‘forcefulclaimstoauthenticexperience’(Westwell

2006,77).Notwithstandingacontentiousfourthcycleof‘renarrativized’Hollywoodwar

movies,producedpost-9-11,thesemoviesformtheheartofthecanon.

WhatissignificantformypupilsandthefilmtaskIdevelopedforthem,isthatall

three cycles depend on ‘the Vietnam veteran as the focal point for negotiating the

experienceandthememoryofthewar’(ibid.).Despitetheextensivelistonoffer,students’

film-task choices remained firmly within the realm of the canon. 133 This was

understandable, given their relatively easy availability, and their accredited status on

sitessuchasIMDB,bothofwhichaspectseffectuatealimitingofthecanon,eventhough

asa teacherofEnglish Iwaswidening thecanon.What is important is that thesewar

movies ‘constructed’ theVietnamWar in such away that itwas ‘registered primarily

throughtheexperienceoftheveteran’(Westwell2006,57).Hollywood,havinglearned

itslessonsfromthepopularityofWorldWarI’ssoldierpoets,appliesthefictionalpower

ofsoldiers’ownstoriesas itsperspective.Audiencesare thusseducedtobelieve their

‘autopsy,’whichexplainstheirsuccessatthebox-office,andVietnamWarmoviedirector

OliverStone’sownexperienceinthatwarwasforegroundedtoenhancethiseffect.There

canbenoclaimtoauthenticitysimilartotheWarPoets,yetIwonderedifmypupilswould

noticethedifference.

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One of the most striking aspects I take away from the experience of putting

Vietnamwarmoviesonthecurriculaofmy‘fightclass’isstudents’attractiontobrutality.

I have seen this repeated across the entire range ofwar curricula and courses I have

taughtovertheyearsandoutlinedhere,fromYprestoBergen-Belsen,andnowVietnam.

MypupilswatchingVietnammovieswerealldrawntoavarietyofparticularlygruesome

scenes,thosethatdealtmostdirectlyandunambiguouslywithbattle,death,andtrauma.

Asaresult,manypupilsindifferentclasses,spanningacrossdifferentyearsofteaching,

unwittinglychosethesameexactscenesasfavourites.JeanineBasinger’scombatmovies

ask ‘eternal questions’ of their audiences, which are ‘basic to our understanding of

ourselvesandourhistory’(Basinger2006,179).Mystudents’violentselectionssuggest

theyareintriguedbythequestionwhatwarisreallylike,ormorespecifically,whatkilling

andcombatare like.War’smentalandphysicalproximity isevercloser formypupils,

because themedia infuses their daily liveswith scenes ofwar and violence. And yet,

ironically, unless they join those on the plane to Syria and Iraq to fight, it remains a

forbiddenrealmto them.Themediated ‘combatgnosticism’of theVietnammovieson

offerliftstheveiloftaboodrapedovertheviolence.

Intervention Part III: Pupils Directing Scenes of War

EachofthegroupsoftwotothreepupilswhohadselectedaVietnamWarmoviefromthe

IMDB-listIhadsuppliedthemwithweregivenhalfalessontoteachtheirclass,which

boilsdownto25minutes.MostpupilsdecidedtousePowerPointasanaidtohelpthem

show their two favourite scenes from the movie, which they had cut to four or five

minutes.Theywouldexplainwhythesesceneswereimportanttothem,andgiveabrief

technical analysis using the concise classroom handbook for viewing, writing and

presentingaboutfilm.IhadalsogiventhemaverybriefintroductiontoKateMcLoughlin’s

tropesofwar,whichrangedfrom‘credentials’to‘laughter’andwouldhelpthemdiscover

andanalysepotentialuniversalaspectswhichMcLoughlinclaimswarnarrativeshave.134

Finally,theyhadtoarguetowhatextentthelistofBasinger’suniversalaspectsofwar

moviesheldtrue,thusdecidingtowhatextentVietnamwarmoviesacrosstimedoordo

notadheretowhatDanielBinnscallsthe‘grandnarrative.’Toillustratetheselessons,I

haveselectedsomestillsfromtheirPowerPointstogivemyreaderabetterviewofwhich

sceneswerechosenandinwhatwaytheseaffectedmyGenerationZpupilsmost.

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Hendrika and Trijntje’s excellent and dry-eyed analysis of the two ‘Russian

roulettescenes’fromTheDeerHunter,forexample,focusedontheuseof‘laughterasa

diversionarytactic.’135Michael,playedbyRobertdeNiro,triestolurehisfriendNickinto

playingthelethalgameasameanstoescapefromtherealityofwarcaptivity,thegirls

explain. Yet they do this as away to literally divert the guards from their impending

escape.ThemirrorscenetothisisthesecondRussianroulettescene,whenMichaelfinds

hisoldfriendandformerfellowsoldierNick,playedbyChristopherWalken,stuckina

limbo in post-1975 Vietnam, severely traumatised and playing the deadly game

perpetually.Evokinghismemoryofthemtogetherasawaytotryandmakehisfriend

escapefromhisdeadlyloophole,hisrepetitivetraumasyndromeplayedoutliterallyin

theseedyenvironsofSaigon’sunderworld.ThesefemalepupilsexplainhowNickfinally

smilesinrecognitionofthememoryofMichaelandtheirdeerhuntingdays,smilesand

saysthewords‘oneshot,’raisestheguntohisrighttempleforhisfinalgame,blowinghis

brainsout(Cimino1978).

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Ascenethatbearsgruesomeresemblancetothisisthe‘suicidescene,’fromwhat

has been hailed by many critics as the most significant anti-war movie; Full Metal

Jacket. 136 The severely bullied character Leonard ‘Gomer Pyle’ Lawrence, played by

VincentD’Onofrio,succumbstothepressureofarmybarrackslifeanditsharshdiscipline

by shooting his brains out in the toilet just moments after killing his demon drill

instructor.JustasstoicallyasthegirlsHendrikaandTrijntjefacedthevisceralexperience

of their violent scene, the ‘fight-class’ boys Sjoerd and Marinus present their extract

withoutanyqualms,aswillseveralotherpupil taskgroupsoverthecourseof time.137

Thentherewereavarietyof ‘torturescenes’fromthefilmRescueDawn(2006),which

involveDieterDengler,playedbyChristianBale,eitherdanglingupsidedownfromatree

fordaysortieddowntofullstretch.Tortureisafavouritewithpupils,asistheflashback,

whichforthemsignalsmomentsofrelevance.ThescenefromFirstBlood(1982)inwhich

Vietnam veteran John Rambo is teased out of a town ironically named ‘Hope’ by the

aggressivesheriffTeasleandwhenherefusestoleaveandissubsequentlyarrested,isa

popularrecurringchoiceofmypupils.Inprison,Rambo,playedbySylvesterStallone,is

forcedtoshave.Theknifewithwhichheisbeingshavedremindshimofwhenhewas

torturedasaprisonerofwar,aflashbackLammertandGerritpresentwithfascination,as

domanypupilsafterthem.138

Liketheflashback,slowmotionissimilarlysuggestiveofessentialmeaningtomy

students,suchasthegirlsAlberdinaandHenriëtte.TheyshowascenefromBornonthe

FourthofJuly(1989),whenRonKovic,playedbyTomCruise,isshotintheheelandthe

shoulderinthehighgrassofVietnam.The‘scenesconcordrealtimewithslowmotion,’

the girls explain, highlighting the importance of themomentKovic shoots and is shot

himself, coughing up blood slowly as he collapses to the ground. 139 My pupils even

manage to repeatedly choosewhat is oneof the few scenes inGoodMorningVietnam

(1987) depicting any real war-related violence. Protest marches are crosscut with

Vietnamesevillagebombardmentsandstreetviolenceandrepression,alltothetuneof

LouisArmstrong’s‘WhatAWonderfulWorld.’ThestarkcontrastbetweenArmstrong’s

lyricsandthescenecuttingfromoneactofviolencetotheotherneverfailstobeguilemy

pupils. ‘Themusicworksthesamewayslow-motiondoes,orzoominginonatracking

shot,’Abbas,JozefandIvoexplain.140ThelatteruseshisexperienceasaDJbypointing

outthepowerofthemusicalscoreaccompanyingthevisualnarrative,givingmetheidea

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toconsideraddingsonglyricsfromtheVietnamera,emulatingmyWorldWarIcourse,

andthusbroadeningtheincreasinglymultimodalcurriculumfurtherbeyondtheremitof

Englishasaforeignlanguage.

ItwouldallowhighlightingthelinkbetweenDukeEllington’ssong‘ItDon’tMean

AThing,[IfItAin’tGotThatSwing]’tothehypnoticrepetitive‘ItDon’tMeanNothing,’a

Vietnamexpressionmeanttowardoffimplosionofthepsycheduetocombatstressby

veterans, such the character nicknamed ‘Doc’ in Hamburger Hill (1987), played by

CourtneyB.Vance.Itisascenewhichstandsoutinthecontinuousslaughterthatgives

thehillitslugubriousnameandservesasthetitleforthefilmbasedonahistoricalbattle

onHill937inVietnam,wagedatgreatcost(itain’tgotthatswing)totheUnitedStates

armyyetatnostrategicadvantage(itdon’tmeanathing).Thosepupilsthatchoosethis

film,suchastheboysJeroenandPiet,alwayscommentonthisscene,though,admittedly,

noneunearth its intertextualpotential.141However,pupilsnevermiss the intertextual,

multi-layered ‘Rideof theValkyries scene,’ fromApocalypseNow, inwhicha full-scale

militaryattackonasleepyVietnamesevillage isplayedout.Arguablyoneof ‘themost

iconicsequencesincinematichistory’,mypupilsAntonandBepexplainthatitsseminal

statusisduetoacombinationoffactors.142Inwhatisa‘synthesisofaudioandvisionto

createaterrifying,nightmarishvisionofwarbeingraineddownfromabove,’theabsurd

behaviourofLt.Cl.BillKilgore,playedbyRobertDuvall,isjarring(Binns2017,64).Ina

rainofbombsandbulletsfiredonthevillagebyUShelicopters,Wagner’smusicalscoreis

blaringovertheirloudspeakers.UnitedStatessoldiers,Kilgoreprominentamongstthem,

are Valkyries, in the process of choosing who may ride with them to ancient Norse

mythology’swarriorheaven:Valhalla.

DuringtheVietnamWar,andasthecountercultureofthe‘60splayedoutatthe

home front, the American soldier, once the image of the honourable struggle for

righteousness,hadbecomeacharacterofconsiderablecontention,‘asymbol,’Westwell

(2006,64)argues, ‘ofAmerica’s fallibilityandwrong-headedness.’Andnowhere is the

‘anxietyandconfusionaroundthefigureoftheVietnamveteran’portrayedtobettereffect

thaninthefilmApocalypseNow,andthe‘confusionandambivalence’withregardtoits

mainprotagonistsColonelKurtz,playedbyMarlonBrando,andCaptainWillard,played

byMartinSheen(Westwell2006,65).Thissymbolicfather-sonrelationshipbetweenthe

renegadecultleaderKurtzandhisnemesis,theseverelytraumatised,ruthlessWillard,

senttoassassinatehisfatherfigure,isaliteralreversaloftheBiblicalAbramandIsaac,a

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storysoexcellentlysubvertedbyFirstWorldWarpoetWilfredOweninhispoem‘The

ParableoftheOldManandtheYoung.’

The ‘old man’ Abram of Owen’s poem, instead of listening to the ‘Angel’ and

offering‘theRamofPride’intheplaceofhissonIsaac,‘wouldnotso,butslewhisson,’

andwithhim,‘halftheseedofEurope,onebyone’(Owen1990c,151).Owenthusexposes

allwar-mongeringfatherswhoareunwillingtooffertheirdiplomaticprideandsuefor

peace,whoignoreinsteadthedivinealternativeandcontinuetosendtheirsonstotheir

earlygraves.YetthegirlsGrietjeandAnsshowascenefromApocalypseNowwherethe

rolesareimportantlyreversed.143WillardtravelsanepicjourneyonthePBR(PatrolBoat,

Riverine)significantlynamed‘Erebus,’GodofdarknessandsonofChaosinancientGreek

mythology. Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) used the HMS Erebus in his novel Heart of

Darkness on which this film is based. Together with the HMS Terror, she set sail to

discovertheCanadianarctic,wherethecrewsabandonedtheirshipsanddisappeared.

The crew of themovie’s Erebus go through aHomeric variety of episodes filledwith

violence and death. This increasingly disorientates and disintegrates the rationale

Willard,whosurvives,andwithhimmypupil-viewedworld.Attheapexoftheconfusion

isCaptainWillard, the film’s Isaac,whogoesaheadwithhismission tokill theAbram

figure,ColonelKurtz.

The narrative suggests Kurtz has been waiting and wanting this apocalyptic

momenttohappen,dictatinghissacrificialdeath.Thesceneinwhichthecaptainattacks

thecolonelwithamachete iscrosscutwiththesimultaneousslaughteringofacowby

Kurtz’scultfollowing.Theviewercannotmissthissuggestionofadoubleofferingofa

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‘Ram of Pride.’ Thus, the movie becomes ‘an allegory of Vietnam,’ Michael Ryan and

Douglas Kellner (1990, 70) argue, ‘that redeems the loss of war with a myth of

rejuvenatedmaleleadership.’Thesacrificialdeathatthehandsofhis‘Isaac-Willard-son’

paves theway towards redemption: the father/Abram character Kurtz atones for his

failureofleadershipand,byproxy,allofAmerica’sfathersforsendingtheir19-year-old

sonsthirteenthousandmilesawaytofightaseeminglyfutilewar.

Such ‘incompetent officers’ represent ‘the absent fathers of Vietnam’ the

impression amongst the young American soldiers that ‘there was no leadership in

Vietnam’ (Sturken1997,106). It is a common thread inmanyVietnamWar films.My

pupilsseemedattractedbythesegenerationalconflicts.Nolesssointhe‘thirdcycle’of

Vietnammovies, amongstwhich isPlatoon, inwhichChrisTaylor is playedbyMartin

Sheen’s son Charlie Sheen. This fresh recruit is orphaned into soldiery, a progress

furthered by the absence of competent leaderswhen he arrives in Vietnam. He soon

establishestwofatherfiguresintheformofnon-complatoonsergeantsElias,playedby

WillemDafoe,andBarnes,playedbyTomBerenger.Botharelong-timeVietnamveterans,

hardened and skilled soldiers, andboth have acquired a revered followingwithin the

armyunit,whichseparatesaccordinglyalongbordersofclass,raceandpolitics.These

hintatoldAmericanCivilWardivisionsandreflecttheruptureintheUnitedStatesduring

the‘60s,whenanti-warprotestsandtheCivilRightsMovementprovidedthebackdrop

for a steady escalation of the conflict in Vietnam. Barnes, a man ‘without moral or

scruples,’ fights thewar according to its chaotic and ruthless rules. Yet Elias remains

‘compassionateandidealistic,’maintaininga‘moralstandard’ineventhemostextreme

situationsofwar(Sturken1997,100).TherearetimessinceIfeltlikethechildbornof

thosetwofathers,’ChrisTaylorsaysattheendofthefilm,referringtoBarnesandElias.

Ultimately,mypupilsshowhoworphanedTaylor,offeringthe‘ramofpride,’killsBarnes

thuschoosingEliasashisfather,significantlynamedaftertheBiblicalprophetwhofought

againsthisKing’sidolatryofafalseGod,andtherebyUnitedStates’redemption.

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Itissalientthatbothactors,Sheenfatherandson,killtheiron-screenfatherfigures

in both canonical Vietnam movies in which they each play the leading role. 144 In a

climacticscenethatmanyofmypupilschoosetopresenttotheirclass,Taylorwakesup

in the aftermathof an intensenight battle endingwith aheavybombardment. Father

figure‘Abram/Barnes,’inthemidstoftheconfusion,wasreadytostrikeouthisknifeat

thefigureofhisadoptedson,‘Isaac/Taylor’underneathhim.AsthesunrisesandTaylor

stumblestohissenses,mypupilspointouthowthecamerashowsTaylornoticingthe

foresthasreviveddespitethedestruction,reborntoanElysiantranquillity.Tropicalbirds

chirrupandadeerpasses,symbolisingtherebirthofthegoodfatherfigureElias;theram

ofprideisreplacedthroughsacrificebythedeerofinnocence.Eliashas‘Apacheblood,’

thescriptofPlatoonreads,justlikeJohnRambo’snativeAmericanheritageintheVietnam

WarmovieFirstBlood,whichmadeElias‘quickasadeer,’inlifeandafterlife.145Finding

theevilfatherfigureBarnesontheground,Taylortakesatentativeaimathimwithhis

rifle.‘Doit!’Barnesshouts,ascenemanypupilshavechosenastheirfavourite,andTaylor

shootshiminthechestatcloserange.146LikethedeathofColonelKurtzinApocalypse

Now,yetanotherVietnamWarmovie’ssacrificialdeathofthefather.

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VietnamWarfilmssuchasApocalypseNowandPlatoonthuspavethewaytowards

redemptionoftheAmericansoldierandtheAmericansoul,‘asameansofcatharsis,’to

quoteSturken(1997,120), ‘andawaytoderivesomethingofvaluefromthishistory.’

NotwithstandingthestrugglebetweenSouthandNorthVietnam,resultinginhundredsof

thousandsofdead,Taylor’schoicerepresentswhatPlatoonrescriptstheVietnamWar

into being: a fightwithinAmerica itself.147‘I think, looking back,we did not fight the

enemy,wefoughtourselvesandtheenemywaswithinus,’Taylorsaysasheiswhisked

awayfromthebattleandthewarbyhelicopter.148DanielBinns(2017,15)arguesthat

becauseofApocalypseNowandPlatoon’s‘chaoticfrenzyoftheunbridlednaturalworld

andtheunhingedhumanpsyche,’theystrayfrom‘thegrandnarrative.’Yetmypupilstick

virtuallyallBasinger’sboxeswhenanalysingthesefilms,nonetheless.DespiteApocalypse

Now’sfragmentednarrativestructure,thereisaclearplotand‘objective’totheaction:

findingandkillingKurtz.FromthemomentthePerebusisboardedthefilmfollowsa‘key

groupwitha‘democraticethnicmix,’who‘conflict’asthejourneyprogresses.Theenemy

remains ‘faceless,’notwithstandingtherealenemy,America itself intheguiseofKurtz

andPlatoon’sBarnes.‘Death’isagreatpartoftheplotwhen‘keygroup’membersdie,as

dothoseinPlatoon’splatoon,amongstwhomimportantlytheirsergeants.The‘objective’

ofPlatoon is implicit in itsrescriptingof theMyLaimassacre,and it isoneof the few

moments the enemy is givena face.Here, the groupof soldiers ‘conflict’ to their very

Americancore.

In fact,mypupils corroborated that theBasinger rules applied tomoreor less

everyVietnamWarmovietheyanalysed.ExamplesareHamburgerHill,TheGreenBerets,

CasualtiesofWar(1989)andFullMetalJacket,inwhicha‘keygroup’ofsoldiers‘conflict’

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astheplotprogressesandtheir‘objective’comesnearer.ThoughRescueDawnandThe

DeerHunterfocusonmuchsmallergroupsofPOWs,thetropeworksonasmallerscale

nonetheless,asthe‘keygroupconflicts’abouttheir‘objective:’escape(Binns2017,11).

Althoughthesefilmsbynecessityshowtheenemyfromcloseup,itcouldbearguedthat

these portrayals of POW guardsmen and torturers remain singularly flat and

stereotypicallyone-sided,andthusinessence‘faceless’allthesame.InalltheVietnam

filmsmystudentspresent,‘death’hasahugeparttoplay,thoughGoodMorningVietnam

andBornontheFourthofJulyarenotableexceptions.Ironically,mypupilsregardlesspick

outthefewscenesofdeathandslaughterinthesefilms,thebombingofthepopularSaigon

caféinGoodMorningVietnamandRonKovic’saccidentalslaughteroftheinnocentvillage

andsubsequentkillingofafellowsoldierinBornontheFourthofJuly.

AndsoitisnotthedivergencefromBasinger’stropesthatdefinesthetraditional

narrative,butitsadherencetothemthatallowa‘cathartic’effect(Sturken,1997)oftheir

dealingwiththedarkestpagesofthatwar,ofwhichtheMyLaimassacrestandsasthe

mostterriblesymbol.‘Thereis[…]animaginativefailuretograspanyrealqualityofthe

Vietnameseexperience,’SubarnoChattarji(2001,xiii)argues,‘sothatthewarbecomesa

siteforexploringAmericanpathologiesandtraumas,’astheaboveanalysisofVietnam

WarmoviessuchasPlatoonandApocalypseNowhasshown.ThoughChattarji’sargument

involvesVietnamWarpoetry,the‘disturbancetothenationalpsyche’wassofar-reaching

that this ‘reflected incontradictorynarrativepatternsof literaryoutput’ (Walsh2009,

230). These significantly include novels and films. Previous chapters have shown

‘contradictory narrative patterns’ also, given the relative late ascendancy of so-called

‘anti-war’poetsintocanonicalprominence,thedominanceofbothchildren’sandadult

war narratives, and the way British canonical war poets are at the apex of political,

societalandacademiccontestationduringthecommemorativecentenaryyears.‘Theidea

ofthenationisinseparablefromitsnarration’(Bennington1990,132),underscoringthe

huge stakes involved when force fields attempt to set the narratives that define the

collectivememoryofwar.WithregardtotheVietnamWar,theepicwarnarrativehas

been takenoverbymovies.This implicitlyundergirdsmy focusondifferentgenres in

differentchaptersandexplainsmystudents’appreciation:theylikegrandnarratives.

TheUnitedStates’post-9-11politicaladministrationestablishedclose tieswith

Hollywood in order to foreground narratives ‘with clear patriotic and pro-military

tendencies’ (GuyWestwell 2006). This has given rise to a contentious fourth cycle of

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HollywoodWarmovies,includingtheVietnamWarfilmWeWereSoldiers.Thus,‘recent

war films echo the nationalistic sentiments of early war cinema,’ Binns (2017, 187)

argues,andappearingin2002shortlyafterthe9-11attacks,WeWereSoldiersseemsa

case in point. Returning to the ‘victory in defeat paradigm,’ the narrative outlines the

heroicLt.Gen.HaroldG.Moore,playedbyMelGibson,leadinghissoldiersintheBattleof

Ia Drang Valley in Vietnam (Westwell 2006, 94). Scholars argue the film’s gender

stereotyping, accommodation of army customs and confusion surrounding theUnited

States’ entanglement in the battle are reasons whyWe Were Soldiers confirms ‘war

accordingtothepositiveformulationsofthemostjingoisticmainstays’(Westwell2006,

108).Yetcriticsaredividedonthispoint.

WeWere Soldiers ‘tries to get back to the idealistic impulse [of United States’

commitment] tothedefenceofSouthVietnam,’PhilipFrench(2002)argues, the film’s

criticismisdirectedatthe‘lackofpreparedness’oftheUnitedStates’armyand‘America's

inabilitytolearnfromhistory.’Furthermore,asFrenchcontinues:WeWereSoldiers‘tries

toavoidtriumphalismbygivingtheVietnamesetheirdueasworthyopponentsand[…]

individuals’(ibid.).Indeed,mypupilsarequicktopointoutthatinthisrecentVietnam

Warmovietheenemydoesnotremain‘faceless,’contradictingBasinger’srules.Whatis

more,contrarytowhatisconsideredintegraltowhatBinnscallsthe‘ur-text’ofcombat

movies;thisfilmextensivelyscriptsthesoldier’swives.

AlthoughWeWereSoldiersoutlinestheheroicactionsofLt.Gen.HaroldG.Mooreandhis

companyofsoldiers,hiswife,JulieMoore,playedbyMadeleineStowe,isanequallyheroic

leaderofthewiveswholivetogetheratthearmybaseandarewaitingfornewsfromthe

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farEasternfront.WeWereSoldierswasapopularchoiceamongstgirls,andIassumed

thatthiswasduetotherelativelylargeproportionofthefilmdedicatedtothesoldiers’

wives,astheypreparefortheirsoldieringlovedones’departureandultimatelyreceive

thenewsoftheirdeaths.

WhenIevaluatedthecoursewith theclass,many femalepupilscommentedon

how they initially, like Hendrika, ‘really disliked the fact that we had to do our

presentationsaboutawarmovie.MainlybecauseIwasafraidthatthosemovieswouldbe

really bloody and violent.’ 149 Their opinions changed after having seen their combat

movieofchoice,andthegirls’strikingconclusionthat‘whatwelikedaboutthemoviewas

thattherewasnorealviolence,’Wilhelminacomments.150AfterHendrikaadmitsthat‘at

thereallybloodypartsIsimplydidn’tlook,’Ifindoutthatwhattheyreallymeanisthat

theviolencedidnotshockthemasmuchastheyhadfeareditwould.Wilhelminaquite

likedit,andHendrikachosetosometimeslookaway.Prisha,AntjeandAntoinettadeliver

anunperturbedanalysisofascenewhenMoore,whoislosingthebattle,isforcedtocall

in air support and hundreds of soldiers are killed by a gruesome napalm bombing,

includingMoore’sowntroops.

Itissignificantthatthejournalist,themediated‘truthsayer’JoeGalloway,iscentral

tothesceneportrayingthelossofMoore’ssoldierstofriendlyfire.Itisthisscenethatis

chosenby fightclassgirlsFranciska,DirkjeandBernardina.Myclassshownoqualms

whentheywatchGallowaytryingtolifttheAmericanvictimofthenapalmattacktosafety

and failing because of thick layers of skin coming off in his hands.151These females,

stayingincharacterwiththerestofthemaledominatedclass,arequicktopointoutWe

Were Soldiers’many grisly battle scenes, commenting on their realism, bywhich they

always mean violence. We Were Soldiers frequently uses a blood-on-the-camera

embeddednarrativeviewpointthatwasPlatoon’strademark,bywhichthefilm,likeits

predecessor, ‘re-enacts’ theembedded journalistviewpoint(Sturken1997,43). In this

way,mypupilsbecomecomplicitvoyeursofacontentioussceneofwarinthesameway

as the students of the ‘60swatchingnews reports from theVietnamWaron theirTV

screens.Yetthecrucialdifferenceisthatfor‘60steenagersthereportswerereal,andfor

mypupilstheyarefictional.Giventhefactthatmypupilsareusedtowarinvadingtheir

daily21st-centurypeaceviatheirmobilephonemediafeeds,itisalarmingthattheydo

notdistinguishbetweennewsandfilm.

186

Thusthe‘parrhestiastes’figure,alwayspresentinawarfilmaccordingtotherules

ofBasinger, is easily trustedbypupil-viewers as an authentic figure.RandallWallace,

directorofWeWereSoldiers,reliesonthepresenceofsucha‘parrhestiastes’figureinthe

formofjournalistandphotographerJoeGalloway,anoxymorongiventhefactthatthisis

afictionaltruth-teller.Indoingso,WallacefollowsoneofthemostimportantBasinger

tropessinceTheGreenBerets’embeddedjournalistGeorgeBeckworthwasbroughttothe

screenbyactorDavidJanssenin1968.Beckworth’scharacterbelievestheVietnamWar

tobebetween theVietnamesepeople, arguing toarmycommanders: ‘let themhandle

it!’152Bytheendofthefilm,however,swayedbytheloveforaVietnamesechildandher

deathbythehandoftheNorth-Vietnamese,thereasonsforAmericaninvolvementare

clearandthejournalist’sviewisalteredforgood.WeWereSoldiers’‘truthsayer’Galloway

hasincommonwithBeckworththattheyarebothinitiatedintothesecretrealmofthe

combatsoldier.Thefictional‘parrhestiastes’figuresareforcedbyoverwhelmingenemy

numberstopickupagunandjointhefight,andthusgainwhatsomanyseek:‘combat

gnosticism.’ Both within the narrative’s ‘key-group’ and to the viewing pupils, these

charactersgain ‘autopsy,’ and thus credibilitywithin thenarrative itself,making them

crediblecharacters tomystudents.ThusbeguiledbyHollywood, fromthatmoment it

makeswhatever‘truth’theytellwithinthenarrativeframeoftheVietnamWarmovie,as

combatjournalistsinVietnam,weighdoublewiththeirstudentaudience.

We Were Soldiers thus establishes credibility following Basinger’s rules, by

embeddingajournalistasoneofthe‘key-group’members,asmuchasTheGreenBerets

does,afilmwidelyconsideredasoneofthemostunashamedlyjingoisticVietnamWar

moviestodate.Yet‘truthsayer’Gallowaydoesnotmakethesamemoralshiftashis‘60s

predecessorBeckworth.TheallegoryofthedeathoftheVietnamesegirlisreplacedby

thedeathoftheJapanesesoldierJimmyNakayama;whilefightingwithMoore’splatoon

heiskilledbytheirownnapalmattack.‘Minorityfiguresarealwaysrepresented,[…]even

Orientals,’ Basinger (2006, 176) explains as she outlines the ‘key-group’ soldiers. It is

significant that this particular ‘Oriental’ is of Japanese origin, former adversary of the

UnitedStates,whobyfightingsidebysidewithWorldWarII’svictorthussanctionsthis

latestof20thcenturyconflicts.‘Theminoritiesalmostalwaysdie,anddiemosthorribly,’

Basingerwrylydictates,andasthegirlsinclassshow,GallowaytestifiestoNakayama’s

unavoidableandterribledeath.‘Theysay:girlsdon’tlikeasubjectlikewar,butIlikedit

187

alot,’Edithcommentshappilyinherwrittenevaluation.153Forallthetimespentwiththe

wivesawayfromwar,WeWereSoldiersdoesnotshyfromshowingitsdeadlyoutcome.

Franciska,Bernardina,andDirkjeshowanotherbloodyscenethatisindebtedto

thecanon.AVietnamesearmyviewpointisfocalisedbythecameraduringthelastattack

up the hill, led by ‘confident warrior father-figure’ Harold Moore, towards ostensive

victory(Westwell2006,107).‘Sir!Ifyoudon’tfindsomecoveryougodown,’theloyal

Sergeant-MajorPlumley,playedbySamElliott,yellsatMooreintheheatofbattle,‘andif

yougodown,weallgodown.Comeon,’thusre-establishingmilitaryleadershiponthe

groundnexttothe‘grunts’andmystudentviewers.154Hollywoodnowseemedreadyfor

awarheroandfatherfigurewhoneedsnoredemption,letalonesacrificialoffering,the

‘catharsis’oftheVietnamfilmcyclescompleted.Andso,WeWereSoldiersbothconfirms

the‘grandnarrative’aswellascontradictsitinitsadherencetotheBasingertropesmy

pupils uncover. There was a frustration with this group of female pupils, which was

palpablewhentheypresentedtheirfilmtotheirmaledominated‘fight-class.’Itwasasif

theyhadbuiltupasilentrage,beingaminorityofjustfivegirlsinanantagonisticgroup

ofboys,beingforcedintoaroleofimpotence.Inanotherclass,ayearlater,thissentiment

isechoedwhenDorotheawrites:

Idon’tthinkthatgirlswon’tbeabletodothisprojectjustasgoodasboys,

I thinkthat’sastereotypewhichshouldbeblownoutoftheworld. Ican

handlebloodandgoreandviolencejustlikeanyboycan.Ofcourse,there

aregirlsandboyswhocan’thandletheviolence.155

The girls weren’t the only ones to uncover society’s gender prejudices and givenmy

expectation thatWeWere Soldiers was a female choice due to extensive home front

portrayal froma femaleperspective, their teacher’sbiasalso.Onegroupofboys flatly

refused towatchaVietnamWarmovie, agenre theyclaimeddominatedbyAmerican

combat soldiers’ perspectives and as such unashamed propaganda for the masculine

military might and right of the United States. ‘We want to show you scenes from a

documentary film,withagirlasmaincharacterwhich is set inAmerica,’Andreasand

Reinderexplainastheystarttheirpresentationtoclass.‘OurmotivationtochooseMaya

Lin:AStrongClearVision(1994)istoshowyouthatwarisnotjustaboutAmericanmen

fightingincountriesfaraway,’theyarguewithconsiderablepassion.156YetAndreasand

188

Reinder were the notable exception, they remain the only male pupils to date that

consciouslyavoidedcombatviolence.Mypupilsareattractedtoavarietyofparticularly

grislyscenes,thosethatdealtmostdirectlyandunambiguouslywithbattle,death,and

trauma.Itcompareswelltomystudents’attractiontothedarkestsidesofHolocaustand

trench warfare, their wish to become the voyeur, as I have outlined in the previous

chapters.Thegirls’choiceofscenesintheVietnamfilmcourseisillustrativeoftheviolent

choicesoftheircontemporaries,andonethatisirrespectiveofgender.

Althoughbychoosingadocumentarytheseboyswereveeringawayfromtheset

formonthecurriculum,Ialloweditallthesame.Mypupils,inemulationoftheirteacher,

werestartingtoshapethecanonandthecurriculumthemselves.Itisvitaltoletpupils

contributetoabroaderdiscoursevis-a-visliteratureandtheforcefields,andbyletting

themcreate their personal testimonies ofwar. Even though itwasnotmy aim toput

documentaryfilmpermanentlyonthecurriculum,lettingAndreasandReinderanalyse

andteachittotheirpeersinclassallthesamedisarmedtheirresistanceandallowedthem

toopenup,learn,andshapetheirBildung,andtothesamepositiveeffectontheirEnglish

languageskills.

Not distinguishing between fictional and real ‘autopsy,’my pupils feel that the

morebattleviolenceisshown,themorethefilmgainscredibility.Theillusionofcombat

gnosticismofTaylor(Platoon),Willard(ApocalypseNow)andthejournalistsofTheGreen

BeretsandWeWereSoldiersshowsthatmorethananyothergenre,warmovieshavethe

poweras‘pathosformula’tocastaspellofauthenticityovermypupils.Anditisnotjust

theauthoritativehindsightofthese‘combatgnostic’soldiersthatgivesthesefilmstheir

189

credibility.Mypupils point out the ‘realism’ and ‘truthfulness’ of theirwar scenes, by

referencingeithertothecombatexperienceofthedirector,suchasOliverStone(Platoon),

orthememoirstheywerebasedon,suchasRonKovic(BornontheFourthofJuly),Dieter

Dengler(RescueDawn),andHaroldMoore(WeWereSoldiers).Onegroupofboyseven

stressesthesignificanceofDavidMorrell,writerofthenovelFirstBlood,beingthesonof

a veteran who died in World War II. ‘Credits of the film unfold against a military

reference,’Basinger(2006,175)dictates,and‘includethenameofamilitaryadvisor.’My

pupils cleverly link them to the Basinger tropes, many of which revolve around the

establishmentofmediatedcombatcredibility.

My pupils use their own and scientific insight to conclude that establishing

credibility is oneof the cornerstonesof combatmovies.Theyuncover all ‘four cycles’

(Westwell2006)ofVietnamWarmoviestoleanheavilyonBasinger’stropesthatdefine

the‘grandnarrative’(Binns2017),andthesearestoriesthattheyhugelyenjoy.Whatit

hasshownmeisthatitisuptotheteachertopointouttopupilsthatthesestoriesare

mediated,andthusunderinfluencefrompoliticalagendasofthosewhowishtoinfluence

the effect of these war movies, lest they run the risk of following the pied piper of

HollywoodblindlyoutofHamelin.

The polemic way in which the Vietnam filmWe Were Soldiers was critically

received is exemplary of the agemy pupils have been brought up in since. ‘It is now

customarytoseeeverythingafter11September2001,’SumanGupta(2011,29)argues,

‘asanunravellingsingularitycharacterizedasthe“post-9/11world.”’Shortlyafterthe

releaseofthis film,the(second)IraqWarbeganin2003,acoalitionledbytheUnited

StateswithGreatBritainandtheNetherlandsasallies.Itisthefirstchapterofwhathas

190

since beendefined as the ‘War onTerror,’which simmers still at the time ofwriting,

almosttwodecadesafteritwasdeclaredbyformerUnitedStatespresidentGeorgeW.

Bush.157WeWere Soldiers is awarnarrative reflectiveof the ‘post-9/11world’ itwas

receivedin.Itspolemicalreceptionreflectsthewayculturalmemoryisthemovingtarget

of the combined forcesof society, scienceandpolitics,warnarrativesat its epicentre.

VietnamWarfilms,bytheir‘renarrativization’oftraumatichistoriceventssuchastheMy

Laimassacre(Platoon)andtheAmericanmilitarydefeatatIaDrang(WeWereSoldiers),

havea ‘cathartic’affectwhichallowsfor ‘healing’(Sturken1997,42-43).Thissuggests

academicsandpoliticiansbelievewarmoviescanswaypublicopinionandhaveadirect

effectonrecruitment.

Giventheparticularpowertheyholdonmypupils,beguiledastheyarewiththis

genre’senticingformofmediatedautopsy,thismightwellturnouttobetrue,thoughin

whatwayisopentodebate.IraqveteranPhilKlayforinstance,claimsthat,paradoxically,

anti-warmovieshavebeenadrivingforcebehindmilitaryrecruitment.‘Nothing’sananti-

warfilm,[…]there’snosuchthing’theveterannarratorofoneofKlay’sauthenticwar

storiesexclaims.‘Iwentin[becauseof]PlatoonandFullMetalJacket’(Klay2014,234).

Showingaparticularlyshockingscenetohisclass,i.e.,therelentlessbullyingofcharacter

Leonard‘GomerPyle’andthecharacter’seventualsuicide,hascertainlynotdeterredmy

pupilSjoerd–‘I’mgonnajointhearmy,dosomethingaboutit’–fromchanginghiscareer

wish.158‘FullMetalJackethasgreatlyinfluencedsoldiersandwould-besoldierssinceit

wasreleased,’JohnAWoodconfirms(2016,110).Thoughitisbeyondthescopeofthis

booktoargueeitherway,theremightevenbeequalreasontosuspectthatthesupposed

anti-warhymnofthe20thcentury,Owen’s‘DulceetDecorumEst,’mightwellhavesimilar

recruitingeffectonmypupilsandhelpsexplainwhytheformerleaderofagovernment

atwar,DavidCameron,claimeditashisfavouritepoem(L.Thomas2010).

MyDutchpupilsshowthatall ‘fourcycles’(Westwell2006)ofVietnammovies,

however ‘contradictory’ James Walsh claims their ‘narrative patterns’ might be,

ultimatelybringto thescreentheuniversalessenceofwhatwar isabout(Stallworthy

2001, vii; Walsh 2009, 230). As McLoughlin (2011, 143) confirms, war ‘comprises a

shared set of challenges, the response to which emerges as similarities in written

representationsacrossperiodsandcultures.’LeavingasidewhetherwatchingVietnam

Warmoviesmightinculcateoreliminatewar,pupilsneverfailtobeconvincedbytheir

cinematicnarrators’mediatedauthenticity,andtheirloveforthe‘grandnarrative’these

191

charactersareembeddedin.Myconcern,therefore,asateacherofEnglishmovingwell

beyondmyremitofteachingEnglishlanguage,wasnotwiththeextenttowhichthese

Vietnam War movies were true, but ‘with the impact they have once they are told’

(Sturken1997,9).

The Havo pupils, raised in a post-9-11 world, in an age where teaching must

‘testify’(Felman1995)wereunaccustomedtoaliteraryandvisualcurriculumlikethis,

withclearlinkstocitizenship.TheinterventionIhadtitled‘DirectingScenesofWar’had

made‘somethinghappen:’thesetroublesometeenagershadstartedtoengage(Felman

1995). Since the rocky lesson on theParis attacks and the chaotic state this so-called

‘fight-class’ was in before that moment, pupils felt they were safe, seen and taken

seriously.TheBasingertropeshelpeduncoverauniversalnarrativeofwar,aswellasthe

prevalentgenderbias,afewexamplesofhowtheVietnamWarmovietaskhelpedbring

mypupilsintosignificance.Inthatsense,mystudentswereindeed‘ennobled’,asBasinger

(2006, 177) puts it, for having undergone the cinematic representations of Vietnam

soldiers’combatexperiences.

Improving the Intervention

Yet the task also had its shortcomings. Some pupils found it difficult to theoretically

connecttheVietnamWartopresentdayrelevance,despitetherelieftheyfeltathaving

violence sanctionedwithin the safe confinesof their curriculum.This, they claimed in

their evaluations,wasdue to the fact that for them,bothVietnamand toa somewhat

lesserdegreetheUnitedStates,arefaraway.Theymissthegeographicalproximityand

mostofall,thecollectiveculturalmemorywithinthebroadwidthoftheDutchcultural

landscape.Somepupils,forwhomthesefilmicanchorsofmemoryfromanotherworldly

culturallandscapedidallowthemtoreflectonthedailyrealitiesofthewarringpresent,

remarkhowtheirnewlycreatedtestimoniesmisstheurgencytheyseek.

From an interview on TV came the conclusion that a lot of Dutch teens

wouldn’t fight for theircountry ifnecessary. I immediatelysaid that if it

camedowntoitIwouldstandonthatfield.Iexplainedwhy;Ithinkthatwe

shouldfightforourrights,forourfreedom.Wetakeitforgranted,whenso

manypeopledon’thavethefreedomwedo.Iwouldfighttokeepit.These

192

arethetypesoflessonsIlike,moreinteraction,moreactualtalkaboutthe

now!Whatwouldyoudo.159

Thus,oneofthegirlsinmyclass,Dorothea,sumsupthesharpestcritiqueonthecourseI

haddevelopedsincetheParisattacksofNovember2015.Unperturbedbytheviolence,

studentslikeDorotheafeeltheydonothavethenecessarytangibletietohelpthemreflect

onthe‘climateofwar’inwhichtheylive.

It ismyroleasa teacher to recognise thatbecause IhaveallowedDorothea to

reflectontheVietnamWarmovietaskthewayshedid,sheisinfactreflectingonherself

asanindividualwithinaclassandsociety.Students likeherarenotalwayscapableof

takingthatbird’s-eyeview.Theclasshadcalmeddownsignificantlyduetothewarmovie

coursework,theyhadengagedwiththemovie,intheirgroupandpresentinginclassand

had enjoyed themselves. Yet taking the critique toheart all the same, I felt therewas

somethingmissing. Itwas somethingwhich I hadwitnessedwhen visiting Ypres and

Bergen-Belsenwithpreviouspupilsanalysingnarrativesofthegreat20thcenturywars.

True,mypupilshadengaged,butwithoutanactualphysicalmemoryoftravellingtoa

‘siteofmemoryandmourning’(Winter1996)tocreateaneverlastingimpression,these

‘fight-class’pupilshadnotdevelopeda‘prostheticmemory’theirpeersinVwohad.One

ofthereasonstoputwarmoviesonthecurriculumwasmyambitiontodevelopabudget-

neutral curriculum, especially for classes with widely differing economic means. All

excursionsarecostly,andofcourseIcouldnottakethesepupilstoVietnam.Travellingto

BelgiumorGermanyasIhaddonewithmyVwopupils,andtakingtimetheretoteach,

reflect,andletpupilscreatetheirtestimoniesisaconsiderableinvestmentintimeand

money.Yetwortheveryminuteandeverypenny.

Iwasmindfulofanotherpupil,Petra,whohadbeenblownawaybyhervisittothe

siteoftheMyLaimassacreinVietnamduringaholidaywithherparents.Eagertobring

thatexperienceintosignificance,shehadinspiredherfriendPaula,whohadambitionsto

join the Dutch equivalent of Sandhurst Military Academy, Clingendael, once she had

finishedschool, towrite their school research thesisabout theMyLaiMassacre.They

decided to focus on a variety of cultural representations, amongst which were Life

Magazine’sphotographsoftheMyLaimassacreanddirectorandVietnamveteranOliver

Stone’scultural‘re-enactment’oftheseiconicimagesinhisfilmPlatoon.Paulalatchedon

toPetra’sengagementwiththetopiconceshehadseenthisfilm,withthehelicopterscene

193

carryingTaylorawaytotheheart-wrenchingtunesofBarber’sAdagioforStringsleaving

hermostimpressed.Mid-project,despitethegirls’touristandfilmicexperiences,theyfelt

therewassomethingessentialmissing,totheircollectionofhistoric, literaryandoften

mediatedsources:theywantedtogetevencloseruptowar.

Delvingdeepintotheiremotivelayers,PetrarememberedavideoshesawatMy

LaiofthesoldierwhoflewintotheVietnamesevillagewithhishelicoptercrewtostop

themassacre,aturningpointwithtentativesimilaritiestothe‘cathartic’(Sturken1997)

finalhelicopterscenefromPlatoon.HalfexpectingtomeetCharlieSheenhimself, they

askedme to help them contact one of the three soldiers still alive whowere in that

helicopter:doorgunnerLawrenceColburn.Realisingitwasalongshottobothfindand

contactColburn,letalonegethimtowriteback,PetraandPaulasenttheirquestionout

viaFacebook:

‘WhatdidyoufeelonMarch16,1968whenyousawwhatwashappeningtothepeopleof

MyLai,bytheUnitedStatesarmy,fromthehelicopter?’

‘Ok I’ll domybest. Your questions are very thoughtful.One condition, you

mustreceivean ‘A.’Glad tohearyourwellonyourway toUni.When first

arriving[atMyLai]weweregladtoseewomenandchildrenleavingthearea

beforetheUStroopslanded.Thinkingwewereoutofdanger,wecontinued

onlow-levelreconinotherpartsofthevillage.Uponreturningtotheoriginal

area, we saw the same peoplewhowere leaving piled in groups, dead or

dying. We’d received no enemy fire, and were confused as to how these

villagersmet theirhorrible fate.Continuingrecon,wesawmoreandmore

deadandwounded.

Webeganmarkingthewoundedwithsmoke,thinkingtheUStroopswould

render medical attention. When returning to check […] they’d been shot

throughtheirheads.(Sorryfortheuglydetails).That’swhenHughThompson

decidedtomarkonemore,thenstayatahoverandwatch.That’swhenwe

sawcaptainMedinaapproachher,kickher,thenblewherlifeaway.Howdid

Ifeel?

Allthreeofusfeltbymarkingthewoundedwewereindirectlykillingthem.

HowdidI,wefeel?ANGER!Thesevillagerswerenothreat.Whatcrimewere

theyguiltyof?Wehadtostopthesebastards!

194

‘It’sareallyimpressivestory.’

‘Verysadstory,withmanylayers.’

‘YesIcanunderstand.[…]Idon’tknowwhattosaytoyourstory.’

‘Theygotawaywithit.[…]Man’sinhumanitytoman.[…]

‘DidtheMyLaimassacrechangeyouropinionaboutthewar?’

‘Notreally.Nevershouldhavebeen[inVietnam]inthefirstplace.Realized

thatafterabout30days.’

‘Thankyouverymuch.Ihavenowordstoexpressmygratitude.’160

For weeks the girls had heard nothing. But as their teacher I had noticed a

significantchangecomeoverthesegirls.PetraandPaulahadalightintheireyesthatwas

shining violently.When suddenly, Petra burst into school and ran towardsme, full of

passionate intensity, shouting ‘Sir! Sir! He sent us an answer, he sent us an answer!’

Despite the extra-curricular possibilities that the Vietnam war movie course offers,

despite the benefit of opening up the English literature curriculum to (war) movies,

despitetheobviousbenefitofthiscoursetoopeninggatewaystocitizenshipandBildung,

despitetheoverwhelmingandbeguilingpowerofautopsyvisualwarnarrativesheldover

mypupils,IrealisedwhatmyVietnamWarmoviecurriculumhadneeded.Theinterview

withawarveteranhadnotonlyenhancedthequalityofthesegirls’researchproject,but

alsogivenan injection to therestof theiracademicwork thatyear.Theexperienceof

interviewingVietnamWarveteranLawrenceCoburngaveGenerationZpupilsPetraand

Paula a life-changing connection theVietnamWar. Paula andPetra’s interviewwith a

veteranhadbrokenthegrandnarrative,andforegroundedpupils’canonandcurriculum

shapingability:ithadcreatedtestimonyandalastingmemory.Ihadlongharbouredthe

ambitiontointroducemystudentstotheblogsfromthewarsofthenew21st-century.I

nowvowedtoexplorethepossibilitiesofinvitingaveteranofwartotheclassroom,to

whichthefollowingchapterstandsastestimony.

195

Go,go,go,saidthebird:humankind

Cannotbearverymuchreality.

Timepastandtimefuture

Whatmighthavebeenandwhathasbeen

Pointtooneend,whichisalwayspresent.

(Eliot2001,4)

Thisisastrangenewkindofwarwhereyoulearnjustasmuchasyouareabletobelieve.

(Hemingway2013,275)

5.PupilsCravingfortheHurtLockerAnalysingtheDynamicsofMeetingaVeteranintheClassroomUsingMcLoughlin’s

TropesofWar

Therewasanuncannysilenceinthehall.Murmuringtheir‘helloSir’smypupilsshuffled

in one at a time, each finding a seat around the bigwhite table in themiddle of the

classroom.Bleakweatheroutside,theseteenagershadtravelledalonetoAmsterdamon

what was a dismal Dutch winter’s day, which frostiness seemed to have permeated

throughtheuniversity’saustereinterior.Pieternella’s,Margje’sandTruus’seyesfurtively

scanned their surroundings,nowarmthemanating fromthebarebrickwallsandcold

tiledfloorofthisfamedacademicinstitution.AagjeandGerdinahuddledcloselytogether,

justliketheboysEdwin,Hendrik,andFerdinand,findingcomfortinfox-holedphysical

proximity.StrandsoffieryredinCarla’sotherwisedarkhairtheonlycolourintheroom

tobreakwhatseemedtomypupilsthecodesoftraditionalhighereducationalconduct.

Howdifferent this functional, economical steel and stone to thewarmth of their own

secondaryschool’sancientandcloisteredwalls,whosenooks,cranniesandcrevicesserve

nopurposebuttocolourtheplayfulcanvaswhichisthebackdroptotheirdailyschool

livesbackinNorthernHolland.Whilethefrostywindmademoanthehardironandstone

risingfromtheearthoftheacademy’sfoundation,thesepupils’encircledsilenceensued

astheyawaitedthearrivalofaveteranintheclassroom.

Challengedwiththetransferofasecondaryschoolclasstotheimprovisedsetting

oftheVUUniversityinAmsterdam,Iwastoologisticallypreoccupiedtosmoothawayany

anxietywithwhichmypupilsarrivedthroughtheloftymainentrance,acrossthehallway

196

andupwardsinoneofthemanyliftstowardsthetwelfthfloor:thefacultyofarts.These

teenagers had been eager to volunteer for this battle. My previous hosting of a war

novelist, a war historian and a professor of war literature to visit and teach these

secondaryschoolteenagersontheirownturfwerenodifferent.Eagernottomissanyof

the violence, the classroom was filled to the brim with pupils on each occasion. 161

AssessingwhomightbeinterestedinaclassinvolvingthevisitofaveteranoftheIraq

war Iwas thereforenot surprised thatmore than tenper centof all sixth-yearpupils

volunteeredtogoovertheparapetwithme.Haditbeenorganisedattheirschooland

outsidetheirhalftermholiday,manymorewouldhavejoinedup.Extra-curricularlessons

onwarliteraturewereinsurprisinglypopulardemand.

TheDutcheducationalsystemisonewherelevelsaredeterminedatayoungage:

whenchildrenarestillintheirfinalyearofprimaryschool.Thisearlyselectionofpupils

is supportedby so-called ‘NIO-tests,’Dutch intelligence testsuponwhichprimaryand

secondary schools base their selective judgements. 162 This generation of pupils had

scored across the scale in these tests. 163 Yet as far as their talent for English was

concerned,thesestudentshadnoreasontofeartalkingtoaUnitedStatesarmyveteran

inthiscustom-designeduniversityseminar.Theyhadfollowedtheextra-curricularFast

Lane English program, which included the much sought-after Cambridge certificate.

Moreover,thesepupils’individualpathsthatconvergedhereonthiscoldcollegiateday

hadbeenvariedtosaytheleast.StudentslikePieternella,MargjeandCarlahadexcelled

sincetheirfirstyearat‘Gymnasium,’whichalsoincludedGreekandLatin.Ontheother

endofthescale,Truus,EdwinandFerdinandhadclimbedtheirwayupfrom‘Havo’to

‘Vwo’level,whereasGerdina,AagjeandHendrikhadbeenforcedtoredoanentireextra

year.Forall theirdifferentpreliminaryeducationalpathsandtest-scoresheretheyall

weregatheredas‘Vwo’students;theonlyDutchsecondaryschoollevelwhichgivesdirect

accesstouniversity.Heretheywere,waitingforanAmericanwarpoettoarrive.

Thisgroupofpupilsunderscorethefactthat‘pinningdownpresumededucational

levels at the age of twelve’ is a ‘cruel’ systemunder severe critique and international

scrutiny (Truijens 2018). Experts abroad behold the ‘Dutch-way’ with bewilderment,

especiallysothe lackofobjectivenormswithwhichtoassesspupils’abilityto flowto

other(higher)levelsofsecondaryeducation(ibid.).Somesecondaryschools,however,

arefindingwaystoofferpupilstheopportunitytoshapeandpavetheirowneducational

paths.OnaDutchNationallevelthegroupofpupilsjoiningmeinAmsterdamexploring

197

theirliterarytalentsatthetopendofthecognitivescalewereamongsttheavant-garde

inmyinvestigationofwaystooffertailor-madeeducation.164Corroboratingthecritique

on Dutch early selection is the ‘VO-raad,’ by making a passionate plea for the

implementation of custom-made school exams. 165 Their ambition, Paul Rosenmöller

explains,isto‘developadiplomawherebypupilsmayfollowsubjectsatdifferentlevels’

(Kuiper2015).Segregatingteenagerswithinseparatecognitiveframeworksfromayoung

ageonwardsis‘severelyout-dated,’Rosenmöllerargues,afactunderscoredbymypupils’

patchworkeducationalbackgrounds,theirpathsnowconvergingwiththatofawarpoet

(ibid.).Forthisunlikelybandofbrothersandsisters,thisbattletheyhadvolunteeredfor

wasanexampleofeducation‘madetomeasure.’166

‘Out-dated’asRosenmöllerarguestheDutchsystemtobe,thepolitical,societal

andacademicforce-fieldshaveconvergedtocreateatop-downeducationalstormwhich

haskeptDutchschoolsinadeadlock.WhatIsuggestwiththisbookisthatteacherstake

the leadtoguideusoutof thisno-man’s landby joiningthecurriculum-building force

bottom-up.TheinterventionsintheliteraturecurriculaIhaveoutlinedinthisbookare

primeexamplesof‘school-basedcurriculumdevelopment,’orwhatBiestaandPriestley

(2013) termthe ‘NewCurriculum.’167Literatureeducation inDutchsecondaryschools

hashithertoremainedanungovernedanddisorganisedterritory(Witte,Rijlaarsdamand

Schram2010).Mywarliteratureinterventionsaremultipleedgedswordsthataimastep

towardsamorewidespreadandstructuredcurriculumdesignbyteachers.Applyingwar

literature in class teaches pupils language and establishes gateways to citizenship,

develops individual Bildung and creates empathy. For ‘what literature education can

contribute,’ Theo Witte argues, ‘is creating amongst pupils the ability to empathise’

(Witte,citedinVanBoxtel2016,5).Thischaptershowsthattheliteratureclasswheremy

pupilswere tomeetawarveteran isan inclusiveone. Itestablishes intergenerational

empathy within the Dutch classroom between pupils that are not just torn apart by

differentracialandsocialbackgrounds,butbya‘cruel’Dutchsystemofearlyselection.

This chapter aims to inspire colleagues globally to research ways to invite a

veteran (writer) into their classrooms. The previous chapter has foregrounded the

benefits of the multimodal Vietnam war movie curriculum, opening gateways to

citizenshiptoawidevarietyofpupilswithdifferingcognitive,social,ethnicandeconomic

backgrounds.YetthepassionatestudentoutputofaninterviewwithaVietnamveteran

hadconvincedmethatfacilitatingsuchanextra-curriculareventsparksoffaninvaluable

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lasting memory and creates a living pupil testimony. I am conscious of the fact that

organisingameet-and-greetwithaveteran,letaloneawarpoet,isalogisticalchallenge

forteacherswhosetimeispressedalready.Yetmyteacher-readerwillbesurprisedby

thewillingnessofwarwritersandveteranstoworkwiththeminsettingupameetingin

theclassroom,asmypupilsinchapterthreewhohavemetMiepGiesatprimaryschool,

confirm.Onceorganisedwithsuccess,itpresentsthechancetoconsolidateandembed

theseintothecurriculumonastructuralyearlybasis.Thisappliesinverysimilarwaysto

theinnovationssuggestedinthepreviouschapters.Challengingandchangingthecanon

ofwarliteraturebyinvitingpupilsto‘adoptapoem;’askingthemtocreatetheirownwar

poemorfilmatoraboutFirstandSecondWorldWarsitesofmemoryandmourningin

YpresandBergen-Belsen;orreflectingontheirviolenttimesbytakingonaVietnamWar

movieinteamsandpresentingtheseinclass:educativeinnovationslikethesecomewith

aninitialinvestmentintimeandeffortontheteacher’spart,yetrarelydothesefailtopay

offinhighqualitydidacticoutputandpedagogicaladvancement,intheshortaswellas

thelongterm.

Previous educational innovations suggested in this book will prove valuable

structural didactic and pedagogical investments for pupils and teachers alike. This

chapter will show that inviting a war veteran to the classroomwill be no exception.

Becausenotasingleschool, class, teacherandpupil is thesame, invitingawar(poet)

veterantotheclassroomwillhavetobedesignedtosuiteachandeverysingularoccasion.

Likethecurricularinnovationsdescribedinpreviouschapters,theeducationalsituation

thischapterdelineatesdoesnotofferaone-size-fits-allsolution.Morethananythingelse,

teachers’andpupils’ individualcreativityneedstobecalledupontoeitheradapttheir

existingcurriculaorcreatenewones.Havingreceivedandappliedacademichelp, this

chapter aims to offer support tomy teacher-reader in turn. Duringmy design of the

previous literary interventions and their effect in the classroom, Kate McLoughlin’s

(2011)tropesofwarprovedagreatassettounderstandingtheworkingsofteachingwar

literature.Hertheoryappliedineducationforegroundedwarnarratives’ ‘autopsy’asa

crucial ingredient to establishing ‘credentials’ with its pupil audience. Pupils’magical

choices from The Diary highlight their lust for violence: the more ‘details’ of war

portrayed, themoreauthenticity thenarrativehas. Imbeddinga ‘parrhestiastes’ in the

form of a journalist in VietnamWarmovies creates similar authenticity amongstmy

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students. All in all, these examples underscore the importance of the literary trope

‘credentials’inaneducationalsetting.

This chapter will analyse in detail the dynamics of meeting a veteran in the

classroomwiththeuseofKateMcLoughlin’stropesofwar,foregroundingmyroleasa

teacher, literary historian and educational theorist in equalmeasure. Doing so, I will

separatethetheoreticalwheatfromthechaff,aimingtoprovidemyteacher-readerswith

a hands-on analytical tool for a class involvedwith (writers of)war narratives. Iwill

presentastructuredanddetaileduseofhertropesofwarinthischapter,awareasIam

thatuptillnow,thepracticaloutcomeofapplyingMcLoughlin’s(2011)tropesofwarin

classhasbeenslightlyhaphazard.Atropesuchas‘credentials,’whichfacesthechallenge

ofepistemology,hasbeentoucheduponoftenthroughoutthisbook,proving it tobea

very practical and powerful trope for teachers teaching war narratives. But what of

‘duration’or‘laughter,’whichfacesthechallengeoflogic,atropewhichthischapterwill

show opens up a first gateway to a situationwherebymy pupilsmight get closer to

veteranpoetBrianTurner’sliteralandliteraryexperienceofwar.

ThesixcategoriesunderwhichMcLoughlin ‘script[s]allwarnarratives’ include

‘credentials,’‘laughter’and‘details,’whichfacesthechallengeofscale,aswellas‘zones,’

which faces the challenge of space, ‘duration,’ which faces the challenge of time, and

‘diversion,’ which faces the challenge of language (Oostdijk 2014, 355; McLoughlin

2011:1-20).IhavechosentogiveeachofMcLoughlin’ssixcategoriestheirownsection

throughoutthechapter,indicatingtotheteacher-readerwhichtropesareatplayatany

givenmoment in the textdescribingmypupils’meeting theveteran in the classroom.

SomeofMcLoughlin’scategorieswillprovemorelengthilyatplaythanothers,whichhas

meriteda repeateddemarcation, sometimes in succession, eachuniquelymodified for

clarity, underscoringmyover-arching argument.Above all,my aim is formy teacher-

readerstodrawtheirownconclusionsandretainthefreedomtoselectatwillfromthese

examplesfortheirownfutureteachingbenefit.

Intervention: Veteran in the Classroom

Asmystudentswereanxiouslywaitinginthecolduniversityclassroom,Isuddenlysaw

theformersoldierappeararoundthecorner,inthedistanceofthelong,darkuniversity

corridor.Asmallfar-offfiguregrewgraduallywitheachstepyetdidnotquitereachthe

lengthIhadexpectedofaseasonedwarrior.Theyearsofpeaceseemtohavebeenkind

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tothecombatpoet.GoneisthephysicallyhardenedfigureIknowsowellfromthecover

of his acclaimed collection of poetry,Here, Bullet (2005).Meeting the poet’s deep-set

browneyes,Ifindmyselfshakingcoldhands.Yetthereiswarmthinhisgrip.Iexpressed

mygratitudetotheveteran,forbravingtheharshDutchwinterweathertocomeoutof

hiswayandmeetmypupils.Ican’thelpbutthinkthatcomparedtocoldinsomniacnights

onMosul’srooftopssurroundedbyinsurgentsnipers,thisdaymustsurelyfeeltoTurner

likeaspringholidayouting.Freshlyarrivedfromthelaunchofhisbookathispublisher

intheNetherlands,heinstantlyhandedmetheDutchtranslationofhiswarmemoirhot

fromthepress,apeaceofferingthatIcouldreturnonlywithacupofcoffee,freshlyblazing

inaStyrofoamcup.Facetoface,itwasthenthatIsawthetruedepthofhiseyes,their

constantfurtiveflicker,adropofsweathurtlingdownhistemple,abodilyalertnessIonly

noticedmeetinghimup-close.

Walkingintothemakeshiftclassroom,BrianTurner,soldierpoetandmemoirist,

isvisiblyonguardnow,clutchingthehotcoffeeIhadthrustinhishands.Puttingitdown

onthepristinewhitetabletop,togetherwithabagofbooks,theveteransitsdowninthe

onlyemptyseatattheheadoftheu-formedtables.‘I’moutofbreath,’hesays,drumming

hisfingersnervously,‘Ihavenoideahowtostartthis.MynameisBrian.Youknowthat.

Haveyou…haseveryonereadthebook?[…]Iseveryonehere?’thewarpoetasks,speaking

rapidlywhilescanningtheroomfurtively.168Tomyreliefmypupilssetthepoetatease

immediately,breakingtheicewithsmalltalk.Wehadbeenwaitingforthearrivalofthe

boys Rudolf and Nicolaas, suspecting them of having succumbed to one of the many

temptations the Dutch capital had on offer, on their way to the university. ‘KFC, Sir,’

Hendriksaid,makingbestofanembarrassingsituation,andtheentiregroupbrokeinto

laughter.‘What’sthat?KFC?Ohno…’Turnerreplied.‘Yeah,KFC,sir,probably,’Hendrik

confidently joked, finally turningTurner’sapprehension intoanauthenticsmile. ‘CanI

cussinhere?CosIwannamakesureyoufeelcomfortable,tosayanythingyouwannasay.

Ifthere’ssomethingyouthinkisjustbullshit,justcallit,’thepoetcontinued,somewhat

moreateasenow.169TheveteranTurnerseemshesitant,cautiousandinclusiveanditis

ironicthatthestudentsaremoremilitary,aggressiveandeagerinthisclassonwar.Establishing Credentials (Phase I)

‘Sendguys towar, theycomehometalkingdirty,’VietnamveteranTimO’Brien

(2015,77)writes,arguingthat‘ifyoudon’tcareforobscenity,youdon’tcareforthetruth.’

Cussing, inotherwords, is theultimatemarkofacrediblewarstory,andIraqveteran

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Brian Turner starts off this class doing so from themoment go. As I have previously

outlined in this book, teachingwar narratives shows that establishing credibility as a

writer isavitalstepawarstoryneedstomake inorder toengageteenagereaders to

experiencethetext.Warliterature,McLoughlin(2011,22)dictates, issuccessfulif ‘the

accountinquestionissalientand,crucially,credible.McLoughlin’stheoryofwritingwar

helps understandwhy forBrianTurner, thiswas far from a spring outing. The initial

anxiousnessinhisapproachbetrayedthecrucialquestionforemostinTurner’smind,as

heenteredtheuniversityclassroomandmetmysecondaryschoolpupils:‘howcanImake

you believeme?’McLoughlin’s trope ‘credentials’ allowedme as a teacher to adopt an

academicbird’s-eyeview,tounderstandtheclassroomdynamicsastheyunfoldedbefore

myeyesbetweentheveteranandmypupils.Keentofurtherexploretowhatextenther

tropesofferedguidanceintheno-man’slandthatteachingwaratasecondaryschoolis,

thischapteristestimonytothatexploration.Laughter’s Relief

Anxious to establish good rapportwithmypupils, thewar poet jumped at the

nerve-liftingbaitthatHendrikhadofferedintheformoflaughter.Muchlikebattleitself,

mystudentshadlookeduponmeetingaveteranas‘amatterofdeadlyseriousness,’which

‘add[s] up to a decorum of war writing’ as well as decorum in classroom behaviour

(McLoughlin 2011, 165). Explaining why, facing the task of representing war, many

writersresolvetotheuseoflaughterintheirliterature,McLoughlin(2011,167)argues

that ‘Kantian/Schopenhauerianincongruity’and, in fact, ‘Freudianrelief’playsarole.

ThusHendrik’sincongruousjokewasthemostappropriatethingtodo,facingwhatwas

forhimanabnormalandintensesituation:meetingaveteranandauthorofwartogether

withhissecondaryschoolclassmatesand teacher inauniversitysetting.Breaking the

decorum,‘Freudian’reliefsurgedintothemakeshiftclassroom,yetnotintheleastwith

Turnerhimself.Quicktoestablishcredibility,laughtergavethecombatpoetthechance

to prove himself. In war literature, McLoughlin (2011, 169) shows us, ‘joining in the

laughter,thereaderis,toanunprecedentedextent,madetofeeltheexperienceofconflict.’

Likewise, laughter in the classroom paved the way for teachers, pupils and poet to

‘embracethesuck’together,attheVrijeUniversiteitinAmsterdam.170

‘Insofarasitisgodless’,McLoughlin(2011,181)argues,‘thewarzoneresembles

theuniverseoftheAbsurd.’Therewassomethingequallycrazyaboutmyteenagersfrom

small town Hoorn, gathered together as a secondary school group in these stark

202

universitysurroundingsandmeetingapoetfromthebattlefieldsthathadcolouredthe

televisedcanvasoftheiryouths.This‘failureorabsenceoflogic,’knownas‘hypologic,’

definesthewarzone(McLoughlin2011,168).Itisanimportantreasonforwritersand

fightersofwartoseekreliefinlaughter.Thisclass,however,wasjustasmuchdefinedby

alogisticalandorganisationallogicor‘hyperlogic:’aconvergenceofallpartiesconcerned:

theirsecondaryschool(teacher),theuniversity,bothTurnerandtheirownorganisation

andpreparation(ibid.).Reasonenoughforthemtoarriveastenselyastheyhad.Itisthe

simultaneouspowerof the ‘hypologic’andthe ‘hyperlogic’whichcharacterize thewar

zone.Mypupils’situationthatdayledthemtosuchanearlyanddefinitiveicebreakerin

theformoflaughter.Thoughtherewerenobulletsbeingfiredandbombsgoingoffduring

thiscustomisedclass,itwastheclosestmypupilscouldcometoalivewarzone,shortof

travelling there themselves: reading Turner’smemoir andmeeting the veteran in the

flesh.Establishing Credentials (Phase II)

‘Whatdoyouguysknowaboutmeso far?Warpoetguy,wrote thesebooks,’ a

somewhatrelaxedveteranasksmypatchworkpupils.‘Ifyou’vereadthebookthenyou

knowsomestuffaboutme, right?’ ‘Yeah,yourwhole family,’Aagjeanswershimflatly,

revealinganaggressiveeagernessonthesideofmypupilstotakeTurner’stextheadon.

‘[Youmet]thewholefamily,right?’Turnerlaughscautiously.171Yetthisinteractionalso

laidbareoneofthekeyaspectsofwarwritingthatmakeitsoverypowerfuland,atthe

sametime,complexlycontradictory.Aagje’sremarkshowsitisunclearforpupilswhen

Turner,theveteranmemoirist,isreferringtohisownexperience(ofwar)andwhenheis

referringtohisliteraryrepresentation(ofwar).AsIhaveshownpreviously,McLoughlin

teachesusthatthe‘tropeofautopsy’isatworkhere.SoldierslikeTurnerhave‘combat

gnosticism.’Thisbookhasshownhowpupilsareattractedtowarnarrativeswrittenby

veteranauthors,singularintheirclaimtoauthenticity,andsometimesevendangerously

so,asthe‘DirectingScenesofWar’interventionshowed,pupilsbelievingblindlyintheir

fictionalscreensoldiersasiftheyliterallyhadtheexperienceoffightingandkillinginthe

VietnamWartheydepictonscreen.McLoughlin’stropeofepistemologyrevealsanother

blindspotuponmeetingthewarmemoiristTurner.ForpupilslikeAagjeconfuseTurner’s

biography,‘meeting’his‘wholefamily,’withthewarnarrativehecreated.

Atvariousstagesinthisbook,IhaveunderscoredthevalueofMcLoughlin’stheory

to teachers ofwar literature at secondary school. ‘McLoughlin’s ability to cut through

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historicalperiodsaswellas literarygenresandcomeupwithabasicscriptofallwar

narrativesisvitallyimportantforthestudyofwarliterature,’Oostdijk(2014,355)argues.

However,pupils’blindspotsliketheabovecomeunderattack.‘Thekeyproblemis,’Roy

Scranton (2013, 352) argues, ‘the use of literary texts and literary theory to draw

conclusionsandmakegeneralizationsaboutwar.’AsIhaveshown,theroleofliterature

inthehistoryandmemoryofwarhasbeenpartofanon-goingacademic,societaland

politicaldebate, especially inanage inwhich ‘anniversaries [ofwar]aregivenahard

sell.’ 172 Scranton’s critique of McLoughlin is that she insists on ‘read[ing] the world

throughliterature’(2013,352).Hispointisthatallliterarysources,beingauthored,are

a fallible representationof reality. Scranton, Iraqveteranandauthorhimself, believes

literature fails to truly represent what (the) war was really like, grist to the mill of

historianslikeDanTodmanandpoliticianssuchasMichaelGove,criticalastheyareabout

war literature’s mythmaking power. Similarly, the previous chapter has shown that

watchingVietnammoviesinclass,mostofwhicharecategorisedas‘anti-war,’doesnot

have any measurable pacifying effect. Eager to influence the moving target of war,

politiciansandscholarsespeciallyplaceeducationunderscrutiny.Thischapterwillshow

howthepresenceofawarpoetandhisownviewsand(literaryandpolitical)agendaadds

anewdimensiontotheclassroomsituation.

WhetherornothistoricalsourcesareanylessauthoredthanliteraryonesIleave

toposterity.Itis,vitally,apointMcLoughlinreadilyconcedestocriticssuchasScranton.

‘Accountsofwararealwaysauthored,’sheunderscores,‘inthesensethatthegapbetween

theexperienceandtherepresentationofconflictcanbenarrowedbutnevercompletely

eliminated’(McLoughlin2011,20).Complicatingmattersfurther,‘theauthoringofwar

caninvolvedistortion,exploitationandevenplainlying’(ibid.).Contrarily,TimO’Brien,

who like Roy Scranton is also a war veteran and author, opposes his argument

nonetheless. The Vietnam veteran O’Brien claims that this aspect of war writing is

preciselythereasonwhyliteratureissomuchbetteratportrayingwhatwarislikethan

historyis.

Inmany cases a truewar story cannot be believed. If you believe it, be

sceptical.It’saquestionofcredibility.Oftenthecrazystuffistrueandthe

normalstuffisn’tbecausethenormalstuffisnecessarytomakeyoubelieve

thetrulyincrediblecraziness.(O’Brien2015,70)

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AsIhaveshown,TimO’Brien’s‘combatgnosticism’willfallonwillingearswithpupils

debating war narratives in the classroom, yet so will the words of soldier Scranton.

Offering help, McLoughlin (2011, 20) explains that understanding how the authorial

‘obfuscations,misrepresentationsanddeliberatedecoys’inwarliteraturework,isan‘act

ofgoodcitizenship.’Whatfollowsisthattheteacher’sroleasguideandarbitratorinthe

classroomisvital,evenmoresowithaveteranwriter’sliteralpresenceintheclassroom.

BrianTurner’scredibilityasaformersoldierbringstheurgency,stressandnecessityof

wartoaneverydayclass,notwithstandinghisownviewsandagenda.Providingpupils

withinformationandacomprehensiveviewofthesituation,itistheteacher’sjobtopoint

outtheso-calledliterary ‘decoys’sotypicaltowarwritingandwriters,andthusguide

pupilslikeAagjethroughtheepistemologicalnoman’sland.Establishing Credentials (Phase III)

Inhandingmehiswarmemoir,inannouncinghisnameadding‘youknowthat,’

askingmypupilsfirstoffwhethertheyhadreadhisbook,inspecifyingheisthe‘warpoet

guy,’who‘wrotethesebooks,’whichhedemonstrativelyshows,inaddingwhentheyhave

readthesethenthey‘know’him,andofcoursethewayAagjecatchinghisbaitintheironic

wayshedid: ineverythingTurnerwants toestablishhiscredibility. ‘Whyshould [we]

believewhat you tell [us]?’ is thequestion that is cruciallypresent at the start of our

meetingonthepartofmypupils(McLoughlin2011,39).Thepoetneedstobebelieved,

having used his ‘autopsy’ to transform the sublimity of his experience into fiction; he

attemptsthesameinclass.Asmypupilreadersandtheveteranwriterjoininlaughter

thebordersbetweenfictionandreality,warandpeaceconverge;whereTurnergoes,he

bringsthewarzonewithhim.Yet,ironically,itisBrianTurnerwhofeelssomuchlessat

home in this makeshift warzone than my pupils. ‘I don’t know if the ice has broken

enough?’heasksmypupilstimidly.YetHendrik’splayful intervention(‘KFC,Sir!’)and

Aagje’sbluntremark(‘Yourwholefamily’)showthatinthisbattleitisthecivilianswho

showtheiraggression.ThroughoutclassitisHendrikandAagjewhoparticipatemostand

indoingso,showthemselvesasleastanxioustochallengethewarpoet.‘Ifyouwrotea

book about the women in your life,’ Hendrik asks, eager to probe the poet on the

predominantly masculine viewpoint in his war memoir, ‘what would the book be

about?’173

205

Hendrik:‘Whatwouldthemainsubjectbe?Becausenowit’sobviously

war…’

Turner:‘Ithink,thechallengewouldbetowriteaboutwar,anotherwar

memoir.Butfocussingonlyonthewomeninmyfamily.[…]Weoften

thinkofwomeninourcultureasnurturers,[…]butittakesthewhole

tribetogoofftowar.’

Teacher:‘Ithinkthere’safemalehereinterestedingoingtowar!’

Turner:‘You’reprobablytheonlyoneintheroomwhowantstojointhe

army,maybe?

Hendrik:‘Idotoo,butnotthemarines[likeAagje].’

Turner:‘shewantstojointhemarinesandyouwanttojointhearmy?’

Hendrik:‘yeah’

Turner: ‘That’s interesting, maybe we’ll get back to that later, ehm,

cause…yeah,ehm.’174

HendrikandAagjetakethebullbythehorns,bothseizingthechancetointerrogatethe

celebratedwar poet and veteran of the IraqWar. Their brazen and disarming Dutch

directnessispartlyduetotheirheritage,infamousastheDutcharefortheirbluntness

andhonestysooftenmistakenforrudeness.Butthereismoreatplay.Theirindividual

armyambitionsgivethemthecredentialsthatempowerthemtospeakfreely,asifonthe

samelevelastheveteran.OfthetwoitisAagjewhoisimplicitlyelevatedtospokesperson

forthegroup:asawomansherepresentstheothergirlspresentandasafuturemarine

shehascredentialsthatsupersedetheboys’inthisclass,thatgiveherasenseofidentity

andliftherfromthegreybuildingandpeerpressureandexpectations.‘Lifeasasoldier

affectshisconceptionofmanhoodandmasculinity,’StaceyPeebles(2011,2)comments

on theAmericansoldier’sexperience in Iraq. ‘Warcanmakeorunmake theman,’ she

explains,‘andtodayitisaprovinggroundforwomenaswell’(ibid.).Andso,threedecades

afterNosheenKhanpublishedherstudyinwhichsheattempted‘toretrievefromoblivion

theexperienceofthemutedhalfofsocietyasrenderedin[FirstWorldWar]verse’(Khan

1988, 1-2), it is a young girl fromWest-Frieslandwho is articulating on behalf of the

‘mute,’steeringTurner’sstoryofwar.

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War’s Duration I

MypupilAagjesitsconfidentlyacrossfromtheveteranandaddresseshiminan

open and direct manner. Turner, however, keeps averting his eyes, avoiding direct

contact;itisevidentthattheveteranistakenabackbythisfuturemarine. ‘Ittakesthe

wholetribetogoofftowar,’thewarpoetstated,butitisclearhehadnotexpectedanyof

thisteenage‘tribe’attheVUinAmsterdamtowanttogooffanywherenearawarzone.175

‘It’shardertoendawarthantobeginone,’formerPresidentObamaquippedontheeve

ofAmericanwithdrawalfromIraq,inDecember2011(Jaffe2016).Hiswordsringtrueas

mypupilsmeetTurnersomeyearslater,atatimeinwhichtheAmericanairforce,helped

bytheDutch,werestillbombingtargetsinIraq.‘Theexpansionofrolesforwomeninthe

[American] Armed forces has evolved since the early days of the military,’ Kristy N.

Kamarck (2015, i) argues. Yet inmost branches of the Americanmilitary, the ban on

combatrolesforwomenwasliftedjustafewweekspriortomeetingTurner(Kamarck

2015). It is clear the veteran of the Iraqwar, frustrated atwhatMcLoughlin calls the

‘endinglessness’ofwar,isfazedbytheideathatthisyoungDutchwomanmightgooffto

fightthesamewarinIraqashedidadecadebefore.176

Though the ‘male-dominated war zone’ has opened up for pupils like Aagje,

‘womenare immediately singular’ there all the same (McLoughlin2011, 32).Warhas

alwaysbeenanexperience,StaceyGillis(2007,100)writes, ‘renderedthroughasmall

groupofmalepoets.’AndthoughGillisarguesinrelationtoWorldWarI,asfarascombat

wasconcerned,notmuchhaschangedsincethatwarproduced ‘themaleagonyofthe

trenchesfromthepoetryofsoldierslikeSassoonandOwen’(Kazantis1981,xv).AsIhave

previouslyshown,theSecondWorldWaropeneduptheregisterofwartocivilians,The

DiaryofaYoungGirlbeingthemostfamousandwidelyreadnarrativetocomefromthat

war.Whatismore,KhanandReilly’smissiontocanonisewhatrenderingthe‘agony’of

stayingathomeandthe‘millionsofdeathsmeanttothemillionsof[…]womenwhohad

toendurethem,’hadsucceeded(ibid.).Women’spoetryoftheFirstWorldWarhasfound

a marginal place in the canon and classroom a quarter century later. Yet with the

exceptionofaVietnamfilmsuchasWeWereSoldiers,inwhichthesoldiers’wivesplayan

important part, the VietnamWarwas oncemore amale narrated event. ‘There is no

gettingaroundthefactthatbattle isauniqueorderofexperience,’andsimilarly,male

soldiernarrativeshavehithertodominatedtheresponsestotheIraqwar(McLoughlin

2011,43).

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Establishing Credentials (Phase IV)

At theendof2016theAmericandeathtollamongstwomensoldiers incurrent

militaryoperationsreached166,whilethosewoundedinactionreached1033(Kamarck

2015,8).Statisticssuchasthesemightwellhailtheonsetoffemale‘combatgnostic’war

narrativestothecanon.Thesupposedlysublimeknowledgeofbattle iswhat luresthe

studentreaderlikenothingelsedoes.Thisclassroomvisitbyamaleveteranandpoetof

theIraqwarhasasimilarlymagneticappealonmypupils.WhereverTurner’sproseand

poetry show clear anddirect fighting experience, they are immediately andpopularly

singled out by my pupils. Though Aagje, like Hendrik, is critical of Turner’s male

dominatednarrativeviewpoint,itishisknowledgeofwarandtheguaranteethewarpoet

givesthemasaformereyewitnesstowarthathisstoryisclose(r)tothetruthaboutwar

thatholds themspellbound. ‘Warenforces categorizationevenas it forcesencounters

acrosstheboundariesofmedia,gender,nation,andthebody’(Peebles2011,2),andthe

cult of ‘combat gnosticism’ bears part of the blame. Back in the classroom, Aagje has

skilfullymanoeuvredherself intotheroleof theveteran’spsychoanalyst,an intriguing

moveintermsofauthorityintheclassroom,forcingthewarriortoconcedethereare‘not

a lotofwomen,’ that feature inhisnarrative, ‘right?Mygrandmaandmymother just

brieflyshowup,butnotthatmuch,right?’

Aagje:‘Youwanttowriteaboutthemaswell,[don’tyou]?’

Turner:‘Yeah…IthinkIneedtowriteanotherbook,butmaybethatlooks,

thisbooklookssomuchatthemeninmyfamily,mostly,I’dliketoreverse

it.Iwantedtohaveascene…mymotherhadherneckbroken,inacar

accident,andshehadtowearthisbrace,[…]forlikesixmonths,couldn’t

takeitoff.Iwantedtowriteasceneaboutherandmyfather,‘causemy

fatherwouldbatheherandcleanherlikeintheshower,youknow,andI

justthoughtthatwassointimateandbeautiful?ButthenIrealisedthat’s

just…Ididn’twanttointrudeintheirpersonallife[…]soIdidn’tdoit.But

IfeellikeI…thatwasamistakeofmeasawriter,becausethewriterpart

inmewaslikethatshouldbeinhere…Thechallengewouldbetowrite

aboutwar.’177

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Diversions’ Advertency I

ThistenderintrusionintotheprivatelifeofTurner’sparentsillustrateshowhardthat

challenge is, just as difficult as keeping the narrative spotlight on the females in his

family.178Thoughthestoryuponfirsthearingmightseemabouthismother,thefocusin

reality is on his father, a veteranwhose hands once fired a rifle, now intimately and

tenderlytouchingthemotherofhissoldieringson.‘Butnomatterwhatelsehemightdo

withhishands,loveawoman,buildahouse,changehisson'sdiaper,[aveteran’s]hands

remembertherifle,’ thenarratorofJarhead(2005),aGulfWarmoviedirectedbySam

MendeswhichappearedshortlyafterTurner’stourinIraq,tellshisaudience.Thewar

seepsintothemother’sskinviathehandsthatcaressher.Likeeveryintimateparentalor

maritalscene,thedoorclosesonsons(anddaughters).Yet,myspellboundstudentsfeel

somethingobliquelypresentaboutwarandtheveteran’spervasivepresence.Thedeep

timbre of the poet’s voice is not what carries him into the story, but his deliberate

‘drawingattentiontosomethingintheveryactofappearingtopassitover’(McLoughlin

2011,143).Themother’shurtisnotherbrokenneck,butherhusband’shandsmassaging

thewarintothebodythatbroughtforthherwarriorson.Fightinghiswar,hecoulddieat

anymoment,eventhismostprivateone.

Expanding beyondmasculinity andwar, Turner tells his teenage audience this

intimatestory fromthe female familyhome.Yet, contrarily, it isahomewherewar is

pervasive.Bymakinghisparentsprivacypublicand focussing the lensas farawayas

possiblefromdesertbattlefieldandcityguerrilla,thewarseepsintheshowersceneuntil

everydropofwateriscontaminated.‘Nothingbuthurtlefthere,’thepoetwritesinhis

mostfamouswarpoem,thebrokenneckisa‘diversion,’thereal‘hurt’aretheriflehands

thatintrudecautiouslyuponthefemalebody,thewombthatspawnedasoldier(B.Turner

2007a, 21). Turner’s story about his mother’s broken neck feels like a confession, a

warriorman’sstoryofguilttowardsamother.AnsweringAagje,hisnarrativehasopened

‘thehurtlocker,’andthe‘knivesandteeth’ofwarentertotakecentrestage(ibid.).The

poethighlightsthewarbydivertingfromit,accentuatingthetenderhomescene,aliterary

techniquereferredtoas‘paralipsis’(McLoughlin2011,43).Formypupils,partoftheir

attractiontomeetingthepoetwasthathispoeminspiredthetitleandthemeoftheOscar-

winningmovieTheHurtLocker(2008).Andhere theywere, facedwithTurner’shurt.

‘Whydoyouwrite?’oneasks,softlytreadingonthewar-torncloththepoethadspread

outbeforethem.

209

Turner: ‘My unit went back to war, my country stayed at war and my

countryfoughtwarsbutdidn’ttalkaboutit.So,itseemedimportanttome

notonlytowritethepoemsbuttosharethem.Partofmyreason[todoso]

wasbecausemycountrywassilent. It’snotpayingattentiontothewars

thatitwages.Andthattomeisakindofpathology.There’sanillnessora

sicknessinacountrythatcanwagewarandkillpeople,putthedirtover

theirbodies,takethelastbreathoftheirlifeandpaynoattentiontothem.

Imeanthat’s…that’sadeepsickness…Soit’spartofthejobofthewriterto

askquestions.’179

Seductive Details I

Inthepoem‘Here,Bullet,’afavouriteamongstmystudentspriortomeetingitsauthor,

the narrator plays a deadly game of truth or dare. And the narrator follows the full

consequenceofthatdare, ‘ifabodyiswhatyouwant’throughoutthepoem(B.Turner

2007a,23).Asthesoldier-narratorcallsthebulletasonewouldadognamed‘Bullet,’the

strollheisplanningtomakesanscanineisaplayfuldanceofdeath.Tauntingthisdeadly

pet,intherun-onlinedaring‘tofinish/whatyoustarted,’‘Bullet’callsthesoldier’sbluff:

in this game of war the consequence is the narrator’s death, ‘every time’ (ibid.). In

emulationofChrist,thebodyofthe‘combatgnostic’narratorisoffered‘bone,’ ‘gristle,’

and‘flesh,’the‘aorta’sopenedvalves.’Withrelishmypupilreadersfollowthejourneyof

thekillingdevicefromthe‘insanepunctureintoheatandblood,’violatingthesoldier’s

volatilebody.Thereisno‘diversion’fromwarhere,noescapeinTurner’spoeticoeuvre.

Themajorityofhiswarpoemszoominonthedetailsofwarfromthemomentmypupils

startreading.Examplesarethe‘gunfire’in‘WhatEverySoldierShouldKnow,’the‘AK-47’

of ‘The Al-Harishma Weapons Market,’ the ‘bodies’ in ‘Body Bags,’ the ‘rockets’ of

‘KatyushaRockets’andofcoursethe‘Bullet’in‘Here,Bullet,’notwithstandingthedetail

ofwarembeddedinthetitlesthatallthesepoemsreveal(B.Turner2007a,15-73).

Turner’sproseprovesnodifferent,zoominginonthedetailsofwarfromthevery

firstpage.Itisthesedetailsofwarthatbringtensiontothestory,makesure‘anythingis

possible’(B.Turner2015,9).Itisthefragmentswhichincludethetensiondetailsofwar

bringwhicharemostpopularwithmypupils.‘Adeadfarmanimalontheshoulderofthe

roadcouldharbouranimprovisedbombsewnintoitsbelly.Abulletmightridethecool

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currentsbetweenonehumanbeingandanother’(ibid.).TheparallelsinTurner’sprose

withhispoetryarestriking,inthiscasethe‘inexorableflight’ofabullet‘hissingthrough

theair’in‘Here,Bullet'(B.Turner2007a,23).Ridingattheheadof3500-strongAmerican

military column in his ‘Stryker,’ the narrator feels he is a cog in the grand military

narrative of history, much Like Alexander the Great meeting the Persians centuries

before.LikeAlexander,Turner(2015,9)‘rodeonawarelephant,’ thoughthepoet’s is

‘made of steel.’ Turner likewise replaces the vultures of antiquity with ‘Blackhawk

helicopters [which] escorted us from their stations in the sky’ (ibid.). The moment

intensifiesasTurnerisforcedtostoptheentirecolumn,asthereare‘fourmenincivilian

clothes’walkingtowardshim,‘single-fileandevenlyspaced,thewaythatsoldiersdo,each

tryingtoconcealanAK-47’(B.Turner2015,10).Theplotthickening,thenarratoraims

his‘M4’andthe‘sight’scenterdot[…]rightaboutwherehisfirstorsecondribcurved

beneathhiscoat’(ibid.).ItisclearTurnerhasaspecificpreferencetoconveytactiledetails

ofwar,suchasweapons(the‘AK-47’)andthebody(the‘curvedrib’)inhiswarproseas

muchashedoesinhiswarpoetry.Seductive Details II & Zones’ Urgency I

My pupils crave such details of war. They dislike what they call the ‘vague’

fragments in his memoir as Ferdinand put it, ‘when it feels you are describing your

holiday.’180Turner’smemoryoftheface-offintheStrykercomestohiminKyoto,looking

atapaintingofawarriorstretchinghisbowpoisedforthekill.‘Thepointistobecome

onewiththemoment,’Turner(2015,11)concludes.Theironyis,mypupilsacceptthe

credibilityofthenarrator’smomentintheStryker,butnothissuddenshifttopeacetime

Tokyo.TurneroffershisowntakeonBrooke’s‘cornerofaforeignfield/Thatisforever

England’(J.Kidd2014).‘PartofusdiedinIraq,’theIraqveteranconfesses:‘wearelike

ghosts still wandering the landscape’ (ibid.). Yetmy pupils prefer the urgency of the

soldierinthewarzonetohisghosttraversingzonesofpeace.Theypreferreadingabout

theveteran’sloveforhisweaponandhisflirtationwithbullets,whichfeelssuicidaltohis

studentreaders,especiallywhenhedaresthemto‘finishwhattheystarted’(N.Turner

2007a,23).Thistechnique,McLoughlin(2011,72)explains,throughwhich‘themassive

scaleofwarfindsitsbestcommunicationinlocalised,focusedimagesrecuperatedfrom

thegenerality,’iscalledthe‘synecdochicapproach.’Formypupils,theveteran’sauthority

comes with the details of war he relates, and Turner does not hesitate to take such

‘localisedimages’totheirultimateoutcome.

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Seductive Details II

Inhispoem ‘Eulogy,’hisbattlesavvynarratorspeaksmorehonestlyaboutwar

even than literary forbears likeSiegfriedSassoon, revealing tomystudent readershis

name:‘PrivateMiller.’AcenturyaftertheanonymousdeathofSassoon’s‘simplesoldier

boy,’who‘putabulletthroughhisbrain,’Miller‘pullsthetriggertotakebrassandfire

into his mouth’ (Sassoon 1983d, 119; Turner 2007a, 119). In the poetic tradition of

Sassoon,whofromhisbrutalexperienceinthetrenchesofWorldWarIcreatedso-called

‘parrhestiastes,’ortruth-tellingnarratorsofwar(cf.McLoughlin2011,30),inhispoetry,

Turner goes a step further. He applies what McLoughlin (2011, 53) describes as the

‘name-tallying approach,’ another mode through which the enormity of war may be

accountedfor:namingthenamesofthe(fallen)soldiers.Somemonthsbeforemeeting

Turner,mypupilshadattemptedtograspasclearlyastheycouldwhatabattlefieldwith

morethanamilliondeadsoldiersresembled(Laqueur1994).Theyvisitedvarioussites

ofmemoryandmourninginandaroundYpres.Namingtheindividualsoldierscan‘adjust

thescaleofconflictforhumancomprehension’(McLoughlin2011,67),becauseforsome

ofmystudentstheenormityofnameshadanumbingeffect.Thesheerimmensityofwar

cancauseanextraordinarylossofego(Ferguson2004).ItiswarpoetslikeTurnerwho

strivetocounterthis,bringingbackfromobliviontheindividualnarrativesofsoldiers.181

In an effort to ‘maintain an aura of singularity’ (McLoughlin 2011, 30), which

Turner knows will spellbind his audience, the poet takes flirtation with death to its

ultimateandtragicoutcome:‘PrivateMillerpullsthetrigger/totakebrassandfireinto

hismouth’(B.Turner2007a,30).Namingnames,andimportantly,tellingMiller’sstory,

thepoetisawareofboththetraditionofusingthisnarrativetechniqueandthewayhe

usesittotellastoryoftaboo,suicideinawartimearmy.Millerchosehisdeathalongthe

TigrisRiver;BrookepredictedhisuponsettingsailtowardstheAegeanSea.Hewrotea

tributetothenarrator’sowndeath,a ‘prolepticelegy’ inRae’sterms(2003,265),ora

‘self-elegy’ inKendall’s(2006,167).Authorialdeathiswhatgivesthepoemitspower:

Brooke’slastrestingplaceSkyrosnowis‘foreverEngland’(Brooke2014,106).Brookein

turn was inspired by ‘Drummer Hodge’s grave, a ‘kopje krest’ under the ‘foreign

constellations’ofSouthAfrica(Hardy1993,1696-7).‘Lostboythoughheisontheother

sideoftheworld,hestillhasaname,’ theeccentricteacher ‘Hector’pointsout inAlan

Bennet’sHistoryBoys(2004,55)appearingthesameyearasTurner’swarpoemsin2005,

andafirmfavouritewithmypupilseversince.‘Howoldwashe?’thestudentasks,and

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‘Hector’ replies ‘if he’s a drummer he would be a young soldier, younger than you

probably’(ibid.).Thus,formerlyunknownsoldiers‘Miller,’‘Hodge’and‘TheSoldier’are

giventheirownverbalCenotaph:thepoemistheireternalrestingplaceandallowspupils

toseethewarcloseup.War’s Duration II

Itisformystudentstoimaginetheveterantheyhavesittingwiththeminclassas

a youngman, and by virtue of his presence impossible for them to imagine him as a

casualtyofwar.Thenametallyinginhispoem‘Eulogy’allowsmypupilstoenvision(this

aspectof)warbetter.TurnerbreaksataboobygoingbeyondSassoon’s ‘diversions’ in

‘Suicide in theTrenches,’givinghis ‘simplesoldierboy’aname.ForTurner,as formy

pupils,‘PFCB.Miller(1980–March22,2004)’issuddenlyreal,broughtintomypupils’

livesbythetaboo-breakingnarrativeofhissuicideandthevisibleeffectithashadonthe

veteranintheclassroom(B.Turner2007a,30).ForBrianTurner,‘Ihavetolivewith…’

proves to be a persistent phrase, a recurring theme of ‘complicity’ (J. Kidd 2014),

somethingwhichmypupilsnoticewhenspeakingwiththewarpoet.‘Difficulttolivewith,’

thepoetkeepsrepeating,asamantraalmost,shortlyaftermyunmutedpupilsledbythe

fearsomeAagjehaveforcedTurnertotaketheroleoftheso-called‘parrhestiastes,’the

figurewhospeakstruthfullyaboutwar,fromthepageandintotheclassroom.182

Turner:‘Thisgentlemanhere,withblackleatherjacket,wehadwrittenRPG

onhisback.Thatwasforustorememberwhofiredtherocket-propelled

grenade. We’re like police officers at this point. I would write the

depositionsatthebase.ItwouldbetranslatedintoArabic.So,whenitwent

tocourt,mywordswerewhatwouldputthoseprisonersaway…Difficultto

livewith.Sometimesyouknow;yeahthatguyfiredanRPG.Butsometimes

youdon’t.Whatdidthatguydo?’183

Feelings of survivors guilt and loyalty to the dead are the prime reason preventing

soldierslikeTurnerfromtellingtheirstoryandthusmovingon.Whentalkingaboutthe

deathofhiscomradeRestrepointheeponymousmovie(Restrepo2010),oneofthefew

onthewarinAfghanistantodate,specialistMiguelCortezconfesses,‘Ican’tevensleep,

honestly.That’showbadthenightmaresare.Tosleepandjustseethepictureinmyhead

isprettybad.’184Andyetforthissoldier,losingmemoryof‘Restrepo’islikelosinghimfor

213

good.Whatisoftenunacceptableforveteransofwar,BesselvanderKolkexplains,isthat

theconstructionofanarrativeaboutsuchatraumaticeventmakesitintosomethingthat

canbeclosedoff.185Warmighthaveanendingdateinthehistorybooks,butitisoften

‘endinglessness’(McLoughlin2011)toitsvictimsandveterans.Backinclass,listeningto

theveteran’sfeelingsof‘complicity,’Iwonderhowfarthewar-poetwillallowmypupils’

aggressiveprobing,howmuchTurner,likespecialistCortez,willtellthem,andindoing

sohowmuchhewillletgo.‘IthappensonaMonday,at11:20A.M.’Turnerwrites,facing

similardemons likeCortez inRestrepo, and taking themheadon inhispoem ‘Eulogy’

(2007a,30).Itsclosinglinesrefertobothpoetandhisbrotherinarms,‘PrivateMiller,’

who‘hasfoundwhatlowhushthereis/downintheeucalyptusshade,therebytheriver’

(ibid.).Thepoetfindsinwritingtheclosure‘Miller’findsindeath.

MuchliketheworkofhispredecessorsWilfredOwenandSiegfriedSassoonalmost

acenturybefore,Turnerisouttohave‘thecosts[ofwar]acknowledgedandthetruths

[ofwar]told’(Kendall2013,xxi).Oneoftheultimatetragediesandtruthsaboutwarfor

asoldierisnot‘thatyoumightgetkilledoutthere,’SebastianJunger,directorofRestrepo

andKorengal(2014)explainsinhiswarblog.Rather,‘it’sthatyou’reguaranteedtolose

yourbrothers’(Junger2013,235).Brotherinarms‘Miller’hasbeenaccountedfor;the

demons Turner is still facing as my civilian pupils meet him in class are somewhat

unexpected;theyaretheenemy(dead).‘Therearemoments,’JamesKidd(2014)writes,

that‘eventheresilientTurneralludestohisownpsychologicalscars’.Thepoetiseagerly

eggedonbyallmypupilsnow,guidedbythefuturemarineintheirmidst.‘ShouldIjust

keep on talking?’ he asks softly, but the question proves rhetorical as he continues

tentatively(B.Turner2007a,30).

Turner: ‘I could describe something about this cover. Because this is a

photograph…But it’sbeendoctoredandchanged.So, it’sme, Ihadthem

minimizeme,soI’msmallerandinthebackground. Ifyou lookhere, it’s

kindof blurry, andyou can also see there are vehicle tracks righthere?

TherewasaStryker,thevehicleIdescribeinthebook?Thatwashere,with

therampdown,facingawaysoyoucouldseeinsidethebackofit?Wejust

tookitout,notabigdealactually.Butthethingthatwastrickywasthat

right here there were three Iraqi prisoners…they were on their knees,

ehm…whatyoudoisyouputonefootovertheotherkneeandmake‘em

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sitontheirankle…Theirhandsareflex-cuffedbehindthemwithzipties

and theyhad sandbagsover theirheads. So, the threeof themarehere,

facingawayfromthecameralookingatme.AndJackowskimygrenadieris

nowwhereyouare. So, he’s takingaphotoofmeoutsideand the three

prisonersarehere.Therewereactuallytentothirteenprisonersinabig

circle’(ibid.).

Diversion’s Advertency II

WhileTurnerisrelatingthisgrippingnarrative,mypupilsarehangingtothepoet’severy

word,whileconstantlyglancingatthejacketofthebookthattheynowdiscoverwasthe

biggest ‘diversion’ofall. It issignificantthatthecoverof theselectionofpoetry isnot

whatitseems,putrightoutthereasifthepoetiswarninghisreader:searchforhidden

clues,beawareandreadbetweenthelines,gobeyondtheobvious;thedetailsofwarand

this admonition establish my credibility. The many questions he asks suggest he is

curiouslyseekingconfirmationfromtheaudienceheiseducating.‘TherearestillthingsI

don'tsharearoundit.Therearethingsthathavetodowithotherpeopleintheplatoon

thatIdon'ttalkabout’Turnerconfesses(J.Kidd2014).‘Theyarethingsforotherpeople

to write about’ (ibid.). Other people like grenadier David Jackowski, who took the

photographandsentittohisformersergeantasastorytotell.Andalthoughitisanimage

which became world famous as the cover of his award-winning collection of poetry,

establishinghisnameandfame,rightuptolendingthemeandtitletoanOscar-winning

warmovie,Turnerhasdivertedhisreadersfromthetruthittells.‘It’sthewriterofwar’s

jobtoaskthequestionsmoreclearly,nottoanswerthem,’hehadwarnedmypupils,and

rolesreversed,mystudentsareaskingthequestions.186Turner’sconfessionhasexcited

them,likeatentativeinitiationintothecultof‘combatgnosticism,’asiftheyhavecome

evenclosertodiscoveringthesecretsofwar.

This secret something, a brotherhoodwhichhas lured somany young into the

army, held its age-old spell overmy pupils. The significant change being, as the self-

appointedleadershipoffuturesoldierAagjeshows,thatnowadays,itisasisterhoodof

battlesecretstoo.‘Allwarsareboyish,’WaltWhitman(2006,65)quipped,butthefemale

pupilsinmyclasseshaveshownthroughoutthisbookthatforthisGenerationZ,allwars

aregirlishtoo.‘Soldiershavediscoveredthatnooneisveryinterestedinthebadnews

theyhavetoreport,’PaulFussell(2013,184)argues.‘Whatlistenerwantstobeshaken

215

whenhedoesn’thavetobe?’Mypupilsdo,istheunambiguousanswerfromtheeveryday

realityoftheclassroom.Fromthelesserandbest-knownpoetsofWorldWarIandtheir

trenchesofYpres, readingAnneFrank’sdiary and taking it to its dismal andhitherto

hiddenendinBergen-Belsen,andwatchingVietnamWarmoviesinclass,atnopointdid

anyofmypupilslookawayfromthe‘badnews’thesewarnarrativesconveyed.Onthe

contrary, my pupils wanted to be ‘shaken,’ and no less so by the veteran they were

meetinginatailor-madeclassinAmsterdam.Meltingtheice,‘joininginthelaughter’of

thejoking‘KFC’camaraderie,theywantedtobemadetofeeltheexperienceofconflict

(McLoughlin2011,169).JustlikethepupilsIhadtakentoBergen-Belsen,whogotasclose

astheycouldtoAnneFrank’sexperience,theywantedtobecomewhatGaryWeismann

terms‘nonwitnesses’.187ThemomentTurnerwalkedintoclassbringingdetailsofwarit

gavehimthecredentialstohithomewithmypupils.NowthediversionswithinTurner’s

narrative,uncoveredbymypupils’probing,feltlikeanexcitinginitiation,adiscoveryof

agatewaytothesublimeexperienceofwar.

TurnerhasdeliberatelyleftanemptyspacewhereoncestoodthreehoodedIraqi

prisonersofwarandhis‘Stryker,’anentire8-wheeledarmouredvehiclethatcouldcarry

uptoninesoldiers.‘That’sonehellofaphotoshop,’Gerdinawhispers,asshetriestofill

intheemptyspaceofthecoverimagewhichnowseemsevenbiggerthanbefore.188Empty

spacesinwarnarrativesvarywidely.JacquesDerridawasknowntohavea‘sixthsense

for these empty spaces, the silences and tensions, inconsistencies and strategies,

decisionsandhierarchicalorder,inotherwords,fortheeconomyofatext’(IJsseling1986,

15-19). As a post-Holocaust scholar, Derrida builds his theory on Theodor Adorno’s

numbing literary legacy, that ‘to write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric’. 189 The

Holocaustisan ‘eventatthelimits’SaulFriedländer(1992,3)argues,which ‘testsour

traditionalconceptualandrepresentationalcategories.’Theexperienceofbattle,itseems,

trulydoes‘resistsdepiction’inmanyways,asMcLoughlinargues,andTurner’srubbing

out the war from his cover photograph is a case in point. Derrida’s post-Holocaust

scholarship,however,mightalsoofferawayoutofwar’scatch-22,for‘atthespotwhere

theemptyspacesarediscovered,textsarise,inthemarginsofanexistingtext’(IJsseling

1986,15-19).Itistheteacher’sgoaltoguidepupilspastthismostelusiveofDerridean

decoysinwarwritingandinfillingupwhathecallsthemargins.

Speaking to thewarpoethasgivenmypupils the impression that there is still

something lackingormissing.As if the extremities ofwar, its darkest, perhapsdivine

216

secrets are not told. Turner’s war narratives are no exception; the absences like the

Photoshopconfirmtherule.LikeDerrida,studentsmightdevelopasixthsenseforthe

different levels in texts, and there are asmany layers to awar narrative as there are

different pupils in a classroom. Doing so brings them closer to ‘the infinite, solitude,

emptiness,darknessandterror’withwhichthesublimeisassociated(Cuddon1992,928-

30).Scranton(2013,350-53),underscoringtheimportantconnectionbetweenconcepts

ofthesublimeandwar,arguesthat‘theconnectionMcLoughlinmakesbetweenauthorial

disavowalandthesenseofthesublimityofwarisanimportantone.’Formypupilsitis

equallyvital.Thereisa‘suggestivepoweroftheabsent’inwarliterature,whichhintsat

extremesecrets,somethingthatisbeyondwords,whichmakesmypupils‘freetoenlarge

the significance of incomplete information’ (McLoughlin 2011, 156-8). It is these

enlargementsthatallowmypupilstotrulyengagewiththetext,motivatingthemtogoa

stepfurtherthroughthecreativegatewaywhichthespacesinthese‘pathosformula’texts

allow.Theyarea gateway to the sublimeofwarandpave theway towardsempathy:

understandingtheother,creatingtestimonyandmemory.

Thereisnoreasonwhymypupils’imaginationsshouldbeinadequatetoimagine

thehorrorsdevisedbysoldiers.ForasPaulFussell(2013,184)notedsagely,‘alanguage

devisedbyman’shouldbeableto‘describeanyofman’sworks.’Themostfamoustextto

comeoutofthehorroroftheHolocaustisTheDiaryofaYoungGirl,andit isacasein

point:theconcentrationcampsarenotpresentinthisnarrative,yettheyareeverpresent

intheemptyspacesofthestoryinthefullhorrorofpupils’imaginations.Similarly,the

terroroftortureatAbuGhraibprisonduringtheIraqWarseemsabsentfromTurner’s

poetryandprose.Yetaswillbecomeclear,itspresenceisrevealedinwhatDerridacalls

the ‘margins’ of his text. Given that ‘experiencing’ the text is crucial to literary

understanding (Herder 2018, 35-39), empathy with the characters is an essential

pathwaytodeveloping‘envisionments’ofliteraryworldsandcrucialinthedevelopment

ofunderstandingothers(J.Langer2011,10).Whatfollowsisthatthesublimeliesinthe

creative waymy pupils remodel their impressions of war. Associated with ‘powerful

emotions’and‘spiritualawe,’aswellas‘vastness,’‘immensity’andthe‘conceptofgenius,’

it isnowonderthattheemptyspacesinwarnarrativescoincidewiththerealmofthe

sublime(Cuddon1992,928-30).

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Zones’ Urgency II

Backintheclassroommypupilsandthepoetwerestillfillinginthe‘margins,’the

emptyspacesofTurner’swarnarratives.‘WhatimagesdoyouhaveoftheIraqWar?’the

veteranasksthem.190Thefellowshipofpupilshewasaddressing inthisclass,patched

together fromall levels of school lifenow together asmajors in the sixth formof our

school,werepartofGenerationZ.Theyarethepost-9-11generation,‘ethnicallydiverse’

andboth‘progressive’and‘pro-government,’forwhomterrorattackssuchasMH17and

‘Paris’mightwellturnouttobetheirveryown9-11.191Thesepupilsweremoreusedto

warandviolenceasthebackdroptotheiryounglivesthanmanygenerationsbeforethem

hadbeen, for the second foreignattackonAmerican soil inUnitedStates’ historyhas

certainlyprovenacatalystforperpetualglobalviolence.Theyweretoddlersduringthe

9-11terrorattacks,theensuingWaronTerrorfoughtoutinIraqandAfghanistandragged

on throughout the decade and remained a permanent news fixture during their

childhoods. Themilitary presence of coalition forces includedmore than 7500 Dutch

soldiersinIraqandcloseto4500inAfghanistan,wheretheDutcharmyhasbeenpartof

operation ‘EnduringFreedom’sinceOctober2001andstill isat the timeofwriting.192

WhenpresidentGeorgeW.Bushpromisedthewarwould‘notenduntileveryterrorist

groupofglobalreachhasbeenfound,stoppedanddefeated,’hewasasgoodashisword:

thewarTurnerhadleftbehindmorethanadecadebeforewasthesameonemypupils

AagjeandHendrikwereabouttoengagein.193

Hendrik: ‘Well we’ve all read your book so maybe that’s altered our

perspectiveofwar.’

Turner:‘maybe,maybe,yeah…’

Hendrik: ‘When I thinkof [the IraqWar] I thinkofa ruined littlevillage

somewhereinthedesertorAmericansoldierswalkingandslightlylooking

upexpectingasniperoranRPGgoingoff.’

Turner:‘Ok,yeah…Thatmakessensetome…butehm,[…]Idon’tknowif

youguyshaveheardofAbuGhraibprison?Doesn’treallycomeupinthe

bookthatmuch,alittlebitbut…AbuGhraib?’

…

Teacher:‘HaveyouneverheardofAbuGhraib?’

…

218

Turner:‘AbuGhraib,no?It’ssomethingtolookupasafollowup.’194

Itwas clear to everyone in the classroom thatmy pupilswere not giving Turner the

answershewasexpecting.Littlebylittle,thepoetwaslosinghispatiencewiththem.He

had asked a generation for whom that war reverberated throughout their early

adolescencewhatimagestheyhadoftheIraqwar,hiswar.‘AbuGhraib’clearlywasnot

oneof them.Whatpicture theyhadwere thoseof ‘Jihadi John,’British citizen and IS-

warrior beheading his prisoners with a knife on YouTube, symbolising the terror-

inspiringriseoftheIslamicState.Imagesof‘AlanKurdi,’thethree-year-oldSyrianrefugee

ontherunfromcivilwarandIS,whodrownedattemptingtocrosstheMediterraneanSea,

aheart-wrenchingsymbolofthecripplingrefugeecrisisinEurope.Picturesofthedead

onthefloorofthe‘Bataclan’concerthallinParismadewithvictims’mobilephonesduring

theattackonNovember13,2015,awatershedmomentinEuropeanterrorattacks.And

allthewhile,theUnitedStateswasexportingHollywoodimagesoftheirmilitary’sfight

inIraqandAfghanistantocinemasglobally,withfilmssuchasRestrepo,AmericanSniper

(2014)andTheHurtLocker.PortrayingthecaptureanddeathofOsamaBinLaden,Zero

DarkThirty(2012)hailedwhatshouldhavebeentheendofformerpresidentBush’sWar

onTerror.

Somanypictures ofwar playing their violent filmon the retinas ofmypupils’

collective memory, the poet was frustrated that the one he was hoping for was not

amongstthem.‘IfI’dhaveaskedthatquestiontoIraqis,[whatimagesdoyouhaveofthe

Iraqwar?],theywouldremember!’thepoetsaidwithanexasperationTurnercouldno

longerhidefrommypupils.195NotbeingIraqi,theseDutchteenagersreturnedhispassive

aggressivestatementwithablankstare.Takingadeepbreath,thepoetsoldieredon.

Turner: ‘There’s a famouspictureof aman inaprison, it’s anAmerican

prison,who’sstandingonaboxandhehasthissackoverhisheadsohe

can’tsee.Andhe’swearingblack.Hedoesn’tknow,theyputelectrodeswith

electricalwiresoffofhisfingertips,butthey’renothookeduptoanything,

buthedoesn’tknowthat,youknow?Hethinkstheyare…Andtheyhave

himstandingonaboxandholdhisarmsoutandhehasabagoverhishead

andit’savery,verystrikingimage,verypowerful…likein2003,howold

wereyouguys?’

219

Margje:‘Sixorsomething.’

Turner:‘right,right,foryouitsmorehistorical,youhavetogobackanddo

theworktocatchuponwhathappenedbefore.YouknowwhatImean?But

like… for Iraqiswho lived through that time, that image is theone,you

know?Wehaveawhole generationof Iraqipeople, several generations,

whowilllivebeyondmylifetime,andthey’llbeinyourlifetimes,andyou

might,atdifferentpoints inyour lifeyouaregoingtobe incontactwith

them.Thepointis,embeddedinthepeopleyouaremeeting,thereinsideof

themisthistrauma.’196

WhatthepoetdidnotknowisthattheyhadmetanIraqicitizenalready,andupclose:

theirclassmateSara.Asayounggirl,Saralostherfatherduetoacar-bombandfledwar-

tornBaghdadatthesametimethatBrianTurnerwaspostedthereasasergeantinthe

UnitedStatesarmy.Doingwellat‘Vwo’-level,havinglearnedtospeakDutchfluently,she

hadbeenatschoolwiththesepupilsforsolongandhadassimilatedsowellthattheir

classmatesneverthoughtofSaraasarefugeefromtheIraqWar.TheWaronTerror,as

NickMansfield(2006)hasshown,‘promisestheerasureofthedifferencebetweenwar

andpeace,andconcomitantly,betweenwarandcivilsociety,’andthiswasanillustrative

example.Meeting theveteran in theclassroomhad foregrounded thestoriesof future

warriorAagjeandformerfugitiveSara,evenwiththelatternotpresentinthisparticular

extra-curricularclass.Whatwasstillmissinginthecurriculumatthisstagewasachance

forallpupilsto‘gobackanddotheworktocatchuponwhathappenedbefore,’touse

Turner’s own words. Creating testimonies, for example, might facilitate empathy,

includingasTurnerenvisionedabetterunderstandingof Iraqis like their fellowpupil

Sara,butalsooffuturemarineslikeAagje.Diversions Advertency III

‘Diversions’ is arguably the most elusive of the six tropes of war that Kate

McLoughlinofferstounderstandingthe‘decoys’writersofwaruse.Andyetcriticsargue

itisalsoherbiggestadditiontothefieldofwarliteraturestudies(Scranton2013).The

storyofAbuGhraibprisonwrittenintheDerridean‘margins’ofTurner’scombatgnostic

textwasaprimeexample.Thepoweroftheabsentinwarliteraturewassostrong,infact,

thatitenabledmypupilstofillinthehithertomissingstoryoftortureinIraq.Theempty

spacethatTurnerhadcreatedonthecoverofhiscollectionofwarpoetryallowedmy

220

pupils the freedom to determine both the significance of the absent and the creative

opportunitytofillinthisemptyspaceindividuallyandcollectively.Yetitwasbecoming

progressivelyclearduringclassthatTurnerwouldnotallowthemthisfreedom.Hewas

prone to tell an anti-war, cautionary tale which was not heard, not appreciated, not

understoodorignoredbymypupils.Thewarpoetiseagernottobepartofaparticular

‘renarrativization’oftheIraqWar,toquoteaconceptbyMaritaSturken.Hepressesupon

mypupils thathe’sno ‘JohnWayne,’ aHollywoodherosaliently synonymouswithhis

alter-egoSgt. JohnM. Stryker.197Turnerpointeda trembling fingerat the coverofhis

poetrycollection fromwhich the ‘Stryker’vehiclehadbeenviolentlystruckout. With

mountingconcerninhisvoice,Turnerexplainsthereasonbehindhiselaboratediversion.

Turner:‘Ididn’twantthemonthere,thatwasme.Partofitisbecauseit’sa

JohnWaynephotootherwise.ButifyouknowmeyouknowI’mnotaJohn

Wayne guy. There were people that took war trophy photos. I think

Jackowskiwasmoredocumentingthemoment.Hethoughtitwasastrong

photo. There was no pride in it. The sandbags on their heads…was a

problem.’198

Thewarpoetisstillstrugglingwithhisrecurrentfeelingofguilttowardsbeingpartofan

invasion force and the atrocities committed by them. The news of the torture at Abu

Ghraibprison,whereAmericansoldierswerediscoveredtosubjecttheirIraqidetainees

to‘sadistic,blatant,wantonandcriminalabuses,’initiallysparkedafloodofdomesticcivil

outrageintheUnitedStatesandEuropealike(Hersch2004).Withthesamepotentialto

catalystprotestastheMyLaimassacrehadproventobeduringtheVietnamWar,which

‘fuelledtensionsandanxietiesinAmericansocietythat[…]resultedinraceriots,feminist

protests, counter-cultural withdrawal, mutinies within the armed forces and political

assassination,’ many feared the Abu Ghraib prison scandal would have similar

consequences (Westwell 2006, 58). Yet theworld had learned its cynical lesson from

Vietnam – ‘America was no more moral than other nations – it could still start an

unnecessarywar,loseit,andcommitnumerousatrocitiesalongtheway’–becausethe

AbuGhraibprisonscandalhadnosucheffect(F.Turner1996,14).Infact,itisthekilling

ofOsamaBinLadenthatcameinthirdplaceasthemostrememberedeventinAmerican

history,with‘9-11’inanunsurprisinglyfirmfirstplace(Desilver2014).WhenBinLaden

221

was finally assassinated, ‘itwas young peoplewhowere celebrating in United States’

streets (Wagaman 2016), confirming Generation Z to be particularly susceptible to

acceptingwarasanecessaryevil.

Theextensive ‘Photoshop,’asGerdinaputit, towhichTurnerhadsubjectedthe

coverofhiscollectionofwarpoems,wasmotivatedfromfearthattheoriginalimagewith

itsresemblancetoAbuGhraibwouldputhispoetryinajingoist‘JohnWayne’frame.Itis

anotherexampleof‘renarrativization,’thedangerofwhichbeing‘theslippagebetween

realandfiction,betweeninventionandrecovery’(Sturken1997,42-43).Thisisnotclear

toTurner’steenageaudienceandhereliesavitalopportunityforteachers.Theprevious

chapterhasshownthatHollywoodwarfilmsincreasinglypicturecontemporarywarfare

as ‘essential,’ bordering on glorious, including films that rescript traumatic military

defeats (Binns2017,15).BrianTurner iseager forhispoetry toachieve theopposite,

whichmakeswarmovieTheHurtLockerthemostsalientamongstthese,indebtedasthe

filmistoTurner’seponymouswarpoem.Thepoethastheartisticlibertytodeletefrom

historyashepleasesandconfessesasmuchinthisone-on-onemeetingwithmypost-9-

11generationpupils.Ateacher’sroleistofacilitatestudentstoreclaimthespaceinthe

photograph,inthesamewaytheyshouldassistpupilstoformulatetheirownreactionto

FirstWorldWarpoetryandtheforce-fields’tugofwaroveritslegacy.Pupilsshouldbe

allowed to fill in the ‘margins,’ as readers and as viewers, and decide for themselves

whethertheimage(orpoem)ofwarinculcatesordiscouragesaglorificationofviolence,

whateverthepoet’smoralmessageofwarningmightbe.

‘Thereisnothingstrangeinthisatall,’myincreasinglyconfidentandprovocative

pupilMargjeremarked,asshequotestheclosingparagraphofTurner’smemoirbackat

him(B.Turner2015,201).‘ThereisnothingremarkableaboutadeadbodyinaEuropean

War,or a squashedbeetle ina cellar’, SiegfriedSassoon (1930,225-6)wrotenearlya

century earlier, and thus Margje, by word of the war poets, underscores one of the

universaltruthsaboutwar: it isabloodybusiness.Arguably, thisgenerationofpupils,

moreusedtowarandviolenceasthebackdroptotheiryounglivesthanmanygenerations

before them, couldwell be suffering from ‘empathy fatigue’ (Dean, 2004, 1). ‘Butwar

shouldn’t be normal!’, Hendrik shouted in rebellion against the apparent apathy to

violence.‘Itshouldbestrange!’199

Aagje:‘Butitisn’tstrange,becausewariseverywhere.’

222

Hendrik:‘Ifyoustartthinkingtheterriblethingsyoudoinwar,likethose

[Turner]describe[s],thenyouaregoingdownhillasahumanbeing.’

Ferdinand:‘Ithinkwarisnecessarysometimes.It’sbeenaroundforavery

longtime,warisalwaysaroundus,soformeitisnotsostrange.I’venever

seenawarupclose,butinthenews,it’salwayswar…’

Aagje: ‘Maybe thewhole thingofwar isn’t strange tousbut the specific

things you are describing in your book are, becausewe are not directly

involvedinthewar.’200

MyopeningstatementtoclasseslikeAagje’s,‘weareatwar,’seemedtobenegatedbyher

commentinconversationwiththewarpoet.Narrowingdownonthedynamicsbetween

warveteranandpupil,whatthesestudentswereseekingissomethinghiddeninthehurt

lockerthattheyfelttheycouldnotreach.Itwasatthisclimaxofmeetingtheveteranin

theclassroomthatTurnerreachedapinnacleoffrustrationwithmypupils.Muchlikethe

soldiersofthe‘allvolunteerarmy’whowentouttoIraq,thisgeneration‘seemsalready

cynical,hardenedagainstidealisticpatriotism’(Peebles2011,4).Andyetatthesametime

thesestudentsseemparticularlysusceptible towhatLukeTurner(2015)describesas

‘sincerity,hope,romanticism,affect,andthepotentialforgrandnarrativesanduniversal

truths’. They fluctuate backwards and forwards ‘between sincerity and irony,

deconstruction and construction, apathy and affect,’ their pendulum swinging from ‘a

kind of informed naivety,’ to ‘a pragmatic idealism,’ and even ‘amoderate fanaticism’

(ibid.).Inshort,thepupilsthewarpoetwasaddressingwithsuchexasperationwerethe

epitomeofa ‘meta-modernist’generation.201Childrenbornduring the ‘memoryboom’

(Huyssen1995) living in aperpetual ageofwar, areon theonehandnumbedby the

violenceandapathetictopolitics,andontheotherreadytheyaretocelebrateBinLaden’s

deathinthestreetsanddefendtheirnations.Thewarpoetjustcouldnotmakesenseof

theseextremitiesofcharacter.

Turner:‘Formeitisstrangetohavethisreallygentleconversationabout

warwhilethiscountryisconductingwar!Thiscountryiswealthyenough

towagewarandnotpayattentiontoit.It’sdisturbing.’202

223

Zones’ Urgency III

Turner’sretortuncoversthefrictioninthisclassastheydiscussedpolitelyovercoffee

whetherandwhenwarwasnecessary,partoftheclimatetheyhadgrownupin,surmising

theirfuturesasciviliansorsoldiers.Formypupils,theterrorattacks,‘MH17’andtherise

ofIShaderasedwars’traditionalboundaries.Yetit isherewhereTurnerdrawsaline

betweentheIraqidesertsandandtheAmsterdamcitystreets.Speakingtoteenagersfrom

oneoftherichestcountriesintheworld,whichhadn’tseenwarinitsstreetsformore

than70years,this‘gentleconversation’wasjusttoomuchforTurner.Hisretortimplies

mypupilshavenoideaofthespecialrelationship‘warandspace’have(McLoughlin2011,

83).Logicdictatesthat‘warisfoughtoverandinspace,italtersirrevocablythespaceon

andwithinwhichitoccurs.’However,thisspaceis‘charged’:itis‘asmuchaproductof

experience as of geographical factors, transformative, requiring special

consciousness’(ibid.).Formypupils,readinghisoeuvreandconversingwiththiswitness

totheshapingofwhattheyperceivedastheviolentworldtheywerepartof,hadbrought

thebattlefieldupclose.Hisphysicalpresenceintheclassroomhad‘charged’thismoment

in time and space, given it the urgency of thewarzone, lendingmy pupils a sense of

heightenedalertnessandsignificance.

Yet the war poet cannot equate the effect he was having onmy pupils in the

makeshiftclassroomwiththe‘truths’and‘costs’ofwarhesetouttoacknowledgeinhis

warmemoir:

Ihavechamberedaround–aNATOcartridge,5.56mmbulletjacketedin

brass.It’sarounddesignedtoyawinsofttissue,and,attherightvelocity,

tocausehydraulicshock.[…]IrunwiththebarrelofmyM4pointingthe

wayforward.AdrenalinemutestheworldaroundmeuntilallIcanhearis

thesoundofmybreathing[…].IliftthemuzzleoftheweaponasIkickthe

doorandIbringitdown,eye-level,instinctual,myindexfingerpoisedover

itstrigger.

(B.Turner2015,Part14)

Excerpts like theseconveytomypupilsasublimestateofhypertension, ‘ashort-lived

feeling of terror and delight, of pleasurable pain’ (Binney 2015). These feelings of

sublimity, Binney argues, are provoked ‘by something vast or infinite’ like soldiers

224

stormingintoawarzoneasTurnerdoes,trigger-fingerpoisedtokill(ibid.).Readingthis,

mypupilscommenttheyhavetheideatheyhavegottenagoodfeelofthewarzoneand

theadrenalinewarcaninduce,andtheveteran’spresenceintheclassroomonlyservesto

heighten this awareness amongst them. Yet herein lies the friction in this classroom

situation,forinhiseffortstoportraythewarzoneasthe‘charged’spacethatitis,Turner

alsotriesto‘conveythatitisnotongeneralaccess’(cf.McLoughlin2011,106).Whatwar

writersimplyisthattheirstudentreaderswillneverreallyunderstandwhatconflictand

battlearelike,withouthavingexperienceditthemselves.Therealwarwillnevergetinto

thebooks,asWaltWhitmansaid.Andyet,ironically,writerslikeTurneraresettoconvey

war’smysterytotheirreadersallthesame.Itisaneternalcatch-22thatwritersofwar

andtheirreadersstrugglewith.ReadingTurner’stalesandjoiningintheirlaughterand

terror,theywere‘madetofeeltheexperienceofconflict’(McLoughlin2011,169).Asa

result, theywereactingwithheightenedawareness,sodifferent to theirbehaviouron

normalschooldays.Zones’ Urgency IV & War’s Duration III

Ihadexperiencedanincreasedvigilancewithpupilsbefore,ontheyearlyfieldtrip

toYpres I hadorganised forover adecade, andalsowithFast LaneEnglish students,

visitingtheScottishbattlefieldsofCullodenandBannockburn.Mostintensetodatewas

thefieldtripfollowingthefootstepsofAnneFrank,takingpupilstowitnesstheendingto

her story in concentration camp Bergen-Belsen. On these occasions, pupils’ ‘singular

vividness’waspalpable,their‘specialconsciousness’heightenedtosuchanextremethat,

empathyoverflowing, tearswereoftentimes inevitable. ‘Kairos’FrankKermode(1967,

46-47) calls these ‘point[s] in time filled with significance, charged with a meaning

derivedfromitsrelationtotheend’.Theirexperiencesonthese ‘sitesofmemory’and

‘mourning’(JayWinter:2010)weresointensetheyleftamarkontheirmindslongafter

their visit. 203 My pupils’ heightened senses caused their perception of time to shift,

slowingdownandspeedingupatonce.McLoughlin(2011,107)explainsthat‘wartimeis

twofold: both theduration of a conflict andhow time is experiencedwithin it’. I now

understoodthatitwasthisvigilance,exactlythisthrillwhichismissinginVietnamWar

moviecourse:thereissignificance,butno‘Kairos,’thereisashortchargebutnothingto

leaveapersonalmarkintheirBildung.Visiting‘sites’ofwar,muchlikeafewhoursspent

with the veteran in the classroom, time becomes ‘charged’ for them, filled with new

significance.

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War’s Duration IV

Yetdespitethesimilarities,thereseemstobeanunbridgeableriftbetweenwhat

the veterans have experienced and what my pupils fathom to understand but miss.

‘Sometimesyouwannafightsobadjusttopassthetime,’specialistKyleSteinersaysin

Korengal,thesequeltoRestrepo,explainingasoldier’sdesperationattheboredomofhis

war.204This is ‘Chronos; thepassingorwaiting time,’ the tediumofhourafterhourof

waitingfilledwithmilitarymenialtasks(McLoughlin2011,107).Thoughlifeatschool

hasitsdrearymoments,itisjustnotcomparabletothedeepandsignificantboredomof

soldiers.The‘crack’and‘snap’ofthebulletwasthe‘firstthingIheardwhenIgotoffthe

chopper,’ it is the ‘first thing you hear in a fire-fight.’205Though terror-inspiring, the

soldiers of Restrepo agree, once they have heard that ‘crack’ there’s no way back.

McLoughlin(2011,114)arguesthat‘acommon,ifunexpected,featureofwarfare[…]is

boredom’. Bullets incite adrenaline and besides soldiers they kill time. ‘Here is the

adrenalinerushyoucrave,’Turner’sveterannarratorsaysalluringlytoabulletlikean

over-eagerpuppyinhiswarpoem‘Here,Bullet’(B.Turner2007a,29). ‘Warisadrug,’

Bigelow’swarmovieTheHurtLockeropens,‘apotentandoftenlethaladdiction,’Hedges

adds(2003,2-3).Thedeepboredomofarmyliferesultsinadeadlycravingforaction,

whichasasoldierinevitablymeanskillingandthethrilloftheriskofbeingkilled.206

This much glossed-over taboo surfaces in the war writing I have put on my

curricula. Critics, however, have too often focussed on the supposed ‘quasi-pacifist’

languageofwarwriting,bypoetslikeSassoonorOwen,detrimentaltocreatingamythof

warasfutile(Winter2013).‘Buthisbookisboring,Sir!’,mypupilsinvariablycomplain

whentheyreadSassoon’sMemoirsofanInfantryOfficer,despitehisreputationforbeing

arecklesswarriornicknamed‘Mad-Jack.’Endlessarmychores,marchingandsentryduty:

tomypupils’surprisewarwritinghighlightsthemonotonyandautomatismofwar.207If

only there were more ‘snaps’ and ‘cracks’ of the bullet, I hear my pupils beg. ‘Non-

witnesses’(Weismann2004)theyare,thoughnotaversetoassumingtheroleofvoyeurs

ofviolence.Likewise,seekingtheir‘magicalmoments,’pupilsselectedallthewaraction

AnneFrank’smemoircontained.LikethescenewhereJarhead’sboredbarracksoldiers

workthemselvesupinafrenzywatchingApocalypseNow’siconic‘RideoftheValkyries’

battlescene,mypupilscheerinequalmeasureeverytimetheycomeacrossexamplesof

violence(Weissman2004,4).‘Fightinganotherhumanbeingisnotashardasyouthink

whenthey’retryingtokillyou,’SteinersayswithadeepsighinKorengal.Itisprecisely

226

this‘homicidalbackground[that]liesattheheartofcombatantpoetry’andprosewhich

ChrisYates(2010,91)warnsshouldnotbeunderestimated.Itistheonethingthatmakes

meetingaveteransoveryexcitingformypupils:theyaresittinginaclassroomwitha

killer.

Whatwar induces, in fact, is an addiction to ‘Kairos,’ points of time filledwith

‘significance,’aheightenedawarenessofthesenses,thesublimityoftheterrorofbattle,

killinganddeath(Kermode1967,46-47).‘Itcanbeargued,’VietnamveteranTimO’Brien

(2015,77)writes,‘thatwarisgrotesque.Butintruthwarisalsobeauty.Forallitshorror,

youcan’thelpbutgapeattheawfulmajestyofcombat.’Fightingandkillingtheenemyis

the one aspect of Brian Turner’s presence that is foremost onmy pupils’ voyeuristic

minds,intheircravingto‘learnthingstheycouldnotknow;tobepresentedwithalien

circumstances and unguessable emotions’ (Yates 2010, 91). Carrying the guilt of ‘1.2

million’Iraqideathswithhimweighsdownheavyonthepoet.208Copingwiththe‘Kairos’

ofkilling,‘aggressor’Turnerhasputthesefeelingsinhis‘hurtlocker.’Thisistheflipside

ofthecoinofcombat,‘soldiers“turnon”tothevisceralexcitementofcombatinorderto

“turnoff”theirtroublingemotions’(Peebles2011,6).‘Almostmorethananyotherwar

writer,’Peeblesargues,BrianTurner‘appreciatesthebeautyandhistoryofthecountry

towhichhehasbeensent’(2011,132-3).Itisthewarpoet’scompassionthatmadehis

lifeasasoldierintolerableandhislifeasacivilianrackedwithguilt.

Thisguiltmakestheendofwarambiguousforthepoet.‘Thereisculpabilityinmy

handsthatIcanneverremove,’Turnerwritesinhisblog‘MountainsovertheMoon.’The

endings ofwar are dubitable, for Turner certainly though the body is at peace in the

UnitedStates,hisspiritisstillatwar.‘Thenatureofwartimeistowithholdanyindicators

ofending,’McLoughlin(2011,132)explains,andformerPresidentBush’s‘WaronTerror’

certainlyadherestothisdictum.Thisisawarwithnoend,astheformersoldierisnow

confrontedwithsomeofmypupils’ambitiontogofightwherehefoughtbefore.Retelling

thestorylikehedoesisahealingact,awishtomoveonandasitturnsoutinthisclass,a

warningformypupilsnottobeboldandgowherehehasgonebefore:towar.Writinghis

best-know poem ‘The Hurt Locker’ and retelling all the ‘hurt’ of his Iraq War, its

blasphemies, ‘bullets’and ‘pain,’however,Turner isonlyhalf-way towardshealing(B.

Turner2007a,21).Readingfromhisworkandtalkingtomypupils,Turnertentatively

opensupthelidtohis‘hurtlocker.’Thepoemcarriesanimplicitandimpossiblewarning:

eatingfromthispoeticapplecontainingknowledgeoftheultimatemysteryofwarthat

227

‘onlyaninitiatedeliteknows’(J.Campbell1999204),mypupilsareadvisednottofollow

thesoldier,yetbyreadingthepoemtheydofollowhimandriskfallingfromgrace.The

ironyisthatTurnerfeelsmypupilscravesomethinginthehurtlocker,whichhewants

themnottocrave.Yethiscredibilityinclassreliescompletelyonthepromiseofshowing

that horrorwhich he sowarns against.War’s terror is its sublimity, the adrenaline it

providesapotentdrug.Formypupils,openingthelidtotherealityofitistheraisond’être

ofthembeingthere,‘inthesuck’ofthistailor-madeclass.

Tropes Unite: Credentials, Details, Zones, Duration, Diversion & Laughter

AndstillthistentativeopeningofTurner’shurtlockerdoesnotprovidemypupils

withtheclarity(ofwar)theycrave.Instead,itturnsouttobeaPandora’sbox,infusedas

Turner’sproseiswithdreamsofwarthatheclaimstohaverenarrativised(Mahler2006,

96-102).Itwillprovehardformypupilstodiscernwhat‘knivesandteeth’arerealand

what‘roughmen’that‘comehuntingforsouls’arenot(B.Turner2007a,21).

Turner:‘Memoryhaschangedforme,it’sneitherfactnorfictionwhatIlive

with,Ilivelikethisblurryworldbetweenthetwo,youknow?[…]Theevent

didhappen;it’schangedandalteredovertime.Ithinkthat’spartlywhyI

waswriting poems, so I could capture asmuch as I couldwhile it was

still…fresh…’

Aagje:‘Maybeyourmemorygetsblurrybutthefictionyouwritedoesn’tget

blurry,maybethat’swhy[…]fictionismoretruethanyourmemoryis.’209

Blurring ‘thecategorizationsofnationandethnicity’, thepoettries ‘tofacilitatesimple

humanawareness’(Peebles2011,134).IwouldarguethatTurnerdoesthesamewith

timeandplace,bendingbothtoformablurred‘climateofwar’(Hynes1998)wherezones

ofwarandpeaceceasetoexist:therealityofmypost-9-11pupils’wartornworld.

Thepoet’sstruggleagainstopeningthelidtothehurtis,asVanderKolkargues,

motivatedoutofloyaltytothedead.210Feelingsofsurvivors’guiltaretheprimereason

veteransfeelpreventedfromtellingtheirstoryandthusmovingon.Contrarily,guiltis

also the force that drives Turner to communicate his Iraq War stories, and more

pressinglyforthepoet,thestoryofitscivilians.‘Theoldmanonthebackbenchcupshis

handaround…’,Turnerreadstomypupilsaloudfromhismemoir(B.Turner2015,33),

whenhelooksuptomeettheireyes.‘See?’hesays,‘suddenlywemeet“Zaid”and“Malek,”

228

andofcoursethisisfiction,right?Orisit?Orisitnot?’211Thismightwellbeanotherof

the veteran’s ‘diversions.’Naming Iraqi names, the poet is oncemore establishing his

‘credentials’ by narrating the ‘details’ of war. War’s interminable ‘duration’ is still

palpableinthetremblingtoneofTurner’svoice,ashecommunicatesbestashecanthe

‘charged’spacesthatareofthe‘zones’ofwar,wheresoldierandcivilian,timeandplace

foldintotheblurredrealityofwar’sdeadly‘hyperlogic.’

ThisishowTurnersuccessfullyrisestothe‘specificchallenges’ofwritingabout

warbyapplyingallofthe‘commonrhetoricalstrategies’KateMcLoughlindefines(2011,

16). This chapter shows the extent towhichMcLoughlin’s tropes provide armour for

teacherseagertoguidepupilspasttheauthorial‘decoys’ofconflictwhenchoosingtoput

warnarrativesonthecurriculum,oreveninvitingtheircreatorstoclass.McLoughlin’s

tropesproveavaluabletooltotakethebird’s-eyeviewforteachersseekingtomouldtheir

ownlessonsonwar,and,understandingtheirtechnicalploys,gettingclosertotheways

theymightbeappliedintheclassroom.Thatis, ifandwhenteacherscandiscerntheir

ploys in the text. For as this chapter has shown, some tropes are more elusive

(‘diversions,’ and ‘duration’) thanothers (‘credentials,’ and ‘details’), especially on the

cognitivelevelofpupils,whichunderlinesthatitsprimaryuseisformyteacher-reader.

Unravellingthetropesforpupils,therefore,requiresthesubjectivereadingofteachers,a

time-consuming but potentially rewarding enterprise. Tropes such as ‘duration’ often

remain too theoretically elusive for pupils to understand, and teachersmightwell be

stretchedtoreignitetheirpotentialpowerinalessoninvolvingwarnarratives.Yetmy

ownstruggletomakesenseofmypupilsmeetingaveteranintheclassroomshowsthat

even one of the most elusive literary decoys of war like ‘diversions’ can open some

unexpectedwindowsuntotheworldwrittenintheDerridean‘margins’ofawartext.I

willexplainbelowhowthisparticularstruggleleadtoahands-onlucidwarliteraturetask

forpupils,bywhichImeannottocreatealiteralguide,buttoinspireteacherstosearch,

discoveranddiscardfromthischapterandbookforthemselves.

Intervention: Blogs of War in the Classroom

‘Warshouldn’tbenormal!’Hendrikhadpeacefullyrebelledagainstthestrangelureof

warhispeerspresentintheclassroomwiththewarpoetfelt:‘itshouldbestrange!’212Yet

nomorethanamonthaftertheirmeetingawarveteran,Iwalkedintotheroomfilledwith

HendrikandAagje‘sgenerationreverberatingwithemotionfromthebreakingnewsof

229

theterroristattacksinBrusselsthatmorninginMarch.213Theironyofthesituationwas

that shortly after the visit of the veteran to themakeshift classroom, I had vowed to

integratewarnarrativesfromtheIraqWarandtheWaronTerrorintomycurriculum.

Herewasalivewarstoryonceagainweavingitsviolentwayintomypupils’livesviatheir

mobilephonenews feeds.BrianTurner feelingsof guilt evokedbyhis senseof illegal

presence as a soldier occupying a foreign land, a country which he had grown to

appreciateandloveforitsbeautyanditspeople,hadbeenmadeverycleartomypupils

onhisvisittoAmsterdam.Shakenbythepoet’sappealtomypupilsforempathywitha

generation ofwar-torn Iraqis, Iwas seekingways to involve this entire generation of

pupils into the larger dialogue on war in our day. With the news of the first bomb

exploding in Brussels’ Zaventem Airport in 2016, causing consternation amongst my

pupilswalkingintotheclassroomgluedtotheirmobilephonenewsfeeds,thisambition

hadgainedurgency.

Thepreviouschaptershaveshownthebroadwidthofnarrativesthroughwhich

itspoets,filmmakers,memoirists,diaristsandnovelistsreportwar,towhichthesoldiers

andcitizensofIraqwerenowaddingblogs.‘Warhasalwaysbeenuglyandmessy,’Peebles

(2011, 16) argues, ‘but new media have created new windows into this mess.’ The

‘windows’towarprovidedbyIraqicitizensduringtheIraqWarwereacatalysttothe

developmentofbloggingasaseriousmediaandpotentiallynewliterarygenre.Amongst

thefirstandmostprominentbloggersintheworldareSalamPax(1973–)andRiverbend

(dateofbirthunknown).Pax,a‘firmfavourite’amongstbloggers,introducedRiverbend

intotheonlinecommunityonhisweblog,whichwas‘beinglinkedtobymoresitesthan

anyother’(Katz,inPax2003,ix).Ipresumedmy‘post-9/11’generation6thformpupils,

citizensall,livinginaperpetual‘climateofwar’tobeespeciallymotivatedtoreadweblog

warnarrativesonwarsoftheirage.ThisiswhyIdesignedaninterventioninclass,letting

mypupils read thewarblogsofSalamPaxandRiverbend inprint, thoughonlinewas

permittedifandwhenpossible,andcommentonthemduringashortoralexaminpairs

oftwo.

Tomygreatdismay,theseexamsdidnotgowellatall.MycolleaguesandIhad

longsincedesignedoral literatureexamslooselybasedalongtheformatofCambridge

ESOLExaminations.Takingnomorethan20minutes,themajorityofthetimeallocated

wasgearedtopupilsspeakingtoeachotheraboutEnglishliterature,inthiscasewarblogs

byRiverbendandSalamPax.Havingdesignedtheevaluationformtoallownomorethan

230

40percentof themarktobeawardedto language, i.e., theuseofEnglish, fluencyand

pronunciationoftheseforeignspeakersofEnglish,theother60percentcouldgotothe

qualityoftheliterarydiscussion.Naturally,thosepupilswithahighEnglishlanguagelevel

hadaneasierflowdiscussingthebookorblogtheyhadreadwitheachother.However,

theyearsoftest-runningthisoralliteratureexaminFastLanelessonsallowedustonot

onlyfine-tuneourexamandevaluationaccordingly,buttheexperiencealsoshowedus

thatputtingintheefforttounderstandingliteratureandlearningtoconverseintelligently

aboutit,aredifferentskillsets.Thatmorning,havingputmyclassroomreadytoreceive

twostudentsatatime,tablesfacingeachotherandmyselfreadiedwithnotebook,timer

andrecordingdeviceready,Iwaslookingforwardtolearninghowtheyhadexperienced

andwhattheyhadlearnedreadingtheIraqiblogsofwar.

Nothinghappened.Fiveminutesintotheallocatedtimeforthefirstexam,andstill

pupilshadnotarrivedyet.DoublecheckingwhetherIhadgottenthetimes,dateandroom

rightmyself,Isawtwopupilsslowlyarrivinginthedistance.Astheyturnedthroughthe

doorandsilentlyshuffledintomyclassroom,Inoticedthatthesewerethenexttwopupils

inline.Cuttingmylosses,Idecidedtostartalittleearlywiththisboyandgirl instead.

TheyhadbothreadRiverbendandsettledintoaquietconversationonherblogs.Five

minutes passed into ten, and still the two had not gotten any further than general

commentsontheIraqigirl’sblogs–‘Riverbendislivinginaterriblewar,isn’tshe?’‘Yes,

thewarinIraqwasverybadforthepeoplethere’–andoftenveeringintothepersonal;

‘Whatwouldyoudoiftherewasawar?’‘Well,Idon’tthinkIwouldwriteablog.’Giving

themspace,Ifirstconcludedthattheirsomewhatplacidandwafer-thinanalysiswasdue

to initialshyness.Aftertenminutes,however, Iquicklyconcludedthatenoughicehad

been broken, and butted in asking detailed questions on plot; ‘awar breaks outwith

America,andRiverbendstartswritingablogaboutit,’narrativestyle;‘itiswrittenlikea

blog,likeaseriesofemailsalmost;’thespeakerofthenarrative;‘Riverbend,agirlwho

speaksverygoodEnglish,anditsform; ‘Idonotlikeblogs,Sir.’Bothparticipantsgave

haltinganswers,anditdidn’ttakemelongtofindoutthatoftheentirecollection,neither

hadreadanyfurtherthantheveryfirstblog.214

Pupilsthatdonotdotheirhomework,donotstudyfortheirexams,or insome

cases,donotread theirbooks isnothing that is shocking tome,mycolleaguesorany

teacherontheplanetforthatmatter.Thescaleatwhichthesepupils,however,hadflatly

refusedtoreadthesecollectionsofblogs,someofthemnotevenshowingup,washigher

231

thanusual.Ofcourse,thereweremanythathaddonetheirworkandperformedwell.But

this intervention, the Iraqi Blog task, wasmeant to be motivational, to capture their

imaginations.Asitstood,itdidtheexactopposite.‘ButSir,anyonecanwriteaBlog,’and

‘forallweknow,thesecouldbeallmadeup,’and‘thiswarwasagesago,Sir,itdoesn’t

matteranymore,’wereamongstthemostfrequentlyexpressedcomplaints.Mostpupils

expressedawariness,borderingondisinterestwithbothPax’sandRiverbend’sblogsof

war.Whatwaswrong,Iwondered?Dubbedasthe‘AnneFrank’oftheIraqWar,Paxwas

themostpopularbloggerofhistime,eventhoughtherewereseveredoubtsamongsthis

readers as to his true identity and legitimacy as spokesperson forBaghdad’s bombed

citizens(Katz,inPax2003,ix-xiii).MypupilscommentedthatPax’srenditionofthewar

in his country via TV screens which they themselves also receive at home in the

Netherlands(BBC,Al-Jazeera)enforcedthatimpression.

Friday,21March2003

Themostdisturbingnewstodayhascomefromal-Jazeera.Theysaidthat

nine B52 bombers have left the airfield in Britain and are flying

‘presumably’ towards Iraq. As if theywould be doing a spin around the

block!Anyway,theyhavesixhourstogethere.

[…]

OnBBCwearewatchingscenesofIraqissurrendering.Myyoungestcousin

ismuttering‘Whatashame’tohimself.

[…]

WesitinfrontoftheTVwiththemapofIraqonourlaps.

[…]

ISSALAMPAXREAL?

Pleasestopsendingmee-mailsaskingifIamforreal.Don’tbelieveit?Then

don’treadit.Iamnotanybody’spropagandaploy–wellexceptmyown.

TwomorehoursuntiltheB52sgettoIraq.

Salam6:05PM.(Pax2003,128-129)

TheproblemwasthatblogslikePax’s,asthe‘alternativedemocraticspaces’thattheyare,

discreditwhat is the first andmost important step in capturing pupils’motivation to

readingwarnarratives:authenticity(Gupta2011,8).SalamPaxandRiverbendresorted

232

toanarrativeformthatwasstillinitsinfancy,onlineandaccessibletoall.Theblogwasa

mediumwithwhichmypupils,asusers,couldcloselyidentify;yettheywerenotbuying

into these civilian blogs ofwar precisely because of that reason. ‘Mak[ing] something

happen’,toquoteFelman(1995,56),isofvitalimportancewhenteaching,astheprevious

chaptershavealsounderscored,counteringAuden’sdictumthat‘poetrymakesnothing

happen’(2009,89).Yetinthisinstancehewasright:nothingwashappeninginthisclass.

FormypupilsreadingPax’blogmorethanadecadelater,hiswritinglackedimmediacy.

Ironically, the narrative form it was written in, the blog, further discredited its

authenticity,avitally importantaspecttoestablishingcredibilitywithstudentreaders.

Afterall, theyargued,anyonecouldhavewrittenthisatanyplace,anytime: including

themselves.

Whatwasmissing isauthenticity,urgencyandagency. Ihadnotengaged these

pupilswiththiswar,theIraqwar.Nolinkwasmadebetweenthepresentandthen,too

muchhadIthoughttheIraqWaroftheBushdecadetobesynonymoustotheirdayand

age as that war amalgamated into their war, the perpetual War on Terror. No

contribution, no testimony, like when I had found that reading Anne Frank was an

unpopularassignmentaswell,untilIhadengagedthembyaskingthemtopresenttheir

magicalmomentsonatwo-weeklybasis,anduntilItoldthemwewereworkingbeyond

TheDiaryofAYoungGirl,fillingintheemptyspacesonaroadtripviaWesterborktoher

death inBergen-Belsen.Toomuchhad I reliedon the contemporary formof theblog,

winningthemover:itdidtheopposite.Poetrywasmorepopularthanproseandblog,its

short form lending itselfperfectly to classroomuse, especiallywhencoupledwith the

urgency of MH17, the centenary commemoration and debate surrounding the use of

poetry to teach aboutwar. Perhaps I had been seducedby themultimodal success of

VietnamWarmovies,whichalthoughlackinginurgencyprovedaperfectsedativetomy

class’sdailyturmoilwitheachother,pupilsgainingsomeagencywhentheycontributed

bypresentingtheirwarmovietotheirboisterouspeers.

In short, I had neglected to sufficiently engage their reading motivation by

supportingstudents’autonomy,activatingtheirintrinsicinterestsandaddressingtheir

socialmotivation(VanSteensel,VanderSandeandArends2017).Voicingtheircritique

unabashedlywere thepupilswhohad joinedme inAmsterdam, their confidenceever

growingsincetheirmeetingwarpoetBrianTurner,Aagjeforemostamongstthem.The

veteran’sautopsyhadenticedthemintohisnarrative, the ‘zone’ofwar,keepingthem

233

spellboundbytheauthor’ssuccessfultechniqueof‘details’and‘diversions’(McLoughlin

2011).Turnerhadopenedhis‘hurtlocker’forpupilstotakeapeek,yetultimatelysealed

thelidtothesecitizens.Aagjeandherclassmatesarethusneverabletobecomepartof

the ‘cult of the soldier poet’ (vanWienen2002, 7-8), unless they experiencewar: the

Catch-22ofsuccessfulwarwriting.Thisirkedmypupils,rallyingbehindtheirAagjemost

ofall,forherveryrealambitiontojointhearmygavehercredibilitythatbrokedownthe

barrierTurnerputupwhenevertheygottooclose.Theywanttobeshockedand‘shaken’,

contrarytowhatFussellclaimed(2013);theycraveforthesecretknowledgeTurnerhas

ofwar,evenifthisincludespainandsuffering.

Furthermore, they felt Turner had diverted them from the truth ofwar by his

Photoshop omission of the John Wayne scene: guarding kneeling and hooded Iraqi

prisoners.‘Civilianscaughtupinwartimesuffertheworldover,’Turnerwritesinhisblog

‘MountainsovertheMoon’.‘IhavepassedbysomanyonthestreetsofBaghdadandthe

streetsofMosul.Iwonderwheretheyarenow?’theveteranwonders(B.Turner2007b).

MypupilshadoneoftheanswerstoTurner’squestionready:inthepicturethepoetchose

todeletethemfrom,McLoughlin’selusivetrope‘diversion’atplay.Thesublimityofthe

diversionwasthatdeletingthecrueltyandrealityofwarfromthephotographhadhadan

oppositeeffect:theIraqiprisonerswereforegroundedinthememoryofmypupils’minds

forever. Itwas thenthat I realisedwhatwas thesecondanswer toTurner’srhetorical

question,andthegreatmistakeIhadmade.Warenteredtheclassroomeveryday,notjust

vianewsfeedsandliterature:thisclasslikemanyatmyschoolhadrefugeesinitsmidst,

as well as the future soldiers of future battlefields that created their refugee status.

DespiterealisingthatwartextsallowspaceintheDerrideanmarginsofthetextforpupils

tocreatetheirownstory,Ihadnotfacilitatedmypupilstoreclaimthatspacemyself.

Irealisedwhatthelimitsofthetailor-madeclasshadbeen:itwasastand-alone

experience, one not sharedwithin the school’s broader community. ‘Education serves

bothindividualandpublic,societalinterests,’theDutchEducationalCouncilconcludedin

their report, arguing that tailoring too much to pupils’ individual needs puts social

coherence and equality at risk. Guiding them past the authorial ‘decoys’ of Turner’s

narratives,theywentthroughwhatFelman(1995)termsa‘crisis,’inthiscaseofbeing‘in

thesuck’together.Walkingawayfromthatexperience,Irealisedwhatwasmissing:the

‘performative’actoftestimony(Felman1995).Forheretheywereinclasstogether,those

whohadmet awar veteran, thosewhohad fled fromwar themselves and thosewho

234

wishedtojointhewar.Together,theylivedthroughtimesmarkedbyterrorattacksand

readingblogsbyyoungandcivilianwritersimpassionedthemtowanttocreatetheirown

testimonies and open up their ownpotential hurt lockers. The creativewriting task I

designedfromthisurgentneed,inabidtoreturnthelossofimmediacyandofrelevance

theyfeltuponreadingfromPaxandRiverbend’sblogs.Infact,creatingtheirownpoetry

wasaformofcreativewritingtoo,whichIhadappliedwithgreatsuccessinmybidto

achieveasenseofurgencyandagencywithmypupilsvis-à-vistheliteraturecurriculum:

writingtheirtestimonies.Eagertoforegroundtheirownexperience,theirown‘crisis’as

itwere,Iintervened,askingthemtorespondtoRiverbendandPaxbywritingtheirown

warblogs,‘FillingtheEmptySpacesofWar’asIcalledthetask.

In2003,whenIwassixyearsold,theinvasionofIraqbyaUnitedStatesled

coalitionstarted.[…]Irememberpeopledancinginthestreets,allhappy

andoptimistic,welcomingtheUnitedStatesarmy.[…]Now,13yearslater,

thesituationinIraqhasbecomeevenworse.Thiswarhasdestroyedour

beautiful country and civilization. […] Iraqi children have seen things a

Europeanchildwillneversee.Warhasagreatimpactonachild’smemory.

Achildwillneverforgetthehorrificeventsofwar.[…]Theworldthatour

parentshaveknownisno longerthesame.[…]Wehavetowakeupand

makethedifference.215

IthadtakensixyearsforoneofmyrefugeepupilsSara,towriteherblogofwar,forher

schooland its teachers,ofwhomIwasone, to findawayto foregroundherstoryand

weaveitintothecollectiveconsciousnessofthegenerationofDutchpupilsshewasnow

partof.Fromthem,arag-tagbandofpupilshadfoundtheiruniquewaysintothecharged

spacethatmeetingaveteranofwarhadbeen,bringingthemascloseastheycouldtothe

reality ofwar.BrianTurner, however, haddrawna firm line in the sandbetweenhis

experiencesintheIraqidesertandthepeacefulstreetsofNorthernHolland.Yetmypupils

wereconsciouslycrossingthatborderbetweenpeaceandwarandpurposefullystepping

intonoman’sland.

Afterthatdayatschool,Iwastryingtogetbackhomewhentwoshellswere

thrown a couple of hundred metres where I was walking, suddenly

235

everyonewas running, the areawas getting attacked, a bomb exploded,

bulletsallovertheplace,younameit.

Everythingwasjustgoingsofast…

AndasIwasrunningandtryingtohide,Isawagirlheldbyherfatherwho

wasscreamingandcrying,theheadofhisdaughterandpartofhershoulder

were almost separated from her innocent body because of a bomb that

explodednearby.[To]thisdaythedreamofthatmanholdingthedeadbody

ofhisdaughterstillhuntsmedown.216

It was the ‘performative act’ that I had been seeking which would make Pax’ and

Riverbend’sblogsrelevanttomypupils’livesaswellasforegroundtheirexperienceas

refugees, and thusweave theirmemory into the collectivememory of her generation

(Felman1995,56).Foreducation,Felman(ibid.)argues,shouldnotbeinterestedin‘new

information’ but rather in the way pupils ‘transform themselves in function of the

newnessofthatinformation.’Myrefugeepupils’blogsabovewereacaseinpoint.More

than any other form, blogs allow the ‘intertwining of the process ofwritingwith the

processofreading,’thatallowsittobecomethe‘dynamiccommunicativespace’thatitis

(Gupta2011,177-8).Formerlyinterpretedasitsgreatdisadvantage,lettingpupilsreact

to Riverbend and Pax in their own way is now turned around to their advantage.

Intrinsicallyandsociallymotivatedastheyweretolearnabouttheirclassmates’war,my

pupilsweregivenfreshstimulationtoreadPax’sblogsinadifferentlightbymirroring

them with their classmates and their own creative writing. Adapting the goals of

commandtobroadenthereactionstowarinourday,Iaskedeverystudentinthisclass

towritetheirownwarblog,addressingtheirindividualautonomywithinthegroup,thus

completing the four motivational pillars set out by Van Steensel, Van der Sande and

Arends(2017,3-13).

I really enjoyedmeeting Turner, just as I enjoyed reading Sassoon and

OwenandvisitingYpres.ButIdon’tseewhythatshouldmeanIshouldn’t

jointhearmymyself.Ireallywanttojointhemarines.Forthecamaraderie,

forthesenseofbelonging,aminiaturesociety.Iwanttoseetheworldand

dotherightthing,helpingpeople.IthinkIwillbequitesafethoughIwant

toexperiencewaraswell.Yes,ofcourse,theadventure.217

236

Thiswasthelegacyofavisittotheclassroomofawarpoet,memoiristandveteranofthe

IraqWar,bringingboththesmellofwar’sbloodintotheDutchclassroomandthesweat

offuturesoldierslikeAagjewishingtoquenchit.Atthetimeofwritingitistheyear2020,

andsomeyearslaterIhavehadthechancetofine-tunetheotherwisefluidwarblogging

task.EversinceBrianTurner’spresenceintheclassroomschargedthatplace,bringing

theenergyofthewarzonewithhim,makingmypupilsvigilant,theeffectofforegrounding

refugeeblogsintheclassroomhashadasimilareffect.Havingrefugeessharetheirblogs

ofwarwiththeirDutchclassmates,whichofferedthe latterauniquewindowintothe

directeffectofthewar-tornworldthispost-9/11generationhadlivedinalltheirlives.

Theseblogscreatedawayforpupilstoempathisewitheachother:citizens,refugeesand

would-bewarriorsinawar-tornworld.ThisassignmentensuredthatnoDutchpupilwas

behind,bybloggingtheirstoriesofwarthathavethe‘ability…toproduceempathyand

socialresponsibility’intheclassroom,creating‘alliancesthattranscendrace,classand

gender’(Landsberg2004,21).Together,thesestoriesformacollectivetapestry,alarger

storyofagenerationbreakingwithDutcheducation’sone-size-fits-allapproach,making

theirindividualstoriesofwarmeasureintheclassroom.

Somethingwasdefinitelyhappeningnow.Sharingtheirblogsinavarietyofways,

online,turningthemintovlogs,presentingtheminclass,printingthemforreading,the

taskhadcomealive.Thereisa‘suggestivepoweroftheabsent’inwarliteraturewhich

makesmypupils‘freetoenlargethesignificanceofincompleteinformation’(McLoughlin

2011,22).Creativewritingatitsbest,therefugeewarblogsnowsurfacedlikeaphoenix

from the ashes of theirwar and into the collectivememory of aDutch classroom.An

unexpectedyetwelcomelegacyofavisitbyanAmericansoldierpoettoaselectgroupof

Dutchsecondaryschoolpupils.KateMcLoughlin’s tropesofwarhadhelpeduneartha

hugeliterarydiversion,createdbythepoet’sfeelingsofguiltandculpabilitytowardsthe

countryhehadhelpedoccupy.Givingpupilsthechancetocreatetheirowntestimonies,

theyhadfinallybeenableto‘catchuponwhathappenedbefore,’foregroundingthestory

oftheirclassmateSaraandhermemoryofwar-tornIraq.Yetmypupilswentbeyondthe

poet’spolitics,pryingopenthehurtlockerofwarintheirwishtoexperiencetheviolence

andexcitementforthemselves.Thus,theeffectofthevisitofaveterantotheclassroom

ofasecondaryschoolclassinasmalltowninNorthernHollandwasthecollectiveopening

oftheirhurtlockers,uncoveringboththeirexperienceofwarastheirwishtoexperience

237

theviolent.Writingtheirwarstories,theytookchargeoftheirowneducationalprocess,

theirpastsandtheirfutures.

238

Ourcountryhadbeenattacked,andasawartimePresident,[PresidentGeorgeW.Bush]receivedcasualty

reportseverydayfromthefrontlines.Histhoughtswerewiththetroopsonthebattlefield,thefamiliesof

thefallen,andthewoundedwarriorsinhospitalsallaroundtheworld.Artwasthelastthingonmy

husband’smind.

(LauraBush2017,9)

Warsdon’tend.Theyneverremaininthepast.

(MichaelOndaatje2018,212)

ConcludingWarintheClassroom

“We…are…at…war.”Words Ihadspokenat thestartofeachschoolyeareversince the

dark summer of the downing of flight MH17, and in the midst of the centenary

remembranceyears2014-2018.Andeverysinglesemestersincethestartofmyresearch

andthisbook,thealarmintheeyesofthesecondaryschoolpupilsinfrontofmeburned

alittlemore.Thisterm,however,therewassomethingintheair.218“I’msorrysir,butthis

isnothingnew,”BertuscommentedafterIpointeditouttothisyear’ssixthformA-level

exam-class thatwe are at present in themiddle of a ‘memory boom’ (Huyssen1995)

duringwhich‘anniversariesaregivenahardsell’(Brearton2014).Hisclassmatesagreed,

thefireintheireyesdying.“Ofcourseweliveina‘climateofwar’sir,”Ceylinadded,“we

knowthat.”MorethaneverSamuelHynes’s(1998)wordsrangtruewithteenagerslike

BertusandCeylin,thelatterhavingfledthestreetsofwar-tornAlepposomeyearsbefore.

ForalltheexperienceandexpertiseIhadgarneredduringthecourseofcomposingthis

book,Iwasmomentarilydumbstruck.AflickeringoffearresurfacedthatIhadnotfelt

sincebeingaskedby the formerDutchSecretaryofState forEducation toaddress the

anxietyteachersfeelwhenfacedwiththechallengeofputtingwarandtheHolocauston

thecurriculum,apoliticalappealthathadkickstartedmyresearch.Ihadspentseveral

yearsdesigningandapplyingawidevarietyofmultimodalliteraryinterventionsinthe

secondaryschoolclassroom,rangingfromfiringatthecanonofWorldWarIliterature,

findingAnneFrankbeyondherdiary,directingscenesofVietnamWarmoviesandfilling

intheemptyspacesoftheIraqWarsandblogsfromtheWaronTerror.Havingproven

effectiveweaponsforteacherseagertoaddresstheiranxietyandbitethebullet,would

thesenowturnoutbarren?

239

Stoically continuing the lesson, I grabbed for the literaryarmour Ihadbecome

skilledtoapplyinthisbattle,whichbynowmyreaderwillhavegrownfamiliarwith,and

handedtwoPoetLaureatewarpoemstothisfreshbatchofpupils.Readingquietlyalong

withmeasIreadoutloud,flyinginto‘someoneelse’swebofwar’(Vegter2014)mypupils

listened to thepoetry that ‘could tell it backwards,’ its shrapnel scything them to ‘the

stinkingmud’(Duffy2013b)ofwar.Asthewickednessofwarseepedintotheclassroom,

Icouldseetheeffectinmystudents’eyes,burningwithafirerekindled.Ibreathedasigh

ofrelief.TheseWarburgian‘pathosformula’warpoemsIhadputonmycurriculumsince

thestartofmyresearchhadnotlostitspoweroveritsstudentreaders.Thesenarratives

havethe‘powertotriggermemories,’tociteAbyM.Warburg(1866-1929),quotedinErll

(2011,19).These‘pathosformula’warnarratives‘helpustoseebackwardandforward

intime’(Johnson2012,18),makingthememorywarcomealiveintheclassroom,and

simultaneouslyflashingforwardintimeasametaphorforcurrentexperiencesofwar.

UsingWarburg’s theory, this book has shown how teachers can empowerwar

narratives beyond their form, embedding them in the curricula of the 21st-century

classroom via a variety of innovative literary interventions, and in doing so defining,

maintaining and preserving memory. Though these literary interventions are purely

qualitative,Ihadthebenefitofexperiencingtheeffectoftheseculturalenergystoresin

the classroom as I watched how, once again, they drove my pupils into a state of

heightened awareness. Poised and receptive, the experienced teacher-reader will

instantlyconfirmthathoweverquantitativelyimmeasurablethiseducationalcondition

is, it is the ideal situation to find a class in. “I can’t go there again,” Alberta suddenly

exclaimed.ForAlberta,havingbeenforcedtore-sittheexam-year,thefieldtriptoYpres

theyearbeforetriggeredaviolent‘prostheticmemory’(Landsberg2004),as‘nonwitness’

(Weissman 2004) to the event of trench warfare. Like the group of pupils who had

travelledtoBergen-Belsenwithme,mybookhasshownthiseffectisnotuncommon.“It’s

justtoosad,sir…,”shesaidtremulously.“‘Thepastisjustthesame–andWar’sabloody

game…Haveyouforgottenyet?’”AlbertareadoutSiegfriedSassoon’s(1983a)warning

wordsof‘combatgnosticism’(Campbell1999)toherclass,withmorethanaquaverof

angerinhervoice.

I amaware thatdrawinggeneral conclusions frommyqualitative researchwill

raise immediate questions with regards to their quantitative measurability. Recent

quantitativeresearchintotheeffectsonpupilsreadingskillswhenapplyingliterarytask

240

have shownhowdifficult it is to extract clear results (Elisabeth Lehrner – te Lindert,

2020).Theeffectsofmy(war) literature interventions furtherbolstermychoice fora

qualitativeapproach,theresultsofwhicharethemoreremarkablegiventhedifficultyin

measuringeffectintheliteratureclassroom.Therefore,fromtheconclusionsofthisbook

Iwouldliketodrawaninvitationtofutureteacher-researcherslikemyselftoperform

moreexactingquantitativeresearchmyliteraryinterventionsdeserve.

Meanwhile, although Alberta had clearly not ‘forgotten yet,’ shuddering at the

thoughtofareturntotheancientbattlefields,“whenarewegoing,sir?”wasthequestion

Ceylin, Bertus and their classmates asked with undisguised eagerness. If anything,

Alberta’sdreadhadservedtoheightenherclassmates’appetitesforwar,addingtothe

impendingYprestripaforbiddenallure.Alberta’sprostheticmemoryofwarcontrasted

withCeylin’sveryrealmemoryofwar.YetthelatterpupilCeylin,arefugeeofwar,wasas

eagerastheDutchstudentsaroundhertovisittheformerbattlefieldsthatsoupsetthe

former pupil, her Ypres seasoned classmate Alberta. Force-fields eager to prove war

literature to have a ‘quasi-pacifist’ (Winter 2013) effect on a society’s culture and its

pupilswillbynowbedisappointedbythisbook.Ihaveshownthatthedemandsofsociety,

politicsandscienceoneducationarebothurgentandexceptional.Thelegacyandfuture

ofteachingliteratureintheclassroomareattheheartofthecontroversy:theforcefields

ofscience,politicsandsocietyareagreedthatwarneedstobeaddressedintheclassroom

but are critical of the supposed anti-war literature that teachers have put on their

curriculatodoso.

Yetifthereisonethingtheliteraryinterventionsinthisbookhaveconsistently

shown,itisthattheeffectofaso-calledanti-warpoemoranti-warmovie,oreventhevisit

ofananti-warveteranintheclassroom,isinconsistent.Pupilsarerepelledbywaratleast

asmuchastheyhaveshownamysterioushungertogetupascloseastheycantoit.Their

cravingforsomethinginthehurtlockeruponmeetingaveteran;theirwanttobecomea

non-witness of Bergen-Belsen and Ypres; the lure of violentmagicalmoments inwar

narrativessuchasTheDiary;theirblindacceptanceof‘combatgnosticism’s’authenticity,

especially problematic in their VietnamWarmovie violent scenes of choice. In short,

students’engagementwithwarnarrativesinthe21st-centuryclassroompreventswaras

muchasitinculcatesit.

Warwill‘remainamajorfeatureoftoday’sworld,’asGrahamGalerargues(2008,

6),and‘newmythswillcontinuetodevelopfromthedifferentexperiencestheycreate.’

241

This iswhy the force fields understandably seek out the last stronghold of collective

memoryandbastionof shared culture to society to establish calmcontrol in andof a

conflictingworld:schools.AsIhaveshown,thewarnarrativesfromsubsequent20th-and

21st-centurywarsrevealacontradictoryrelationshiptowarfare,withitsreadershipas

wellasitsauthors.ThisiswhywhatIsuggestinthisbookisaliteraturecurriculumwhich

‘readsagainstthegrain,’(BenjamincitedinErll2011,22):engagingpupilswith20thand

21stcenturywars,thesocietal,politicalandscientificpolemicstheseinspirebyputtinga

widevarietyofmultimodalwarnarrativesonthecurriculum,visitingsitesofmemoryand

mourning and inviting a veteran to the classroom.Applied in classes likeAlberta and

Ceylin’s, filled with pupils of all denominations and political preferences, literature

providestheeducationalanchorsforteacherstobecometheauthoritiesonmemorythat

they are, engaging pupils and providing a platform for both their abhorrence of and

attractiontoviolence.Itisnotateacher’sroletomeasurethevalidityofstudents’lasting

individualchangewhichavisittoasiteofmemoryandmourninginspires,orthelasting

literarytestimoniesofviolence,warandHolocaustpupilscreate.Rather,itistheteacher’s

responsibilitytoaddressadifficult topicsuchaswarandHolocaust intheireducation

today,andthisbooksuggeststheymayuseliteraturetodoso.Whateverliterarythematic

roadateacherchoosestotakeapplyingliteratureintheclassroom,pupils,ontheirpart,

areso-called‘Bildungsreisende’(ThomasMann1999,728).Theyhavetheresponsibility

toengagecriticallywithwhattheirexpertteacherguideshaveputupontheirpathsto

becomingconfident, versatile, criticallyanddemocraticallyengagedcitizens,whatever

theirpoliticalagendasandpersonalpreferences.

Back in the classroom,misinterpreting their first reaction to thewar literature

course as disaffection, this latest platoon of pupils of Generation Z turned out to be

veteransofwarineducation.ThequalitativepathIhadchosen,theriskIhadtakenasa

scholarandteacher,asaliteraryhistorianandeducationalcritic,istrulyinnovativeand

hasledmebeyondtheremitofanEnglishteacher,tacklingaDutchcanonicalnarrative,

exploringmultimodalgenres, fromwarpoetry toprose,moviesandblogs,beyondthe

limitsofmyclassroomfromtheAllardPiersontoYpres,fromBergen-Belsentoaveteran

intheclassroom.ThisgenerationIhadinfrontofmenowhadexperiencedmanyofthe

literaryinterventionsinthisbook,rightfromthemomentoftheirClassicsfieldtripto

Amsterdam,untilthismomentandtheirimpendingfieldtriptoYpres.Theyweremore

awareoftheinfluenceofpolitics,societyandscienceonthewaywarsareremembered

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andthewaywewrite, fightandcommemoratepresentwars thanpreviouspupilshad

been. The hitherto non-existent literary interventionswithwhich this generation has

engaged have shown that literature can establish gateways to citizenship, develop

individualBildungandcreateempathywithpupilsinthelanguageclassroom.

Moreover, Bertus and Ceylin’s primary reaction uncovered another aspect to

pupils’growingawarenessoflivingina‘climateofwar:’theirlackofinnocence.Noshock

andawefortheseteenagers,asJupiterhurledhislighting‘acrossaclearbluesky,’inthe

words of Seamus Heaney (1939-2013), in New York in September 2001. For this

generationinfrontofmewasthefirsttocarrythetraumaof9-11intheirbloodlines,a

collectivememorywrittenintheirDNA.219ForthemthewarofretaliationintheMiddle

Eastwasaperpetualmediafeature,aerialbombardmentsadarkTV-décorformorethan

adecadeoftheirlives.Anotherfellswoopof‘stropped-beakFortune’acrosstheclearblue

skies of their childhood, ‘making the air gasp’ (Heaney2004)was thedowningof the

aeroplane filled with fellow countrymen: the ‘MH17.’ Its 5-year commemoration that

summeroccasionedDutchprime-ministerMarkRuttetodrawuponyetanother(war)

poem,BertSchierbeek’s(1973)“Ithink,”demandingofitslistenertheDescartiananswer

ergosum;thereforeIam.

Ithink

whenitrains

don’tlethergetwet

andwhenitstorms

shewon’tcatchcold.

SchierbeekreiteratesRupertBrooke’s (2014) ‘pulse in theeternalmind.’220The (war)

deadliveoninmypupils’livingthoughtsandthusremainalive,whilstcrisesofclimate

andconflictbeatuponthegravesofthedead,nolongertormentingthemastheydothe

mourningliving.

This study has shown that literature is a key weapon in addressing societal,

politicalandacademicconcerns, inthiscasewarintheclassroom.Theprogressofmy

researchitselfhasallowedmeasateachertoattainanacademicbird’s-eyeviewofthe

processesintheclassroom,whilstsimultaneouslydrawingfrommyextensiveexperience

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intheeverydaybattleofteachingteenagers.TheconclusionsImaynowdrawfrommy

yearsofexperienceasascholaranda teacherbring theseconflictingworlds together,

makingmeawarethatmystudentsandIwerealsoatthehelmofdefiningthememoryof

war, myself by my choice of war narratives for the curriculum, my pupils by their

narrativepreferences.Consistentlyapplyingmyresearchto theclassroomonthego, I

analysedtheinitialdisaffectedreactionofthislatestbatchofrecruitsIwasteachingat

the moment of writing and mirrored it with the available academic critique. The

Schierbeekinterventionemulatesmyveryfirst,whenIaddressedthedowningofflight

MH17inclassbyputtingDutchpoetLaureateVegter’spoem‘MH17’onthecurriculum,

which triggered their memory and emotion considerably, and readied them for

engagement with Siegfried Sassoon’s poetic question, asking my war-bent pupils a

question about the realities of war: ‘have you forgotten yet?’ Broadening the English

literaturecurriculumto includeDutchpoetryallowsformuchneededcross-curricular

cooperationineducation,besidesshowingthattheinterventionsinthisbookmayeasily

applytootherlanguages,aswellassubjectssuchasHistory.

Furthermore,thewidevarietyofliteraryinterventionsinthisbookhasshownthat

whenteachersconnectliteraturetocurrentaffairs,likeSchierbeekandSassoon’spoems

tothecommemorationofflight-MH17,itestablishesagencywithpupilstoengagewith

anyacademic,societalorpoliticalurgencyathand.Thesepupilswerenotsufferingfrom

‘empathy fatigue’ (Dean2004), thesewarpoemshadnotbeenreducedto ‘memorable

epigrams’(Rawlinson2007),‘sapp[ed]oftheirpower’(Kendall,2013)andneitherhad

theyordidtheyreadthem‘slackly’(Graham1984),asacademicssuspectistheeffectof

over-familiaritywithwarnarratives in theclassroom.Herewasthe firstgenerationof

DutchA-levelpupilstohaveexperiencedawiderangeofliteraryinterventionsofconflict,

thefirstinmyexperienceneedingnointroductiontoWilfredOwen.Thesepupilsshowed

aresolveandresiliencetoengagewiththepolitical,societalandscientificpolemicsthat

thiswarliteraturecarriedinitswake,welcomingpathosformulapoetssuchasBritish

SassoonandDutchSchierbeektotheircollectivememories,eagerasanyothertogoout

andbecomeasclosea‘nonwitness’towarastheypossiblycould.

Thesearethefirstcontoursofthelong-lastingeffectsofteachingwarliteraturein

theclassroom.Yetgiventhedifferingreactionsinclass,varyingfromCeylin’stoAlberta’s,

itisimpossibletomeasureanexact,definingoruniformgroupeffect.Ido,however,want

toargueherethatonthebasisofteachingtheliteraryinterventionsintheclassroomasI

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haveoutlinedinthisbook,witheverysinglegenerationleadinguptoBertusandCeylin’s

class,Iexperiencedanevermorematuringsenseofliterarylanguageawarenessamongst

mypupils.Future(teacher-)scholarsareinvitedtomeasuremoreexactingreadingsfrom

theinterventionsinthisbook,regardingforinstancepupils’expandedlanguagelevels,

theirheightenedawarenessoftheinfluenceoftheforcefieldsupontheir(literary)school

curricula, their increased literary skills andmotivation. For now, I invitemy teacher-

readerstocontinuetotrustuponthedelicatebalancebetweenresearchandexperience

whichhasallowedthepreviouschaptersanditsliteraryinterventionstocometofruition.

AsIhaveshown,enablingstudentstoparticipatebycreatingtheirown(literary)

reactions,betheyintheformofpoetry,film,blogsorpresentations,playsavitalpartin

thatprocess,whateveritsindividualeffectonpupils.Aliterarycurriculumwhichgives

concretetools for teacherstoaddresstheiranxietieswithregardtoteachingthemost

difficulttopics,treadingwithtenderfootstepsintothememoryofHolocaustandwar,has

fulfilled its primary goal. Doing so is a double-edged sword; facilitating a permanent

awarenessinbothpupilsandteacherswithregardtotheculturalmemoryofwarandthe

rolesbothplayinthatheavilycontendedno-man’sland.

Thecoreadviceofthisbooktotheforce-fields istostarttrustingteachers.The

coreadvicetoteachersistostartredesigningthecurriculuminthebroadestsense.The

focusofthisbookiswar,butnewdesignsmayeasilyfocusondifferenturgent,current

affairs and societal concerns such as racism,women’s rights, or the environment, for

instance.Iinviteteacherstodrawfromtheseliteraryinterventions,todesigntheirown

andmake them thebackboneof their curriculum, engagingpupils in theirdesignand

especiallyintheend-result.Itisadvisedtomeasurethetaskdesignlikethoseoutlinedin

thisbook,tothePETALLdefinitionofexcellence,‘amutualunderstandingandawareness

oflinguisticandculturaldiversitythroughICT-based[tasks]thattravelwell,securingthe

quality of the communicative exchange across cultural and geographic divides,’

notwithstandingthefourmotivationalpillarssetoutbyVanSteensel,VanderSande,and

Arends(2017,3-13)Ihaveoutlinedandappliedpreviously.221

Asthechaptershaveshown,thesetasksinturnallowgatewaystocitizenshipand

contribute significantly to pupils’Bildung, whilst at the same time facilitating amore

centralroleforliteratureandreading,askillthathasbeenlosingsteadygroundatboth

secondary and primary schools. As a teacher-scholar, I am well aware that the

interventions Ihaveoutlined in thisbookarewellbeyond thedaily remitof language

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teachers’means,theirtime,andcoregoalsofstate-imposedcurriculumcontent,areason

why,asLehrner-teLindert(2020)underscores, languageteachersshyawayfromtask

design. Yet at the same time, I am convinced that designing up-to-date, multimodal

literatureprograms,whichtackleatleastaselectionofthediversequestionstheforce-

fieldsposeforeducation, lieswithinmostteachers’ambition,giventime,givenmeans.

Thisbook,therefore,wantstoconcludewithastrongadvicetotheforce-fieldofPolitics,

the(Dutch)MinistryofEducationspecifically:togiveteachersthismuchneededtimeand

provideteacherswiththesemuch-neededmeans.

Every single literary intervention I designed in the course ofwriting this book

coincidedwith commemoration and calamity, and this year was no exception. It is a

cynical truth thatwithregard toeducatingpupilsonwarandHolocaust, calamityand

conflictwillcontinuetoplayabigpart inhumanity’s future.Fortuckedawayinevery

pupil’sbreast-pocketisaphonethatwillcontinuetopushdailynarrativesofconflictinto

theirlives,thepoetry,films,blogsandsongsofthewarswecontinuetowage,celebrate,

andcommemorate.Thisbook showshow teachersneed toholdon to thesemoments

whentheyoccurandconnectittocanonicalandnon-canonicalmultimodalliteraturein

their classrooms. Combining three roles at all times, McLoughlin as method in hand

(literary historian), armed with Biesta to fuel my educational vision (educational

theorist), andwith thedailypractice to intervene in (teacher),my teacher-readerhas

followedmethroughthechaptersofmyexploratoryquesttoproposehowtheliterature

curriculum ought to be renewed at Dutch secondary schools and beyond. Taking ‘the

beautiful risk’ (Biesta, 2013),myqualitative approachhas led to thedesignof awide

varietyofmultimodalliteraturecurriculawithaseriesofinterventionsortasksattheir

core,toprovidetemporalanchorstoaddresswarintheclassroom.TheseIhavemarked

out clearly for thebenefit of time-pressed teachers todrawupon in their ambition to

establish similar versatile,multimodal and up-to-date literature curricula themselves,

perhapsoutsidethelanguageboundaryofEnglishandoutsidethethematicboundaryof

war,inabidtoaddresstheconcernsofscience,politicsandsocietytoday.

Thefirst,tentativeandintuitivestepintheclassroomImadewastoinvolvethe

downingofflight-MH17intheclassroom,byputtingVegterandSassoon’spoemsonthe

curriculum,andtoconnectthesewiththecentenarycommemorationofWorldWarIand

pinpointing tomypupils that theyarecurrently living inwhatHuyssen(1995)callsa

‘memoryboom.’The initialsuccessof these lessons,sparkingoffareengagementwith

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currentaffairsandliterature,fuelledmywishtodelvebackintotheacademicarchiveto

broadenmyoutdatedliterarycurriculumandindoingsoformulateanswerstotheforce-

fields’mosturgentconcerns.Withflight-MH17moreandmorepartofcommemoration

ratherthatactuality,adifferentpathosformulacanberesortedtoregaintheurgencyin

theclassroom:Schierbeek’s‘Ithink’,forinstance.Realisingthepowerofpathosformula

literature to provide the ideal gateway tools to lessons on citizenship, value driven

education with a specific focus on conflict, I used McLoughlin’s tropes and Biesta’s

educational vision to armmyselfwith, in a literary historical analysis ofWorldWar I

poetry,itspotentialinthe21stcenturyclassroomanditscontributiontotheinventionof

tradition.Thedetailedanalysisof thehistoryofanthologisingWorldWar Ipoetryhas

shown that education has left a defining mark on what we regard as the canon and

continues to wield the power to do so. This led to the realisation of the following

interventions:

1. SongsofWar2. RefugeePoetry3. TheBattleforAuthenticity4. OnePoemforAllWars5. AdoptaWarPoem

Theseinterventionsforegroundedthenecessityofincludingpupilsincurriculumdesign.

Literaturecertainlycanfacilitateanswerstotheforce-fields’concerns.However,these

answers might well be different from what the force-fields expected. For students’

engagementwithwarpoetryhasshownthat‘itremainsunclearwhetherwarsweetens

the study of poetry or vice versa’ (Rawlinson 2007, 116). Pupils’ involvement in

broadeningthecanonshowedtheymostlysuccumbtotheso-calledauthenticityofthe

veteranpoets,asforegroundedbyMcLoughlin’stropesofwar,whichwasthusproving

usefulforliteratureteacherswhenappliedasatooltounderstandthedynamicsofthe

literaryinterventionsintheclassroom.

Firmlyembeddedineducation,nexttothewarpoetryofWilfredOwen,isAnne

Frank’swardiary.Drawingfrommyresearchandexperienceinchaptertwo,inchapter

three I ventured to outlinehow this ‘pathos formula’warnarrative,writtenby awar

gnosticgirlamongst ‘combatgnostic’men,hasmovedandmightstillmovebeyond its

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timeandformintheclassroom.McLoughlinstatesthat ‘itnowseemsevidentthatthe

FirstWorldWar’snaturalformwasthelyricpoem,thattheSecondWorldWar’swasthe

epicnovel,thattheVietnamWar’swasthemovie,thattheIraqWars’maywellturnout

tobetheblog’(2011,10).Witheachchapterinthisbookforegroundingthesenarratives

andwarsinturn,whetherornotitcouldbearguedthatawardiarywrittenbyachild

belongstoMcLoughlin’scategory‘epicnovel’isbeyondthepointofmyresearch.Whatis

importantisthatTheDiary,muchlikethewarpoetryofSassoonandOwen,isacrucial

anddominanttextinthebroadwidthofavailableliteraturesontheHolocaust,especially

ineducation.Iwantedtousemypositionasascholaramongstteacherstofurtheropen

thearchiveof(children’s)warliteratureandestablishinterventionsandlinkswiththe

adult.MypreviousexperienceindesigningliteraturetasksforFastLaneEnglishonthe

roadinScotlandhadgroundedmyconvictionthatmanyopportunitiesforre-writingthe

potentiality of literature’s power in the classroom lie outside the classroom. Selecting

from this experience a group of high-achieving Vwo-pupils, I established an extra-

curricularlessonserieswithtwointerventionsatitscore:

6. Onebroadin-classintervention:SelectingTheDiary’sMagicalMoments7. One broad out-of-class intervention: Finding Anne Frank, divided into

separateschool-tripStoppingPoints:

(a) Out-of-classInterventionStoppingPointI:Westerbork

(b) Out-of-classInterventionStoppingPointII:TheRoadtoLiberation

(c) Out-of-classInterventionStoppingPointIII:InaGermanWood

(d) Out-of-classInterventionStoppingPointIV:AnneFrankPlatz

Thisgroupofpupils’renewedintroductiontoTheDiarywasfraughtwiththepitfallsof

pupils’resistanceandlackofmotivation.Yetallowingpupilstorediscoverandreappraise

thecanonicalwarnarrativethemselves,theso-calledmagicalmoments,anddiscussing

this in peer-to-peer group sessions, strengthened pupils’ autonomy, activated their

intrinsicinterestsandaddressedtheirsocialmotivation(VanSteensel,VanderSandeand

Arends2017).Chapterthreehasshownthattheequivocaldistinctionsbetweenadultwar

literatureandchildren’swarliteratureareblurred:adultHolocaustliteratureandspatial

narrativeofaNaziconcentrationcampenablethischildren’snarrativetobereappraised

andgivevoicetothepagesthathavebeenleftblank.Theidealsofchildren’snarratives

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don’tstick.Itisthe‘ur-terror’adultstendto‘pussyfoot’around,quotingLoreSegal,which

attractsand lures teenagers,makinga lastingmarkupontheirmemories. It is the ‘ur-

terror’ofOwen’sgas-attack in ‘DulceetDecorumEst’ aswellas thedeeply imbedded

terror ofTheDiary uncoveredvia the in-class-intervention I had set them:mypupils’

selectedmagicalmoments.Theendproductoftheout-of-classinterventions,ashortfilm-

diaryendingtoTheDiarydocumentingtheirowneastwardjourneyandvisittoBergen-

Belsen, created a ‘prosthetic memory’ (Landsberg 2004) with my pupils, shining a

permanent light on The Diary’s ultimate blind spot: the annihilation of the annexe

inhabitantsduringtheHolocaust.

BackfromBergen-Belsenintheeverydayclassroom,andaneducationaltierdown

fromVwo,therewasnoliteraryfieldtriporextensiveliteraturecourse(FirstWorldWar

poetry)incurricularviewfortheHavoclassIwasteachingthatyear.Rather,withayear

ofploughing throughEnglishgrammarandpreparing for their readingexamaheadof

them,itwasnosurprisethatboththeirlanguageandmotivationlevelswerelowerthan

theirpeersatVwo.Whatismore,theParisattackswherehavingaripple-effectinthis

classalreadyatloggerheadswitheachother:theywerenowinturmoil.Itexplainedwhy

the appeal to education to formulate answers to crises and gain a certain control on

calamityareurgent.Theboundariesbetweenthezonesofwarandpeaceweregetting

more and more blurred in my pupils’ lives, and I wanted to research the further

possibilities multimodal war narratives gave them to understanding the present. By

rebellingastheydidinmyclass,thesepupilswereimplicitlypleadingfor‘Bildung.’The

literaryinterventionatthecoreofmyresponseintheclassroom,therefore,neededtoact

asflywheeltoaddressthe‘mental-segregation’(Kleijwegt2016)prevalentinmycurrent

Havo-classheadon.ThisiswhyIchosethemostdirectvisualconfrontationwithviolence

andconflictpossible:warmovies.Moreover,movieshaveprovenapopularformofchoice

with pupils, especially with cognitively and culturally diverse Havo-classes. Because

economicbackgroundsdiffer justaswidely,choosingfilmgotpupilsascloselyasthey

could to seeing a battlefield as their peers inVwo. Imeant to offer a lowbudget and

broadlyapplicableeducationalliteraryinterventiontomyteacher-reader.Again,likeany

and all literary interventions and their choices of form, the VietnamWarmovie is as

thematicallyinterchangeableas(war)poetry,(war)proseand(war)blogs.

DesigningtheinterventionforChapterfour,IbasedmyselfontheWillisapproach

intask-basedlearningtheory.TheVietnamwarmovieinterventionIpresentedtoclass

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as onewhole task in three separate parts: ‘pre-task,’ raising consciousness activities,

‘during-task’ and ‘post-task,’ reflective and focussed communication activities (Ellis,

Skehan,Natsuko,LiandLambert2020,365):

8. Intervention:DirectingScenesofWar(e) PartI:Introducingimagesofwarinclass

(f) PartII:CriticalengagementwithVietnamWarmovies

(g) PartIII:Pupilsdirectingscenesofwar

TheHavo pupils, raised in a post-9-11world, in an agewhere teachingmust ‘testify’

(Felman1995),wereunaccustomedtoaninnovativeliteraryandvisualcurriculumlike

this,withclearlinkstocitizenship.Theinterventionhadmade‘somethinghappen:’these

troublesometeenagershadstarted toengage(Felman1995).TheVietnamWarmovie

course had offered extra-curricular possibilities, opening up the English literature

curriculum to (war) movies, and established gateways to citizenship and Bildung.

Directing their scenes of war in class, my Dutch pupils showed that all ‘four cycles’

(Westwell2006)ofVietnammoviesultimatelybringtothescreentheuniversalessence

ofwhatwarisabout.Theirscenesofchoice,muchlikethemagicalmomentselectedby

theirVwo-peers,showedanequalfascinationwithviolence.Itbringsintoadifferentlight

thenotionofananti-warmovie.Likeanti-warpoetry,itsuggeststheforce-fieldsbelieve

literaturecanswaypublicopinion.GiventhefactthatMcLoughlin’stheoryhadhelpedto

showmeasateacherthatvisualwarnarrativeshadaparticularpowerovermypupils,

beguiledastheywerewiththisgenre’senticingformofmediatedautopsy,thismightwell

turnouttobetrue,thoughinwhatwayisopentodebate.Oncemore,watching(anti-)war

moviesmightwellprovetoinculcatewarasmuchaspreventit.

Despite thebenefitsof themultimodalVietnamwarmoviecurriculum,opening

gatewaystocitizenshiptoawidevarietyofpupilswithdifferingcognitive,social,ethnic

andeconomicbackgrounds,therehadbeensomethingmissing.Thepassionatestudent

outputof an interviewwithaVietnamveteranshowedmewhat: facilitatinganextra-

curriculareventsuchasthis,likevisitingasiteofmemoryandmourning,sparksoffan

invaluable lastingmemoryandcreatesa livingpupiltestimony.Combinedwithpupils’

unremitting thirst for thesecretsofwar, theyhadpriedopen thehurt lockerby their

analyses and composition of war poems, their exacting reading of a war diary, their

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foregroundingoffilmscenesofwar,andtheirvisitstositesofmemoryandmourning.

Invitingaveteran to theclassroomwould foreground thesedynamicsoncemore.The

legacyofavisittotheclassroomofawarpoet,memoiristandveteranoftheIraqWar,

wastobringboththesmellofwar’sbloodintotheDutchclassroomaswellasthesweat

of future soldiers like Aagje wishing to quench it. Chapter five has shown that the

literature classwheremypupilswere tomeet awar veteranwas an inclusive one. It

establishedintergenerationalempathywithintheDutchclassroombetweenpupilsthat

werenotjusttornapartbydifferentracialandsocialbackgrounds,butbyacruelDutch

systemofearlyselection.Yetthe limitsof thetailor-madeclasshadbeenthat itwasa

stand-aloneexperience,onenotsharedwithintheschool’sbroadercommunity,though

naturallybywritingthisbookandlistingmyliteraryinterventionshereinconclusion,I

sharethemwiththeteachingworld.Chapterfive,therefore,foregroundedthedesignof

twointerventionsinsteadofone:

9. VeteranintheClassroom10. BlogsofWarintheClassroom

(h) FillingtheEmptySpacesofWar

Aimingtoprovidemyteacher-readerswithahands-onanalyticaltoolforaclassinvolved

with (writers of) war narratives, I have presented a structured and detailed use of

McLoughlin’s(2011)tropesofwaruponmeetingaveteranintheclassroom,awareasI

was that thepracticaloutcomeofapplying these inclasshadbeenslightlyhaphazard.

Sometropesprovemoreelusive(‘diversions,’and‘duration’)thanothers(‘credentials,’

and‘details’),especiallyonthecognitivelevelofpupils,whichunderlinesthatitsprimary

use is formy teacher-reader.My own struggle tomake sense ofmypupilsmeeting a

veteranintheclassroomshowedthatevenoneofthemostelusiveliterarydecoysofwar

like‘diversions,’openedsomeunexpectedwindowstotheworldwrittenintheDerridean

‘margins’ofawartext.Andthisispreciselywheretheinterventionfailed.Itwasaloss

whichtheblogtaskdidnotfill,lackingformypupilsthesenseofurgencywhichallthe

previous interventionsdidpossess. Inabid towrite thewarback into the classroom,

foregroundingthestoriesofrefugeepupilsintheclassroom,butalsothoseofmyDutch

studentsandtheirimpressionslivinginaclimateofwar,Idesignedacreativewritingtask

fromthisurgentneed,endeavouringtoreturnthelossofimmediacyandofrelevancethey

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feltuponreadingIraqWarblogs.Lookingback,infact,writingtheirownpoetryhadbeen

a form of creative writing too, and creating a Bergen-Belsen film was a multimodal

creativewritingtask.Eagertoforegroundtheirownexperience,theirown‘crisis’as it

were,I intervened,andaskedmypupilstorespondtowarbywritingtheirownblogs,

thusfillingintheemptyspacesofwar.Writingtheirtestimonies,mypupilsachieveda

senseofurgencyandagencyvis-à-vistheliteraturecurriculumandexternalforce-fields

thatseektoswayitscourse.

Becausenotasingleschool,class,teacherandpupilisthesame,thetenliterary

interventionsoutlined herewill have to be designed to suit each and every singular

teacher,class,settingandoccasion.Allthesecurricularinnovationsdonotofferaone-

size-fits-allsolution.Morethananythingelse,teachers’andpupils’individualcreativity

needs to be called upon to either adapt their existing curricula or create new ones.

However, every one of the ten interventions has integrated such teacher and pupil

engagement in theirdesign.For further clarity, from these ten literary interventions I

herebyintroduceformyteacher-readeraten-stepliterarymodeltoadheretointhe

designof literaturetasksintheclassroom.It isadvisedthatthedesignofnewliterary

interventions:

1. Aremultimodal,2. Interdisciplinary,3. Usecanonicalandnon-canonicaltexts,4. Drawaconnectiontosocietalconcerns,5. Areinternational,multicultural,6. DrawfromMcLoughlin’stropes,7. Includein-classroomandout-of-classroominterventions,8. Seekforaconnectionwiththeforce-fields,9. Establishpathosformula;10. ThesestepsleaddefactotoBildung

Backintheclassroom,mypresentstudents,‘watchingthenewstwentytimes,’carrywith

themthesefreshimagesof ‘Globalsorrow’(Vegter2014)ontheretinaeoftheirrecent

memories. ‘Wars,’ indeed, ‘don’t end’ as Ondaatje (2018) surmises, conflict pouring

perpetually intomy pupils’ lives with clockwork regularity. This book hopes to have

convincinglyarguedthatcontraryto formerwartimePresidentGeorgeW.Bush,when

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livinginaclimateofwar,artshouldbeforemostonhumanity’smind.Formemuchhad

changedsincethegaggeddaysofthesummerof2014,thedowningof ‘MH17’andthe

starting point of my research and this book. Foremost, confidence had replaced my

anxiety.

For these chapters have shownhow literature, specific sets ofmultimodalwar

narratives,whichresoundverystronglyourcollectiveculturalmemory,howeverfragile,

hasproventhemostpowerfulweaponanEnglishteacherorindeedanylanguageteacher

canwieldtoaddressthesensitiveissueofwar.Moreover,Ihavealsoshownthatmore

thananyotherplace,theclassroomallowsforcanonformation,selectinglesserknown

(war) narratives from the armoury of culturalmemory by adding them to classroom

curricula.Arguably themost tangible result ofmy research is that thepopularity and

successofliteraryinterventionslikethesethatIhaveoutlinedinthisbookhaveledtothe

realisation of a custom-designed classroomatmy school. It has a library filledwith a

plethoraofmultimodalwarnarrativestodrawfromasateachersearchingwaystoteach

wartraumaandHolocaust.Ithasastage,wardrobeandsmartboardreadytofacilitate

pupils’ own tasksand testimonies, theartpupils create from theashesof theirnewly

acquiredartificiallimbs.Further,theinterventionsintheclassroomhaveledtothedesign

of two war literature curricula for Havo and Vwo upper-level pupils, the so-called

‘Taalwijs2.’222This,inturn,hasledtomyheadingofaprofessionallearningcommunity

for language teachers at theVrijeUniversiteit, andkick-started a cross-curricular and

thematicdevelopmentofaliteraturecourseonAfricanAmericanliteratureandDystopian

literaturesalongthelinesofthe10-step-modal.

Tomyteacher-readerIwanttostressthatIhopethesechaptershaveshownhow

all my interventions started anxiously. The fragility of a teacher facing a gaggle of

juvenileswhosepoliticalpreferencesandsocietalbackgroundvarytotheveryhighest

degree:nowhereinsocietyissuchavarietyinbackgroundsassembledtogetherinone

dailyorganisation.Schoolsaretrulythelastbastionsofourcollectivewholeasnations,

as a society, as a place where we safeguard our collective memory, and invest in

understandingtheworldaroundus.Aworld,mybookhasshown,whichisasconflict-

riddenasever,aworldinwhichteacherslikemyselfandmyreaderareaskedtoaddress

theseconflicts,areaskedtotalkinclassabouttheriseofextremistviewstotherightand

left,areaskedtoputonourcurriculawaystoaddresswarandHolocaust,areaskedto

dareandteachthedifficultlessonsthatgowaybeyondourremit.Allmyinterventions

253

started from the belief that ‘if our species can be said to have a soul, it lives in the

humanities’ (Wilson 2014, 185). It stems from the belief that I could draw uponmy

practical experience in the classroom and expertise as a literature scholar and put

somethingasfragileasawarpoemonthecurriculuminfindinganswerstoaddresswar,

terror, and theHolocaust.All itneeds is that first tender step towardsaddressing the

conundrumwhichsociety,scienceandourMinister(s)ofEducationsetteacherslikeus:

watchingaVietnamWarmovie,readingSassoon’swarpoetry,readingtheiconicdiaryof

AnneFrankorablogfromthewarsinIraq.Havingshowntheimmeasurablepowerof

literature, foregrounding it as a keyweapon in thehands of teachers battling society,

scienceandpolitics’ problems, thisbook is anemphaticplea to stop cutting and start

investingintheHumanities.

BecauseliteratureeducationinDutchsecondaryschoolshashithertoremainedan

ungovernedanddisorganisedterritory(Witte,RijlaarsdamandSchram2010),ithasbeen

myaimwiththisbooktoofferaliterarymodelasanexampletoimplementgatewaysto

citizenshipand‘Bildung’throughmycurriculaonwarliterature.Itisafirststepinthe

developmentofa ‘NewCurriculum’(Biesta&Priestley2013), integratingthemoresof

Bildungandcitizenship,andatonceapleaforotherteacherstojoinin.Thebenchmark

advice to foreground teaching citizenship values at secondary school level is, at the

moment of writing, taken a step further by a group of teachers, teacher-leaders and

educational policy makers. Entitled Curriculum.nu, their advice is aimed at school-

implementationlevelandwillseekpoliticalapprovalintheyeartocome.

ThisbookcontributestothisDutchcurriculumdevelopmentbyopposingastate-

imposedcreationofaseparatecitizenshipsubjectatschool,inthatitforeseesalackof

teacher ownership and pupil motivation, let alone absence of curriculum and exam

material.Rather,Iwanttounderscorethechanceforlanguageeducationtoforeground

literatureandcentralizeitintheircurriculatoestablishvaluedriveneducation.Teachers

oflanguageslikemyselfandmyreadersareindeedwhatAndreasSchleichercalls‘moral

agents’(Schleicher2016),andthisbookisanappealtomycolleaguestobecomepartof

thedesignofanewcurriculumthroughtheirownexistingsubject.Beforestate-imposed

citizenship subjects are poured top-down across education, (English) language and

literatureteachersshouldgrabthechancetokeeptheirautonomyintact,toactivatetheir

existingknowledgebaseandexpertise,notwithstandingtheirpeernetworksbecoming

instrumentalinabroaderdisseminationofcurriculumdevelopment.

254

Tothisend,ofcourse,thisbookanditsinterventionsmaybedrawnuponliberally.

Statistically,ofcourse,thefiguresinthisbookarenotcompelling,yettheydobolstermy

thematicapproach.Thischoicehasallowedawidescopeonavarietyoflevels.First,this

bookspansacrossvariousyearsofteachingteenagers,fromtheyoungestofmyschoolon

theirclassicsfieldtriptotheDutchcapitalframedbywarandcommemorationtothevery

eldestadoptingapoemandwritingtheirowninthetrenchesandcemeteriesoftheYpres

Salient.Second,theinterventionsinthisbookspandifferenteducationtypes,including

FastLaneEnglish,anditsfieldtriptotheScottishbattlefields,drawingfromthesetasks

toinspireagroupofstudent-expertstofindAnneFrankbeyondherdiary,totraveland

filmtheirownlongroadtoBergen-BelseninsearchofthelostvoicesofAnne’snarrative.

Third,ithasinspiredextra-curricularlessons,formingavoluntarygroupofpupilsfrom

theregularVwo-streamtomeetaveteranofIraqandwarpoetliveintheclassroom.And

finally,theinterventionshavebeenappliedacrossdifferenteducationallevels,catering

not just for thoseA-level students inpreparationofuniversity, but also for theHavo-

stream. Their confidence, self-esteem and respect for each other was significantly

enhanced after directing scenes from a chosen VietnamWarmovie, channelling their

frustrationandfacilitatingdiscourse.

TheVietnamWarmovieinterventionhasshownthatliterarytasksinthisbookare

notwithoutitspitfalls.Pupils’blindtrustinthecombat-gnosticnarrator,easilymistaking

Hollywood’s iconic fictionalscreencharacterssuchasPlatoon’sBarnesandElias,with

real veterans’ autopsy, such as the narratives of Vietnam veteran Tim O’Brien or the

veteran in the classroom himself, Brian Turner. Uncovering the dominance of images

versusthewrittenwordinteenager’slives,itunderscorestheimportanceoftheteacher

toguidepupils,andfurtherforegroundsthenecessitytoreclaimtheever-growinglost

territorywithregardtosecondaryschoolstudents’abilitytodistinguishthevalidityof

varioussourcesandrecognisingrealandfakenewsandtheirreadingskills.Thestarting

pointtoenhanceandtrainthelatterisreadingmotivation,whichis,sadly,atanall-time

lowatthemomentofwriting.

Recent research by Pisa has indicated that reading skills amongst teenagers

continuetodecline.Dutchsecondaryschoolpupilsscoreespeciallynegativelyamongst

600 thousand teenagers interviewed globally sixty percent never read, claiming it is

useless.223Addinginsulttoinjury,Ihadbeenlulledintoafalsehopethatscholarswould

providetheanswer,yettheyhaveprovenasmuchpartoftheforce-fieldsoftheirgroup

255

aspoliticians.Theyexpectedofmetobreakwiththetraditionofteachingthecanonical

war poetry of Sassoon and Owen, a source of frustration to certain politicians and

historians, yet the centenary anthologies did not do so themselves. Furthermore,

‘understanding how the authorial obfuscations, misrepresentations and deliberate

decoys’inwarliteraturework,isan‘actofgoodcitizenship,’KateMcLoughlin(2011,20)

rightly claims.Yet inabid to separate the theoreticalwheat from the chaff, aiming to

providemy teacher-readerswith a hands-on analytical tool for a class involvedwith

(writersof)warnarratives,IhadtotranslateMcLoughlin’stheorytoEnglishatsecondary

schoollevelandtonefitforclassroomuse.

Teachersandstudents,therefore,havetofindtheirownway.Becomingateacher-

scholarwasmine,unlockingthearchive,openingthecanon,broadeninggenres:pupils

have to be exposed to war narratives, not to force-feed them opinions but to make

studentsthink.Inallprobability,itwillremain‘unclearwhetherwarsweetensthestudy

ofpoetryorviceversa’(Rawlinson2007,116).Yethopecanbegarneredfromthisbook,

forifanything,warnarrativeshaveanalmostelectricandpowerfulappealuponpupils,

motivatingthemtoreadbeyondthecomfortzonesoftheirmobilephonesstreamingtheir

preferredfilmicgenre,andawakeningtheirsorelymissedmotivationtoreadliterature.

Followingupcurrenteducationaltheoryandpolicy,involvingandinterconnecting

allsubjects,Ihaveshownhowmynewwarliteraturecurriculamovepupilsbeyondthe

relativelyconfinedspaceofteachingEnglishasaforeignlanguageintheNetherlandsby

applyingamultimodalapproach,breakingbeyonditstraditionallanguageandliterature

content. I am, of course, aware that time presses ever-heavily on teachers, and that

drawingfromthetasksinthisbookismoreeasilysaidthandone.Awarpoem,however,

isaneasilyavailableclassroomweapontoapply,and itsshort form lendsperfectly to

lessonlengthinstruction,whichEinhaus&Pennell(2014,47)confirm.Someofthelesson

suggestions,suchasmeetingaveteranintheclassroom,aremoreelaboratetoachieve

thanothers.Yettheirrealisationisbynomeanssingledoutforoverambitiousteacher-

scholars.Everyschoolharboursreadilyavailablestructureswhichcanberedefined in

suchawaythattheywillfiteventhemostambitiousofinterventions,suchastravelling

toBergen-Belsen.Relayingtherouteofanexistingschool-triptopopulardestinationslike

Berlin,bytravellingpastthisHolocaustmemorial,orstoppinginYpresorThiepvalonthe

waytoLondonorParis,ispartofthepossibilityandwillkickstartabroaderredesignof

existingcurricula.

256

Tobolsterthesepotentialinitiatives,foregroundingtheplethoraofopportunities

thattheinterventionsinthisbookmaybringtoeducation,underscoringtheargumentof

this book, I wish tomake a series of recommendations to the force-fields of science,

society and most of all politics and the Ministry of Education, who financed and

kickstartedmyresearch.ItisvitalthatthepositionoftheHumanitiesisforegroundedby

strengtheningliteratureeducation.Thisisdonebyfacilitatingteacherstodevelopliterary

languagetaskswithcleartiestodelicatesubjectstheforcefieldsofscience,politicsand

society wishes education to deal with, Holocaust andWar being the most necessary

amongsttheseissues.Thesetaskswillproveavitalassetinthebattleagainstthesharp

declineinteenagersreadingliterature.Concretely,myadviceistofacilitateandfinance

thebroadformationofprofessional learningcommunitiesforteachers, ledbyteacher-

researchers. These will prove the ideal place to disseminate the theory and literary

interventions such as these in this book, as well as translate them to the individual

professionalandtheirschool.

Furthermore,giventheimportanceofpupilownershipviatheirowntestimonial

products,rangingfromwritingawarpoemtocreatingtheirownfilm,thesetaskstravel

wellandunderscorethenecessityofanobligatoryfieldtriptoa‘Lieudesmémoire,’as

Pierre Nora explains, ‘the principal places or sites in which memory [is] rooted,’

(Landsberg2004,6).Anobligatoryfieldtriptoaplaceofmemoryandmourningneedsto

be added to the so-called ‘kerndoelen’ (core-goals) of Dutch education. Top-down

governmental funding both essential and egalitarian, the extra financial impulse will

enableallschooldenominationstoparticipate,regardlessofaschoolpopulation’swealth

or educational level. This in itself is an act of good citizenship and gives concrete

opportunitytoaddressthe‘sensitive’issuesatschool.Furthermore,itsframewillallow

teacherstowinovertheiranxiousness,whereasabroadnationallay-outwillgiveriseto

peerconsultancyandconferencing.Itwillallowavarietyofsecondaryschoolsubjectsto

structurally interconnect and putting so-called ‘core-subject’ English and/or Dutch

languageandliteraturecentraltothetripandtaskswillfurtherbolstertheHumanities.

Fromthegas-attacksofGhoutatotheBataclaninParis,fromthecommemorations

of‘MH17’toWorldWarIandII,fromIraqirefugeestoSyrianssuchasmypupilCeylin

nowtakingtheirplace inDutchclassrooms,thisbookhasshownthatwar invadesthe

classroom inmany guises. The classroomexample above shows the cynical easewith

which a teachermay choose from the events of conflict, in this case the rise of anti-

257

Semitism, extremist views culminating in violence. The challenge lies in selecting the

potential pathos formulawar narrative to trigger teenagerswith, aswell as finding a

scholarlyframeand,importantly,ahands-ontaskforpupilstoengagewiththatwillallow

themtoreflectandcometotermswiththesubjectathand,aswellasempowerthemin

theirblossomingroleasfuturecitizens.Thisiswhyitisimportanttocreateataskwhich

includes the creative design of pupils’ products. Their testimonies cannot be

underestimated.

Teenagersareincreasinglydefinedbypresentism,bombardedwithinformation

everysinglesecondoftheirday,perpetuallytrappedinthemomentofnowandviewing

thepastandothersthroughtheirindividualtime-boundlenses.Theywillwelcomethe

(war)poetryofthefutureaspartoftheirsocialrevolutiontobreaktheirmultimediacage,

breakingfreeandfindtheemptyspacesintimeandtexttocontemplatetheirfuturesand

theirhistories.As‘communicativememory’continuestoshiftinto‘culturalmemory’(Jan

AssmannandJohnCzaplicka1995,125-33),wefindourselves inadayandagewhere

where‘memoryisunmoored’,andgivesintoa‘carelessmemory,’theneedtoremember

fades and ‘social obligation is carried out by our digital networks and prostheses’

(Hoskins 2011, 19). Pupils’ testimonial war literature tasksmake up such, prosthetic

limbsof theirawakening, theirwill tobe ‘shaken’bywarnarratives in theclassroom,

(Fussell2013,184).Itisallaboutawakeningthecreativeandthoughtfulforceofthese

futureglobalcitizens,notaboutteachersforce-feedingthemtheirpolitics,orforce-fields

feedingthemtheirs.Literaturegivesaswingtoapupil’spendulum,aswingagainstthe

lethargyofpresentism,andteachersaretheretohelpthemstir.Intimesofwar,artshould

be the first thing onhumanity’smind, and if not in themind of our past andpresent

leaders,theninthoseofthefuture,thepupilsoftoday.

258

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Endnotes

1TheballoonwassentfromGatefordParkPrimarySchoolinWorksopon18December

2014,https://www.gatefordpark.com/.2ThecentralgoalsofModernLanguagesincludenomorethanthreeworksofliterature

ofeverypupilattheendoftheirsecondaryschoolcareer,andonlytheupper

levels(Vwo)arerequiredtobeabletoplacetheseinaliteraryhistoricalcontext

andreflectonthemusingliterarytermsandskills.

https://www.examenblad.nl/examenstof/syllabus-2020-moderne-vreemde-

4/2020/f=/mvt_vwo_2_versie_2020_def.pdf.See‘DomeinE:Literatuur’,

‘SubdomeinE1’,‘E2’,‘E3’.3TheDutchrelativelylostmoreofitscitizensthantheAmericansdidonSeptember11,

2001(Joustra2014).4Forclarity,thefollowingapproximationmightbeusefultomyteacher-readerfrom

overseas.Roughlyspeaking,theDutchsecondaryschoolsystemhasavarietyof

differentlevelsonoffertopupils,withschoolsfreetochoosewhichlevelsthey

wishtooffer.Myschool,theOSGWest-Friesland,offersMavo,HavoandVwo.

Mavoisafour-yearlongtrajectory,whichendswithanequivalentofGCSE

exams.Havoisafive-yearrunroughlycomparingasinbetween‘O’and‘AS’level.

VwotakessixyeartocompleteandtranslatesasequivalenttoA-level.Alllevels

havestateorganisedexamsintheirfinalyear.

281

5Amongstthemanyhistorians,politiciansandjournaliststopickupthiscomparison

wasMattCarr,whopublishedhisarticle,fittinglytitled“Shootingdownofflight

MH17:Arewestumblingintoworldwarlike100yearsago?”on21July2014,

justfourdaysaftertheMH17wasshotdown.

http://noglory.org/index.php/articles/251-shooting-down-of-flight-mh17-are-

we-stumbling-into-world-war-like-100-years-ago.6Iwas amongst the first of 36 teachers to receive a grant from theDutchMinistryof

Educationtobeabletodoresearchandcontinueteaching.Itsgoalsaretoletthe

daily teaching practice benefit directly from teachers’ research, strengthen ties

between university and schools, and improve the quality of education by

increasingthenumberofPh.D.qualifiedteachers.

https://www.nwo.nl/financiering/onze-

financieringsinstrumenten/sgw/promotiebeurs-voor-

leraren/promotiebeurs-voor-leraren.html7ThiswasclassVwo6Cintheirfinalschoolyear2014-2015,comprisingof15boysand

16girls,agedbetween16-19yearsold.8A‘wartoexorciseworldmadnessandendanage’(Wells1914,11).9On25July252009,thelastlivingsoldierofWorldWarIdied:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/jul/26/world-war-one-veteran-

harry-patch-dies-aged-111.TheBritishdidnotletthismomentgounmarked:

variousmemorialserviceswereheldandtheBBCaskedPoetLaureateCarolAnn

Duffy(1955-)towriteapoeminresponse.10‘ThisisthehighestteachingqualificationintheNetherlands,granteduponcompletion

ofauniversityprogrammeofteachertraining(ULO).Theholderisqualifiedto

teachonesubjectatalllevelsofgeneralsecondaryeducationandvocational

education.ItisintendedprimarilyforteachersofthefinalyearsofHAVOand

VWO.’https://www.nuffic.nl/en/nuffic-glossary/eerstegraads-

onderwijsbevoegdheid/11DutchPrimeMinisterRuttequotedlinesfromVegter’spoeminhisspeechduringthe

NationalCommemorationServiceheldon10November2014:

https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/toespraken/2014/11/10/toespraak

-van-minister-president-mark-rutte-op-de-nationale-herdenking-van-de-

slachtoffers-van-de-ramp-met-mh17.Moreover,thePoetLaureatereadouther

282

poemonDutchnationaltelevisionthenextday:

http://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2014/11/11/terugkijken-anne-vegter-draagt-mh17-

gedicht-voor-bij-pauw.12Freshlyalive,/aladplaysTipperarytothecrowd,released/fromHistory;the

glistening,healthyhorsesfitforheroes,forkings.(Duffy2013b,112-13)13Youleanagainstawall,/yourseveralmillionlivesstillpossible/andcrammedwith

love,work,children,talent,Englishbeer,/goodfood.(Duffy2013b,112-13)14EveryVwo-6classIhavetaughtthiscoursesincethatsummer(2014-2019)havehad

atangiblepersonaltietooneofthevictimsofMH17.Ratherthanpaintinga

pictureoflocalproximitytothedisaster,Iwanttopointoutitsnational

significance:‘within24-hours,everyone[inHolland]moreorlessknewsomeone

whohadbeenaffectedbythecalamity’(Joustra2014).15VanAmerongenisnotaprofessionalpoet,thoughheistheauthorofthispoem.

Neitherishewellknownforwritingpoetry.ItisapostlinkedtotheNRC,a

leadingDutchqualitynewspaper,aFacebookpoeticreactionandassuch

garneredattention.Postedon22Julyat12:21:

https://www.facebook.com/NRC/posts/547592602019298.16IntheimmediatedaysaftertheMH17disaster,suspiciousfingerspointedtothe

RussianarmywhowereoperativeinEasternUkraine,supportingtheseparatist

army.Recently,extensiveevidencesuppliedbyinvestigativeteamsBellingcat

andtheJointInvenstigationTeam(JIT)haveledtoindictmentsagainstRussian

soldiers;AustraliaandtheNetherlandsofficiallyholdingRussiaresponsible.

https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/met-volharding-en-precisie-op-

zoek-naar-gerechtigheid-voor-de-nabestaanden-van-vlucht-mh17~bc4361b6/17VanAmerongen,‘MH17’,https://www.facebook.com/NRC/posts/547592602019298.18AtrendsignalledinaleadingDutcheducationalmagazine,writtenbyArnoKersten,

titled(intranslation)‘Schoolsneedtodotoomuch.’

http://www.aob.nl/default.aspx?id=220&article=51273&q=&m=19http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8175000/8175790.stm,

https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/toespraken/2014/11/10/toespraak

-van-minister-president-mark-rutte-op-de-nationale-herdenking-van-de-

slachtoffers-van-de-ramp-met-mh17.

283

20ReferringtotherefugeecrisisinEuropeinhiskeynotespeechdeliveredattheISTPin

Berlin,addressingtheworld’seducationleaders.21Althoughitisbeyondthescopeofthisbooktodiscussthisingreaterdetail,Iam

deeplyconcernedabouttheincreasingdemographicalsegregationwhichis

takingplace,especiallyinmetropolitanareasoftheNetherlands,whichhave

resultedinso-calledwhiteandblackschools,underminingtheuniformcultural

anddemocraticcollectiveofeducation.Bringingthisprocesstoahaltand

reversingitshouldhavetoppoliticalpriory.22‘Featuringfouryearsofprogrammingandeventsspanning1914-1918–echoingthe

timeframeofthewar–theWorldWarOneCentenaryontheBBCwillbeunique

inscaleandbreadthonBBCTV,RadioandOnlineandacrossinternational,

nationalandlocalservices.’

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2013/world-war-one-

centenary.html.23Listing,amongstothers,SiegfriedSassoon’sMemoirsofanInfantryOfficer:

https://www.groene.nl/artikel/de-vijf-beste-volgens-paul-moeyes.Theseare

butafewexamplesofthehugeattentionDutchmediaandculturalorganisations

havegiventotheFirstWorldWarcentenary.Significantly,allfocusonBritish

culturaloutput.24In2014thenumberoftouristsvisitingtheWesthoekincreasedfrom415,500to

789,500.

http://www.westtoer.be/sites/westtoer/files/editor/kenniscentrum/Regio/PR-

MMBKDF-Persconferentie%20Finaal_fullscreen.pdf .2565%offoreigntouristsvisitingtheWesthoekareBritish(231,000),followedby19%

Dutch(66,700).

http://www.westtoer.be/sites/westtoer/files/editor/kenniscentrum/Regio/PR-

MMBKDF-Persconferentie%20Finaal_fullscreen.pdf.26https://slo.nl/thema/vakspecifieke-thema/mvt/engels-kernvak/27http://onsonderwijs2032.nl/taalvaardigheid/.28FurtherevidenceofcrossingtheculturallanguagedividebetweentheNetherlands

andGreatBritainisthedevelopmentofFastLaneEnglishinDutchschools.

LiterallycomprisingofextrahoursofEnglisheveryweek,studentsareimmersed

284

inEnglishcultureviaitsliterature,bywayofwhichtheylearntobecomeboth

excellentusersoftheEnglishlanguageanditsculturalhistory.29Blackadder,BBCOne:28/09/1989–02-11-1989,directedbyRichardCurtis,andOh!

WhataLovelyWar,1969,directedbyRichardAttenborough.30OfallHistoryteachers,forexample,74%usewarpoetryasaresourceinclass

(EinhausandPennell2014,1-104,resourcerankingonpages35and51).3182%ofHistoryPathwayteachersuseBlackaddergoesForthasasource,asdo36%of

EnglishPathwayteachers(EinhausandPennell2014,35and51).32NigelBiggaralsoincludedarepentantSassoontohisargumentinhisbookInDefence

ofWar,publishedin2013(Biggar2013b,143).33IargueasmuchinmyarticleIronischeeniconischeoorlogsverhalen(Niemeijer2014):

‘Sassoondidnotalwayscontrolhisownemotions,hewasnotalinearperson,

withoneopinionandonebelief.Hewasnotapacifist,andyethealsowroteanti-

warpoetry.’34NatasjaKovalenko,classV6C;A-levelfinalyear2014-2015oftheOSGWest-Friesland.35LetterbyDrJetBussemaker,formerSecretaryofStateforEducationofthe

Netherlands,dated17September2013.Theletterwassenttothe

‘LerarenKamer,’agroupofteacherswhohaveallbeenelectedasTeacherofthe

YearintheNetherlandsbetween1999and2019,andofwhichIamchairman.36http://war-poets.blogspot.nl/2009/02/dan-todmans-wilfred-owen.html;37http://war-poets.blogspot.nl/2009/02/dan-todmans-wilfred-owen.html;last

accessed21-9-2016.38http://war-poets.blogspot.nl/2009/02/dan-todmans-wilfred-owen.html;last

accessed21-9-2016.39http://war-poets.blogspot.nl/2009/02/dan-todmans-wilfred-owen.html;last

accessed21-9-2016.40http://war-poets.blogspot.nl/2009/02/dan-todmans-wilfred-owen.html;last

accessed21-9-2016.41‘Theironyofthetrenchpoets[…]wasnottheonlyculturalforminwhich

representationsofwarwereframed’(Winter1999,345).Byreflectingonthe

‘popularmythsofthewaratthetimeitwaswritten,’PaulFussell‘reinforced

thembygivingthemacademicapproval’(Todman2014,158).42http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/pacifism.

285

43Dutchnewswebsitereportingongasattacks:

http://www.nu.nl/buitenland/3555307/honderden-doden-bij-gifgasaanval-

syrie.html;lastaccessed1-9-2016.44DutchnewswebsitereportingonDutchbombsdroppedonSyria:

http://www.nu.nl/syrie/4215798/nederlandse-f-16s-gooien-eerste-bommen-in-

syrie.html.45https://www.onderzoeksraad.nl/en/page/6932/dutch-safety-board-buk-surface-to-

air-missile-system-caused-mh17-crash46ThelevelsintheUKatsecondaryschoolIsuggestawarpoetrycurriculumfor,would

bebeyondGCSElevel:O-levelandA-levelstudents.TheDutchequivalentofthis

isbeyondtheso-called‘onderbouw,’(under16s)teachingwarpoetryinthe

‘bovenbouw’(upper16s)ofMavo-Havo-Vwo.47Owen1990a,117.ThefinalfourlinesarealsoquotedinKlooster(2012,177)in

answertoHector’scalltoarms.

48InJonStallworthy’schronologicallyorderedanthologyofwarpoetry,TheIliadis

precededonlybyexcerptsfromtheBible(Stallworthy2014,1-10).49https://www.trendsinbeeldocw.nl/verantwoord-begroten/dashboard-

sectorakkoorden/dashboard-sectorakkoord-vo/professionele-

leraren/masteropgeleide-leraren;lastaccessed14-12-2016.50Walter(1996),Rawlinson(2007),Kendall(2013),Goldensohn(2013),andDas

(2013)tonamebutafewofthemostrecentlypublishedandwidelyreadliterary

criticsandanthologists.51BothStallworthy2014andKendall2013givethenameofthefriendwhomYeatswas

inmourningover.52Lettersenttothe‘LerarenKamer’byDrJetBussemaker,formerSecretaryofStatefor

EducationoftheNetherlands;letterdated17September2013.53Thoughitishardtofindtwosourcesthatagreeonthedefiniteamountofdead,

Keegan(1999,7)estimatesthat‘somethingbetweentwoandthreepercentof

theBritish,FrenchandGermanpopulations’diedduringWorldWarI.54EdmundBlundenwritesin1930(18):‘TodaythenameofSiegfriedSassoonisperhaps

associatedbymostreaderswithhisfinelymodulatedprosework,theMemoirsof

aFox-HuntingMan;butitwasTheOldHuntsmanof1917thathesetout,aunique

adventurer,totellthetruthaboutwarpoetically.’Whatstrikingdifferencewith

286

today,whenSassoonisforemostrememberedforhispoetryandprotest,andless

soforhismemoirs.55Fewofthenowcanonicalpoetswerepublishedinwarpoetryanthologiesinthedecade

afterWorldWar I, thoughapermanentplace forsoldierpoetryhadbeen fixed.

Besides Osborn and Lloyd’s anthologies, only one other anthology,Valour and

Vision,hadpublishedpoetrybySassoon,editorJacquelineTrotterincludingone

poem(‘Dreamers’)bythegiantofthecanoninheranthology(cf.Sassoon1920,

98).56WiththenotableexceptionofDavidJones(1895-1974),whohasgivenmany

anthologistsaheadacheintheirconsiderationwhetherandhowtoincludehis

lengthyandmuchlaudedpoem,‘InParenthesis’.57Parsons1985,14.Thereare25poemsbySassoonandOweninthisanthology,

originallypublishedin1965,ayearafterGardner’s.58Rosenberg(1985,159);seealsoGardner(1964,133)andBrereton(1930,130).

BreretonisthefirsttoincludeOwen’s‘DulceetDecorumEst’inananthologyof

FirstWorldWarpoetry.WarpoetandanthologistRobertNicholsomitsboth

Rosenberg’sentireoeuvreandOwen’smostfamouspoem,‘DulceetDecorumEst’

fromhis1943anthology.59IntheNetherlands,applicantsfortheDutchArmy,itsinfantry,airforceandmarines,

needtobeseventeenyearsofage.https://werkenbijdefensie.nl/werken-bij/,last

accessed26-1-2017.60ThiswasSelmaSmitswho,togetherwithMarijaDragutinovic,taughtthewarpoetry

courseIhaddesignedforourVwo6classesalongsideme.61AntoniavanDongelenandBrendaRamaker,excerptfrom‘It’sNotThatBad,’

presentedatthe‘ExecutionPole’inPoperinghe,on13-10-2016.62IngeborgAardoorn,ofclassV6B2016-2017,quotedfromherpresentationatSt.

George’sMemorialChurch,inYpres,on12October2016.63IngeborgAardoorn,‘OnceI’mALady’,presentedatSt.George’sMemorialChurch,in

Ypres,on12-10-2016.64Todman2014,143,alsoquotedbyTimKendall,intheCommentStreamfollowinghis

reviewofGardner’s1964anthology,onhttp://war-

poets.blogspot.nl/2010/10/brian-gardner-up-line-to-death.html.

287

65‘Despitealotofcompetition,Silkin’santhologyremainsthemostinfluential

representationofthepoetryoftheFirstWorldWar’(Haughton2007,437).66JacobaLachman,‘MyBoyJack’,presentedattheCommunalCemeteryinOrs,France,

whereWilfredOwenisburied,on11-10-2016.67JacobaLachmanquotedfromherpresentationattheCommunalCemeteryinOrs,

France,whereWilfredOwenisburied,on11-10-2016.68Mytranslationof‘Geenvoorstellingvantemaken’,thetitleofaninformationpostat

theHollandscheSchouwburg,locatedatthePlantageMiddenlaan24,inthe

formerJewishquarterofAmsterdam.69WebsiteHollandscheSchouwburg,http://jck.nl/en/node/965;lastaccessed9-3-

2017.70https://www.hollandfestival.nl/en/program/2014/war-horse/,lastaccessed25July,

2019.71https://www.historischnieuwsblad.nl/nl/nieuws/18581/grootste-nederlander-is-

willem-van-oranje.html,lastaccessed20-4-2017.72Interviewconductedon4March2016,duringtheInternationalSummitforthe

TeachingProfession2016,whenIwaspartoftheDutchdelegationledbyformer

ministerJetBussemaker.http://www.istp2016.org/,lastaccessed22-5-2017.73SeeChapter2,page28formoredetails.74Lettersenttothe‘LerarenKamer’byDrJetBussemaker,formerSecretaryofStatefor

EducationoftheNetherlands;letterdated17-9-2013.

http://lerarenkamer.onderwijscooperatie.nl,accessed22-7-2016.75http://www.tblt.org/start/,lastaccessed25-5-2017.76http://www.scotsman.com/heritage/people-places/battle-of-bannockburn-poem-

for-700th-anniversary-1-3056944,lastaccessed25-5-2017.77https://www.stir.ac.uk/news/2013/08/kathleen-jamie-bannockburn-inscription/,

25-5-2017.78Knownpopularlyas‘OhComeAllYeFaithfull’.79http://petallproject.eu/petall/index.php/en/what-s-it-for,lastaccessed2-5-2017.80The self named group the ‘Semi-Matured’, or task-team, consisted of OSG students

Jantina Advocaat, Geesje Lustig, Geertruida Legerstee, Gezina Smit, Hubert de

Vries,AndriesNiezen,EgbertdeMan,GerdaJanssen,IngeborgAardoorn,Riekje

HuismanandClasinaSlagboom.TheywereallfourthyearFast-Lanestudentsof

288

schoolyear2014-2015.ThroughoutthisbookIwillrefertothisgroupasthetask

team,orthe‘Semi-Matured;’tothefilm,asthestudentfilm;andtothisfieldtripto

BremenandBergen-Belsen,astheBergen-Belsenfieldtrip,whichtookplacefrom

8Novemberuntil10November2015.81Allcommentsandquestionscitedinthischapterweremadeorposedbymyselfor

membersofthe‘Semi-Matured’duringtheBergen-Belsenfieldtrip.82http://www.kampwesterbork.nl/en/onderwijs/index.html#/index,

lastaccessed13-5-2017.83RadiointerviewwithBesselvanderKolk,www.onbeing.org/program/restoring-the-

body-bessel-van-der-kolk-on-yoga-emdr-and-treating-trauma/5801,last

accessed22-7-2016.84Adorno1995,49.‘NachAuschwitzeinGedichtzuschreiben,istbarbarisch.’85Wilson,onthecoverofTheDiary(2002).86Quotefromthestudentfilm.87Seehttp://historiek.net/app-wandelen-door-het-amsterdam-van-anne-

frank/15953/,andhttps://itunes.apple.com/us/app/annes-

amsterdam/id520476666?mt=8,lastaccessed29-6-2017.88‘Amsterdamwas unnecessarily harshwith issuing fines for Jews’, the headline in a

newspaperarticle(Trommelen2015;mytranslation)quipped.89UponvisitingYadVasheminJerusalemduringaninternationalconferenceon

educationintheSpringof2012,Iwasstruckbytheparticularstressthatwaslaid

uponthemassivebetrayalofJewsintheNetherlands.90IngeborgAardoorninreactiontoEgbertdeMan,duringoneoftheextra-curricular

classesthanranbetweenSeptemberandNovember201591‘PictureseveryBritishcitizenshouldsee’,DailyExpress,21-4-1945,inLowther(2015,

117).92Aquestion,HughHaughton(2007,43)argues,which,duetotherelativelackofa

poeticresponsetothewar,wasalsorepeatedlyonsociety’smindastheSecond

WorldWarraged.93AsEinhausandPennell(2014,45)haveshownwithregardstothereasonsforthe

widespreadchoiceofwarpoetryaboveallothergenreswhenteachingabout

WorldWarI.

289

94HereAnthonyHechtrelates‘abrutalincidentbasedonapassagefromTheTheoryand

PracticeofHell,byEugeneKogan’(Oostdijk2011,116).95FromHecht’s‘MoreLight!MoreLight!’,quotedbyAndriesNiezenonnearingthe

Bergen-Belsenmemorialsiteduringtheirfieldtrip.96Studentsquotedinthestudentfilm.97GeesjeLustiginthestudentfilm.98http://bergen-belsen.stiftung-ng.de/en/education-encounters.html,lastaccessed6-7-

2017.99AndriesNiezenandEgbertdeMan,quotedattheBergen-Belsenmemorialsiteduring

theirfieldtrip.100ConversationwithpupilsGezinaSmit,GerdaJanssen,JantinaAdvocaat,Egbertde

ManandIngeborgAardoornon3April2017.101http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-34818994,lastaccessed10-7-2017.102https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/paris-rocked-by-explosions-and-

schootouts-leaving-dozens-dead/2015/11/13/133f5bc2-8a50-11e5-bd91-

d385b244482f_story.html?utm_term=.3013accbbb60,lastaccessed10-7-2017.103ThiswasclassH5A,2015-2016,oftheOSGWest-Friesland,towhichIwillrefer

throughoutthischapteras‘fightclass’or‘H5A.’FeaturingpupilsareTeunis

Rademakers,AntonGal,LammertTitshof,AartHonderd,RoelofDecheiver,Alfred

Rups,RuudvanFoppen,GerardPietersen,SjoerdGanzeman,JozefHaassen,

MarinusHakkeboer,IvodenTieter,Janvan’tHol,Bernardinavan‘tHol,Herman

deVilder,DirkjeIJspeerdandAbbasBenani.104GeesjeLustig,inthestudentfilm.105http://www.hetabc.nl/paris-in-de-klas/,whichlinksto:

http://alderikvisser.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/wenken-voor-maandag-terreur-

en-de-school.html,whichdescribesthestepsinmoredetail.Lastaccessed10-7-

2017.IalsofoundausefulPowerPointonhttp://dearproject.co.uk/wp-

content/uploads/2015/02/Paris-Terrorism-attack-November-2015.pptx106ExtractfrommylessontoclassH5A,2015-2016,onMonday16November2015,4th

hour(11:25-12:15),attheOSGWest-Friesland.Seealso

http://www.hetabc.nl/paris-in-de-klas/and

http://alderikvisser.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/wenken-voor-maandag-terreur-

en-de-school.html.

290

107AsIhavepreviouslyshown,McLoughlinarguesthat‘itnowseemsevident,’she

continues,’thattheFirstWorldWar’snaturalformwasthelyricpoem,thatthe

SecondWorldWar’swastheepicnovel,thattheVietnamWar’swasthemovie,

thattheIraqWars’maywellturnouttobetheblog’(2011,10).108GertBiesta,http://www.hetabc.nl/paris-in-de-klas/,lastaccessed11-7-2017.109JetBussemaker,lettersenttothechairmanoftheDutchHouseofCommons,dated2-

3-2016.Seehttps://www.rijksoverheid.nl/regering/bewindspersonen/jet-

bussemaker/documenten/kamerstukken/2016/11/11/kamerbrief-over-

rapport-twee-werelden-twee-werkelijkheden,lastaccessed11-7-2017.110https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/rapporten/2016/01/23/eindadvies-

platform-onderwijs2032-ons-onderwijs2032,lastaccessed11-7-2017.111https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/rapporten/2016/01/23/eindadvies-

platform-onderwijs2032-ons-onderwijs2032,23,lastaccessed11-7-2017.112https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/rapporten/2016/01/23/eindadvies-

platform-onderwijs2032-ons-onderwijs2032,23,lastaccessed11-7-2017.113‘MostlyIslamicpupilswhodisruptminutesilenceforParis’,ReformatorischDagblad,

19-11-2015.https://www.rd.nl/vandaag/binnenland/veelal-islamitische-

scholieren-verstoren-minuut-stilte-om-parijs-1.510542,lastaccessed14-7-2017114ExtractfrommylessonstoclassH5A,2015-2016,1February2016attheOSGWest-

Friesland.115Theso-called‘MethodiekDialoogalsBurgerschaps-instrument’byDiversion,

http://downloads.slo.nl/Documenten/definitieve-methodiek-dialoog-als-

burgerschapsinstrument.pdf.

116https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/essay/on-the-cusp-of-adulthood-and- facing-an-

uncertain-future-what-we-know-about-gen-z-so-far/last accessed01-06-2020117Ibid.118ThereisastrikingdifferencewithhistoryteachersinBritaininthisrespect,as

EinhausandPennelldiscovered‘aprimacyofvisualsources’intheirteachingson

theFirstWorldWar,nexttoasteady74%ofhistoryteachersthatusewarpoetry

asaresource(EinhausandPennell2014,31-55).119‘Practicalconsiderationsmakewarpoetry(asopposedtolongerproseordrama)an

obviouschoice–poetrytendstobeshort,self-contained,andwellsuitedto

practicinglinguisticandstylisticanalysis’(EinhausandPennell2014,45).

291

120‘Poetryhassoughttoregainterritory“lost”toprosefiction’(Stallworthy2014,xxxv).121‘Thereadingpublichasbecomeincreasinglyattunedtoprose,and[…]theWord

(proseaswellasverse]hasincreasinglylostgroundtotheImage’(Stallworthy

2014,xl).122ExtractfrommylessonstoclassH5A,2015-2016,1February2016attheOSGWest-

Friesland.123ComparewithMcLuhanandFiore(1968,134):‘Thepublicisnowparticipantin

everyphaseofthewar,andthemainactionsofthewararenowbeingfoughtin

theAmericanhomeitself’.124ExtractfrommylessontoclassH5A,2015-2016,onMonday16November2015,4th

hour(11:25-12:15),attheOSGWest-Friesland.125‘DespitecomingofageatatimewhentheUnitedStateshasbeenwagingtwowars,

relativelyfewmillennials–just2%ofmales–aremilitaryveterans’(Taylorand

Keeter2010,3).126ExtractfrommylessontoclassH5A,2015-2016,1February,2016attheOSGWest-

Friesland.127IMDB:InternetMovieDateBase,websitelistfortheVietnammovieproject:

http://www.imdb.com/list/ls008261939/;fulllistingsunder:

http://www.imdb.com/user/ur28592370/lists?ref_=nv_usr_lst_3,lastaccessed

31-8-2017.128DanielBinnsborrowsthistermfromJean-FrancoisLyotard,explaining:‘agrandor

metanarrativeistheoverarchingnarrativethatbindstheprocessesofsociety–

economics,education,industry,politics–together,andisasmuchareframingof

thehistoricalcontinuumasitisastateofmind’(Binns2017,13-14).129‘Credibility’isoneofthesixuniversaltropesofwritingwaraccordingtoMcLoughlin;

parrhestiastesmeans‘thefigurewhospeakscandidly’(McLoughlin2011,30).130CanonicalwarfilmssuchasGoodMorningVietnam,PlatoonandApocalypseNoware

givena15rating,whilemostotherVietnamWarfilms,suchasTheDeerHunter,

FullMetalJacket,WeWereSoldiers,HamburgerHill,CasualtiesofWarandRambo:

FirstBloodPartII,aregivena16rating.Theexceptionsarefew,withGreen

Berets,Rambo:FirstBloodandRescueDawndeemedsuitableattheveryyoung

ageof12,yetfilmssuchasTigerland(2000),ComingHome(1978)andBornon

theFourthofJulybeinggiventhecomparativelysurprisingratingof18.

292

131ZeroDarkThirty’s(2015)ratingis15,whilstTheHurtLocker’s(2008)is16.Itseems

almostironicthatcanonicalfilmsthatcapturetheslaughterhouseofWorldWar

I’strenchwarfare,AllQuietontheWesternFront(1930),anditsrepercussionson

thoseshotfordesertion,PathsofGlory(1957),aregivenaliberalPGrating.132Dutchcentralexamsareplannedindifferentyearsaccordingtoeachlevelof

education.TheHavostudentsIrefertoherewouldfinishtheirschoolayear

earlier(5thyear)thanVwostudents(6thyear),andayearlaterthanMAVO

students(4thyear).Thus,atthetime,H5Awereintheirfinalexamyear.133Studentsconsulted:http://www.imdb.com/list/ls008261939/,providingovera

hundredtitlestochoosefrom.Overthecourseoftime,pupils’choiceshave

includedComingHome,TheDeerHunter,ApocalypseNow,GardensofStone

(1987),FirstBlood,Rambo:FirstBloodpartII(1985),Platoon,BornontheFourth

ofJuly,CasualtiesofWar,FullMetalJacket,HamburgerHill,WeWereSoldiers,

Tigerland,TropicThunder(2008),RescueDawn,andthesurprisingchoiceMaya

Lin:AStrongClearVision.

134McLoughlin(2011)distinguishessixdifferenttropesofwar:‘credentials’,‘laughter’,

‘details’,‘zones’,‘duration’,and‘diversions’.135TrijntjevanStaverenandHendrikaVork,classH5A,2016-2017;presentationonThe

DeerHunter(1978),byMichaelCimino,inMarch2017.136OneexampleofmanyisJohnRicoon:

https://www.thoughtco.com/top-anti-war-movies-of-all-time-3438815,lastaccessed2-

11-2017.137SjoerdGanzemanandMarinusHakkeboer,classH5A,2015-2016;presentationon

FullMetalJacket(1987),byStanleyKubrick,inMarch2016.138LammertTishofandGerritFlederus,classH5A,2015-2016;presentationonFirst

Blood(1982),byTedKotcheff,inMarch2016.139AlberdinaWalvischandHenriëtteKlapwijk,classH5A,2015-2016;presentationon

BornontheFourthofJuly(1989),byOliverStone,inMarch2017.140AbbasBenani,JozefHaassenandIvodenTieter,classH5A,2015-2016;presentation

onGoodMorningVietnam(1987),byBarryLevinson,inMarch2016.141JeroenKleinjanandPietKoreneef,classH5A,2016-2017;presentationon

HamburgerHill(1987),byJohnIrvin,inMarch2017.

293

142Binns2017,62-63.AntonGalandBepGlasius,classH5A,2015-2016;presentation

onApocalypseNow(1979),byFrancisFordCoppola,inMarch2016.143GrietjeKwakkelandAnsZwakman,classH5A,2016-2017;presentationon

ApocalypseNow(1979)inMarch2017.144FromPlatoon(1986),directedbyOliverStone.145QuotedfromthescriptofPlatoon.OliverStone,PlatoonandSalvador,in

Sturken(1997,109).146FromApocalypseNow(1979).147EstimatingthetotaldeathtolloftheVietnamWarisasiteofcontentiontothisday.

Withregardstomilitaryloss,‘approximately58,000U.S.militarypersonneldied

intheVietnamWar’,yet‘thenumberofVietnameseCommunistpersonnelwho

diedisnotknownexactly’,butestimatedtotobe‘almostcertainlywellover

600,000[…],morethan10timesthenumberofAmericandeaths’(Moïse2005,

13).148FromPlatoon(1986).149HendrikaVork,classH5A,2016-2017,inherwrittenevaluation,April2017.150WilhelminaKoekenbier,classH5A,2016-2017,inherwrittenevaluation,April2017.151FranciskaKramer,DirkjeIJspeerdandBernardinavan‘tHol,classH5A,2015-2016;

presentationonWeWereSoldiers(2002)byRandallWallaceinMarch2016.152FromTheGreenBerets(1968),directedbyRayKelloggandJohnWayne.153EdithZuurmond,2016-2017,inherwrittenevaluation,April2017.154FromWeWereSoldiers(2002).155DorotheaZuinig,classH5A,2016-2017,inherwrittenevaluation,April2017.156AndreasPannekeetandReinderWetschrijver,classH5A,2016-2017;presentation

onMayaLin:AStrongClearVision(1994),byFreidaLeeMock,inMarch2016.157AtermcoinedbyformerpresidentoftheUnitedStatesGeorgeW.Bushinhisaddress

duringthejointsessionofCongressandthenation,on20September2001.‘Our

waronterrorbeginswithAlQaeda,butitdoesnotendthere.Itwillnotenduntil

everyterroristgroupofglobalreachhasbeenfound,stoppedanddefeated.’

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-

srv/nation/specials/attacked/transcripts/bushaddress_092001.html,last

accessed10-8-2017.

294

158ExtractfrommylessontoclassH5A,2015-2016,onMonday16November2015,4th

hour(11:25-12:15),attheOSGWest-Friesland.159DorotheaZuinig,classH5A,2016-2017,inherwrittenevaluation,April2017.160PetraSlettenhaarandPaulavanZwam,‘MyLaiindeeerstemediaoorlog’.Every

secondarypupilintheNetherlandsisrequiredtoundertakeaschool-based

research-project,whichpupilsarerequiredtohavecompletedsufficientlybefore

theirstateexams.Thesearecalled‘sectorwerkstukken’(Mavo)or

‘profielwerkstukken’(HavoandVwo).161Whileperformingresearchforhislatestnovel,writerJulienIgnaciogivealectureto,

andparticipateinaQ&Aon9/11andthepost-millennialgenerationwith,my

pupils.IalsoinvitedhistorianEwoudKiefttotalkabouthislatestworkonthe

cultureoftheFirstWorldWaranditseffectsonthe21st-century.ProfDr

DiederikOostdijkoftheVrijeUniversiteitAmsterdamdeliveredalectureonwar

poetrythroughoutthe20thand21st-centuries.Alloftheseclasseswereextra-

curricularandtookplaceatmyschooltheOSGWest-Friesland;eachlecture

attractedafullhouse.162TheNIO-testisanabbreviationofNederlandseIntelligentietestvoor

Onderwijsniveau(DutchIntelligencetestforEducationallevel).Thisfinaltest

givesanindicationofapupil’ssecondaryschoollevel.‘NIOtoets’,Wijzeroverde

Basisschool,https://wijzeroverdebasisschool.nl/kennisbank-

rekenen/begrippenlijst/nio-toets/,accessed26-6-2018.163NIOscoresareaveragesthatvaryfrom80andunderto118andaboveatthetopof

thescale.AlthoughthisvolunteerplatoonwerealltogetherinthesameVwo-

levelclass,theirNIO-scoreshadrangedbetweenalow98andhigh137.164Ihadalreadymadetentativestepstowardscustomisingeducationformypupils,of

whichmeetingaveteranintheclassroomaswellthewar-lessonsdescribedin

thepreviouschaptersofthisbookareexamples.Onthebasisofthese

experiments,duringschoolyear2016-2017,theOSGWest-Frieslandjoinedthe

firstgroupofsecondaryschoolsnationwideinagovernmentalpilot,seeking

waystoimplementingtailor-madeeducation.“Pilotmetmaatwerkopaantalvo-

scholen,”VOSABB,https://www.vosabb.nl/pilot-met-maatwerk/,accessed26-6-

2018.

295

165TheVO-raadistheDutchNationalcouncilforsecondaryschoolsandrepresentative

ofitscollectiveboardsofgovernors.166Mytranslationof‘maatwerk’,which,accordingtoRosenmöller,isaconceptthatis

hardtodefine:‘differentiate,individualise,personalise;oreducationmadeto

measure?’(Rosenmöller2017,25).167GertBiestaandMarkPriestley,‘introduction:TheNewCurriculum’,Reinventingthe

Curriculum:NewTrendsinCurriculumPolicyandPractice,(London:Bloomsbury

Academic,2013),1-12.168QuotefromBrianTurnerduringatailor-madeclasstitled‘VeteranintheClassroom’,

hostedbymyselfandDiederikOostdijkoftheFacultyofArts,attheVrije

UniversiteitinAmsterdam.Duringtheschoolyear2015-2016,aselectionof

pupilsfromtheOSGWest-FrieslandtravelledtoAmsterdamtomeetthewarpoet

andmemoiristBrianTurner,aformerinfantrysergeantwhoservedintheIraq

War.ThesepupilswereFerdinandOranjeboom,EdwinvanDronkelaar,

PieternellaSiebum,CarlaBriefjes,GerdinaPoese,TruusRoest,HendrikPlukkel,

MargjeSchotanusandAagjeRotgans.Iwillquotefromthisclassthroughoutthe

chapter,referringtoitas‘VeteranintheClassroom.’169HenrikPlukkelandBrianTurnerduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’170‘Thesuck’isaslangtermwhoseoriginslieinthemilitary,asAustinBayexplainsin

anNPRradiointerviewon8March2007.Waris‘atoughsituation,youwouldn’t

behereifitweren’tabroken,challenginganddangeroussituation,andthat’sthe

suck.’https://www.npr.org/2007/03/08/7458809/embrace-the-suck-and-

more-military-speak,lastaccessed22-3-2018. 171AagjeRotgansduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’172Andnonearegivensucha‘hardsell’asthecentenaryoftheFirstWorldWar

(Brearton2014).173HendrikPlukkelduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’174HendrikPlukkelandBrianTurnerduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’175BrianTurnerduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’176‘Thefactthatwhilewarisinprogress,itisnotknownwhen,orhow,orifitisgoing

toendgiveswartimeitsspecialpropertyofopen-endednessorendinglessness.

[…]Ithas[even]beenpointedoutthatwardoesnotend.’KateMcLoughlin,

AuthoringWar,107,132.

296

177AagjeRotgansandBrianTurnerduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’178BrianTurnerduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’179BrianTurnerduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’180FerdinandOranjeboomduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’181MeetingBrianTurnerwasinitselfasuccessfulwayofbreakingdowntheenormityof

thewarintoamoremanageablesizeformypupils;forthemTurnercameto

standforallcombatantsoftheWaronTerror.182BrianTurnerduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’183Ibid.184FromRestrepo(2010),directedbyTimHetheringtonandSebastianJunger.185RadiointerviewwithBesselvanderKolk,www.onbeing.org/program/restoring-the-

body-bessel-van-der-kolk-on-yoga-emdr-and-treating-trauma/5801,last

accessed22-7-2016.186BrianTurnerduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’187Despitehaving‘nodirectexperienceoftheHolocaust’somepeoplebecome

‘nonwitnesses’,aphrasecoinedbyGaryWeissman,‘deeplyinterestedin

studying,rememberingandmemorializingit’(Weissman2004,4).188GerdinaPoeseduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’189‘NachAuschwitzeinGedichtzuschreiben,istbarbarisch’(Adorno1995,49).190BrianTurnerduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’

191https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/essay/on-the-cusp-of-adulthood-and- facing-an-

uncertain-future-what-we-know-about-gen-z-so-far/last accessed01-06-2020192Numberstakenfrom‘OverzichtdodenbijNederlandseMilitaireMissies’,published

inTrouwonApril20,2007,https://www.trouw.nl/home/overzicht-doden-bij-

nederlandse-militaire-missies~a60b4ab6/,lastaccessed2-3-2018.Information

oncurrentandhistoricDutchmilitarymissiontakenfromthewebsiteofthe

DutchMinistryofDefence,https://www.defensie.nl/onderwerpen/historische-

missies,lastaccessedon2March2018.193WashintonPost,20-9-2001,http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-

srv/nation/specials/attacked/transcripts/bushaddress_092001.html,last

accessed2-3-2018.194HendrikPlukkelandBrianTurnerduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’195BrianTurnerduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’

297

196MargjeSchotanusandBrianTurnerduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’197BrianTurnerduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’JohnWaynefamouslyplaysSgt.John.

M.StrykerinSandsofIwoJima(1947)byAllenDwan.198BrianTurnerduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’199HendrikPlukkelduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’200AagjeRotgansandFerdinandOranjeboomduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’201IamconvincedthatwhatHuyssendescribesasthe‘memoryboom’issymptomaticto

whatiscalledmetamodernism,atermwhich,accordingtoAshleyM.Contos,‘first

appearedintheearly2000s’(HendryandPage2013,55).TwoDutchmenare

behindaninfluentialwebsiteexpandingthetheoryofmetamodernism,

TimotheusVermeulenandRobinvandenAkker:

http://www.metamodernism.com/.202BrianTurnerduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’203WheneverImeetaformerpupil,ninetimesoutoftentheconversationwillturnto

Ypres.Everyyearthereareformerpupilswhosendmeanemailormessagevia

FacebookrequestinginfoonthetriptoYpresfortheirCVorotherjob

opportunities.Mostrecently,Iwassurprisedbyamessagefromaformerstudent

apologisingforhisrowdybehaviourintheformerfront-linetown:‘Iwasn’t

grownupenoughatthetimetoreactinapropermannertosuchamorallyand

emotionallycomplexsubjectasWorldWarI.Inhindsight,however,thetrip

broughtmealotofgoodandIthinkIhavelearnedalotonapersonallevelalso,

preciselybecausemybehaviour‘sucks’whenIfindcertainthingsdifficulttocope

with.’Emailfromformerstudent,sentinJuly2018.204FromKorengal(2014),directedbySebastianJunger.205FromRestrepo(2010),directedbyTimHetheringtonandSebastianJunger.206McLoughlin(2011,115)callsthisboredom‘vigilancedecrement.’Sheexplainsthat

‘losinginterest[is]afunctionbothofthepassageoftime(whichappearstomove

slowly)andoftherepetitivenessofactivitiesperformedwithinthattime’.207ExplainingwhatinspiredTurnertowritesomeofhisbestwarpoetry,amongst

which‘Here,Bullet’Turnercomments;‘ayearofboredompunctuatedbyintense

eventsormoments.Theymightbetwosecondsor36hours.Thenbackto

boredom.’Forthesoldier,andmypupils,itexplainswhatKiddcallan‘eerie

combinationofterroranddeath-wish’(J.Kidd2014).

298

208‘"Didyoukillanyoneinthewar?"Hisresponseisalwaysthesame:"1.2million"–the

estimateddeathtollofIraqissincetheUS-ledinvasionin2003’(J.Kidd2014).209BrianTurnerandAagjeRotgansduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’210RadiointerviewwithBesselvanderKolk,www.onbeing.org/program/restoring-

the-body-bessel-van-der-kolk-on-yoga-emdr-and-treating-trauma/5801,last

accessed22-7-2016.211BrianTurnerduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’212HendrikPlukkelduring‘VeteranintheClassroom.’213On22March2016,anISbombinginBrusselsclaimedthelivesof32civilians.214Theseexamsweremostlytakenduringtheirlasttest-weekoftheirfinalyear,2015-

2016.215BlogwrittenbySaraHussein,schoolyear2015-2016.216BlogwrittenbySamiAhmed,schoolyear2015-2016.217InterviewwithAagjeRotgans,Spring2016.218ThiswasclassVwo6Aintheirfinalschoolyear2019-2020,amongstwhichBertus

Leffef,CeylinKhaledandAlbertaLiefaard.219https://www.theguardian.com/science/neurophilosophy/2011/sep/09/pregnant-

911-survivors-transmitted-trauma,lastaccessed01-08-2020.220http://www.amstelveenweb.com/nieuws-Herdenkingsbijeenkomst-2019-bij-het-

Nationaal-Mo&newsid=338377620,lastaccessed01-08-2020.221http://petallproject.eu/petall/index.php/en/what-s-it-for,lastaccessed2-5-2017.222https://www.fgw.vu.nl/nl/nieuws-agenda/nieuwsarchief/2016/apr-jun/160609-vu-

project-taalwijs-maakt-leerlingen-bewust-van-de-rol-van-taal-in-de-samenlevingnieuw-

compon.aspx,lastaccessed18-11-2020.223 https://www.trouw.nl/onderwijs/een-boek-lezen-pure-tijdverspilling-vinden-

nederlandse-jongeren~bbcc2b5d/,lastaccessed18-11-2020

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Summary

This dissertation,War in the Classroom:AQualitativeModel for the English Literature

Curriculumshowshowwarandtrauma–pastandpresent–areapervasivepresencein

pupils’lives.Andtherealistictruthisthatcalamitiesandconflictwillcontinuetoplaya

bigpartinpupils’futures.Tuckedawayineverystudent’sbreast-pocketisasmartphone

which relentlessly pushes daily narratives of conflict into their everyday reality: the

poetry, films, blogs and songs of the wars we continue to wage, celebrate, and

commemorate.Thisbookproposeshowsecondaryschoolteacherscanovercometheir

anxieties about discussing sensitive topics such aswar in the classroom. Rather than

ignorethese,itisimportantfortheteachertoforegroundthesecalamitiesandconnect

themtocanonicalandnon-canonicalmultimodalliteratureintheirclassrooms.

Thisdissertationoutlineshowthe forces insociety,politics,andscienceaimto

establishcalmcontrolinandoftheconflictingworldwelivein.Eachoftheseforcefields

seekoutschools,astheyareoneofthelaststrongholdsofcollectivememoryandbastion

ofsharedculturethatcanaffectthis.Thewaytheseforcefieldstrytoachievethischanges

constantly.Politicianscomeandgo,societyrarelymakesupitsmindasacollective,and

scholarsareforeveratloggerheadswitheachother.Allfrequentlyinvadetheclassroom

armedwithmythsoftheirown.Atthemomentofwriting,someofthemincludethatwar

needstobeaddressedatschool,thatonlyveteranpoetsshouldbepartoftheclassroom

canon,thattheirpoetryislargelyanti-warandpacifist,thatchildrenaretaughtthatthis

is theonlyvalidreactiontoand interpretationofwar,andthat teachersare largelyto

blameforthis.Thisbookshowshowteacherscanempowerthemselvesvis-à-vistheforce

fields’ influenceby accepting the central role theyplay inmaintaining andpreserving

society’scollectiveculturalmemory.

Teachers have an obligation to overcome their anxiety to act and engagewith

humanity’sviolentpastandpresent.Thisdissertationwillhelpthemtodoso.Thoughits

focusisonEnglishliterature,thisbookisalsovalidforteachersofothersubjects,suchas

Dutch,French,andGerman languageand literature,and toa lesserextenthistoryand

social sciences. It is an answer to the widespread and urgent call for value-driven

education.Itisvitalthatitsdesignhappenswithinexistingdisciplines,insteadofcreating

a separate secondary school discipline from this need, forcing existing subjects to cut

time.Thisbookshowshowcurrentcurriculacanbereshaped insuchawaythat they

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accommodateandincorporatetheconcernsanddemandsofsociety,science,andpolitics.

ItshowsthatEnglishliterature,partofalargerEnglishlanguageandculturecurriculum

atsecondaryschoolsintheNetherlands,andwarnarrativesspecifically,isanappropriate

platformtoaddressingthewidersocial,political,andscientificpicture,involvingcurrent

globalconflicts.

Thisdissertationsuggestsamultimodalapproachto literature in theclassroom

andwill analyse poetry, prose,movies, andblogs; chronologically tracing art that has

sprungfromtheashesofthemajorwarsofthe20thand21stcenturies,WorldWarsIand

II,theVietnamWar,theIraqWar,andtheWaronTerror.Doingsobroadenstherequired

curriculaextensively,movingbeyondtheremitofwhatisrequiredofmodernlanguage

and literature teachers in theNetherlands.However, thisbook shows that adifferent,

morecreativeandexpansivedesignofthe(language)curriculumisurgentlyneeded,to

riseuptotheincreasingdemandsuponteachers,andthechallengeofinvolvingsociety’s

pressing issues of citizenship at schools, as well as being forerunner to the general

curricularoverhaul intheNetherlands.Thisbookisaimedtofunctionasaflywheelto

achieve this. It suggests an extensive re-draft of the English language curriculum,

emphasisingtheimportanceandstrengtheningthepositionofliteratureandliterature

educationinschools.

ViaavarietyofinterventionsintheclassroomIhavedesignedliteraturecurricula

throughwhichIwillprovidethetemporalanchorstoaddresswarintheclassroom.These

have beenmarked out clearly in the subsequent chapters of this dissertation for the

benefitof thetime-pressedteacher-readertodrawuponintheirambitiontoestablish

versatile and up-to-date literature curricula themselves. Concretely, I have applied an

arrayof literary interventions in theupperyearclassesofDutchsecondaryeducation,

aimedatpupilsof16andaboveintheirpenultimateorfinalyearatsecondaryschool.In

theNetherlands that implies a curriculumversatile enough to be taught at secondary

schoollevelsMavo4,Havo5andVwo6.223Thesepupilsareclosesttoasoldier’sage,on

thebrinkofentrancetoauniversityorarmylifeastheyarethemselves.Teachingatthis

agewouldallowaninstructorbothmoredepthandwidthtothecurriculum,including,

forinstanceacademiccritique,politics’demands,andsociety’sconcerns.

Ultimately, thebroadrangeof literaryclassroominterventionsthisdissertation

describesculminatesinaqualitativeliterarymodelfortheEnglishliteraturecurriculum,

as formulated in the conclusion.This ismeant to serveasaguideline for the teacher-

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reader of this book in their ambition to design their own literary interventions. This

dissertation aims to motivate teachers to explore similar pathways, such as taking

students on excursions to Ypres, venturing away from Owen to more diverse, non-

canonicalwarpoetry intheclassroom(chapter2),movingbeyondAnneFrank’sdiary

andvisitingBergen-Belsenwithpupils(chapter3),orasinspirationtoputtingVietnam

WarMovies on the curriculum in troublesome classes (chapter 4), or even inviting a

veterantotheclassroom(chapter5).

StructureofDissertation

Thisdissertationargueshowdesigningliteraturecurricula,whichintegratethelandscape

ofwaroutsideoftheschoolwalls,offersachancetocreatethefixed,value-drivenmarks

society so desperately seeks as a gateway to developing pupil-citizenship, develop

individualBildungandcreateempathywithpupilsinthelanguageclassroom.Itindicates

whyitisvitaltoestablishawarliteraturecurriculumthatallowsstudentstoengageon

theirownterms,aswellashowdifficultitistopredicthowpupilswillengagewithand

react to war narratives they are introduced to. The wide variety of qualitative

interventions described in this book, for different classes, using different forms and

genresofwarliteratureformhypothesesabouttheireffectintheclassroom.Withthese,

thisdissertationhopestoinvitefuturequantitativeresearch.

Chapter two, ‘Canonisation in the Classroom: Inventing Tradition,’ outlines the

first,tentativeandintuitivestepintheclassroomImadeinvolvingthedowningofflight-

MH17 in theclassroom,byputtingAnneVegterandSiegfriedSassoon’spoemson the

curriculum,andtoconnectthesewiththecentenarycommemorationofWorldWarI.The

initialsuccessoftheselessonssparkedanengagementwithcurrentaffairsandliterature.

Itfuelledmywishtodelvebackintotheacademicarchivetobroadenmyoutdatedliterary

curriculumandindoingsoformulateanswerstotheforce-fields’mosturgentconcerns.

ThedetailedanalysisofthehistoryofanthologisingWorldWarIpoetryinthischapteris

necessarytoshowthatwhatweregardasthecanonisstronglyinfluencedbyeducation.

‘Canonisation in the Classroom: Inventing Tradition’ outlines a series of five literary

interventionswhichforegroundthenecessityof includingpupils incurriculumdesign.

Thepupils’eagernessinhelpingtobroadenthecanonshowedthattheyareparticularly

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susceptible to the authenticity of the veteranpoets above all, and the violence that is

portrayedintheirtexts.Theliteraryinterventionssuchas‘AdoptaWarPoem’and‘One

WarPoemforAllWar’whichactivatepupils’responsesandgivesthemagencyshowthat

literaturefacilitates(unexpected)answerstotheforce-fields’concerns.

Chapter three, ‘FindingAnne Frank,’ outlines howAnneFrank’sTheDiary of A

YoungGirlhasmovedandmightstillmovebeyonditstimeandformintheclassroom.The

Diary,muchlikethewarpoetryofSassoonandOwen,isacrucialanddominanttextin

Holocaust literature, especially in education. Usingmy position as a scholar amongst

teachers I further opened the archive of (children’s) war literature and established

interventionsandlinkswiththeadult.Manyopportunitiesforre-writingthepotentiality

ofliterature’spowerintheclassroomlieoutsidetheclassroom,whichiswhythechapter

describesthedesignofbothanin-classandout-of-classintervention.Thechaptershows

thatpupils’renewedintroductiontoreadingTheDiarywasfraughtwithresistanceand

lackofmotivation.Yetallowingpupils torediscoverandreappraise thecanonicalwar

narrative themselvesanddiscussing this inpeer-to-peergroupsessions, strengthened

pupils’ autonomy, activated their intrinsic interests, and addressed their social

motivation.‘FindingAnneFrank’showsthattheequivocaldistinctionsbetweenadultwar

literatureandchildren’swarliteratureareblurred:adultHolocaustliteratureandspatial

narrativeofaNaziconcentrationcampenablethischildren’snarrativetobereappraised

andgivevoicetothepagesthathavebeenleftblank.Itistheterroradultstendtotread

lightly around which attract and lure teenagers andmake a lasting mark upon their

memories.

Chapterfour,‘DirectingScenesofWar,’explainswhythedemandsonteachersto

formulateanswerstocrisesandgainacertaincontroloncalamityaresourgent.Zooming

inonaHavo-classwhoselanguageandmotivationlevelswereverylowanduponwhom

theParisattacksofNovember13,2015hadaripple-effect,asegregatedclassalreadyat

loggerheadswitheachother.Theboundariesbetweenthezonesofwarandpeaceare

moreandmoreblurredinpupils’lives.Byrebellingagainsttheteacherandotherforce-

field institutions as they did in my class, these students were implicitly pleading for

Bildung, as I argue. This iswhy I opted for themost direct visual confrontationwith

violence and conflict possible: Vietnam war movies, which proves a popular form of

choicewithpupils,especiallywithcognitivelyandculturallydiverseHavo-classes.They

wereunaccustomedtoaninnovativeliteraryandvisualcurriculumlikethis,withclear

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links to citizenship. The intervention makes something happen; these rebellious

teenagers started to become engaged. The VietnamWar movie course offered extra-

curricularpossibilities,openinguptheEnglishliteraturecurriculumto(war)movies,and

establishes gateways to citizenship andBildung. ‘Directing Scenes ofWar’ shows that

visualwarnarrativeshaveaparticularpoweroverpupils.Directingtheirscenesofwar

inclassandtheirscenesofchoiceagainshowedanequalfascinationwithviolence.

Chapterfive,‘PupilsCravingfortheHurtLocker,’outlinesmypupilsmeetingan

Iraqwarveteranandwarpoetandmemoiristintheclassroom.Itforegroundsthesame

dynamicsaspreviousout-of-classliteraryinterventions:pupilsunremittingthirstforthe

secretsofwar.Visitingasiteofmemoryandmourningsparksoffaninvaluablelasting

memoryandcreatesalivingpupiltestimony.Thefacilitationofanextra-curricularevent

isthecornerstoneofthefutureliterarycurriculaIsuggestwiththisbook.‘PupilsCraving

fortheHurtLocker’showshowtheeventestablishedintergenerationalempathywithin

theDutchclassroombetweenpupilsthatwerenotjusttornapartbydifferentracialand

socialbackgrounds,butbytheDutchsystemofearlyselection.Furthermore,aimingto

providemy teacher-readerswith a hands-on analytical tool for a class involvedwith

(writersof)warnarratives,chapter fiveprovidesastructuredanddetailedanalysisof

KateMcLoughlin’stropesofwar(2011).Afollow-upreadingtask,inwhichpupilswere

askedtoread,analyseandtalkaboutIraqWarBlogs,metwithwidespreadresistance.

‘PupilsCravingfortheHurtLocker’goesontooutlinethedesignofacreativewritingtask

fromtheurgentneedtowritethewarbackintotheclassroom,foregroundingthestories

of refugee pupils in the classroom, but also those of my Dutch students and their

impressionslivinginaclimateofwar.Writingtheirtestimonies,mypupilscreatedasense

ofurgencyandachievedasenseagencyvis-à-vistheliteraturecurriculumandexternal

force-fieldsthatseektoswayitscourse.

Chaptersix,‘ConcludingWarintheClassroom,’concludeswithconcreteadviceto

theteacher-reader.Becausenotasingleschool,class,teacherandpupilisthesame,the

tenliteraryinterventionsoutlinedthroughoutthebookwillhavetobeappliedtosuiteach

andeverysingularteacher,class,settingandoccasion.Thecurricularinnovationsdonot

offeraone-size-fits-allsolution.Morethananythingelse,teachers’andpupils’individual

creativityneedstobecalledupontoeitheradapttheirexistingcurriculaorcreatenew

ones.However,everyoneoftheteninterventionshasintegratedsuchteacherandpupil

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engagementintheirdesign.Theyleadtomyintroductionofaten-stepliterarymodel.

Itisadvisedthatthedesignofnewliteraryinterventions:

1. Aremultimodal,2. Interdisciplinary,3. Usecanonicalandnon-canonicaltexts,4. Drawaconnectiontosocietalconcerns,5. Areinternational,multicultural,6. DrawfromMcLoughlin’stropes,7. Includein-classroomandout-of-classroominterventions,8. Seekforaconnectionwiththeforce-fields,9. Establishpathosformula;10. ThesestepsleaddefactotoBildung.

ThisdissertationshowshowliteratureprovestobethemostpowerfulweaponanEnglish

teacherorindeedanylanguageteachercanwieldtoaddressthesensitiveissueofwar.It

shows that shown that more than any other place, the classroom allows for canon

formation,selectinglesserknown(war)narrativesfromthearmouryofculturalmemory

byaddingthemtoclassroomcurricula.Thoughmyfocusispurelyonwarliterature,my

qualitativemodel allows for easy thematic shifts to other pressing topics such as, for

instance,racism,genderorclimatechange.Moreover,Iexplainhowmy(English)teacher-

readermay integrate Dutch literature (in translation) in the curriculum. The literary

curricular suggestions are not only multimodal and interdisciplinary. Furthermore, I

show how visiting the battlefields and places of memory and mourning allows even

further cross-curricular enterpriseswith subjects suchasHistory,Geography, and the

Arts.

Having shown the immeasurablepowerof literature, foregrounding it as a key

weapon in the hands of teachers battling society, science and politics’ problems, this

disserationisanemphaticpleatostopcuttingandstartinvestingintheHumanities.This

book shows it is necessary to reclaim the ever-growing lost territory with regard to

secondary school students’ ability to distinguish the validity of various sources and

recognisingrealandfakenewsandtheirreadingskills.Thestartingpointtoenhanceand

trainthelatterisreadingmotivation,whichis,sadly,atanall-timelowatthemomentof

writing.Yethopecanbegarneredfromthisbook,forifanything,warnarrativeshavea

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powerfulappealuponpupils,motivatingthemtoreadbeyondthecomfortzonesoftheir

mobilephonesstreamingtheirpreferredfilmicgenre,andawakeningtheirsorelymissed

motivationtoreadliterature.Thisbookadvisestomakeliteraturemorereadilyavailable

topupils,andtoinvestinteacherstograntthemtimetodevelopaliteraturecurriculum

followingthelinesoftheten-stepmodel.

Politicalandclassroomimplications

The ten-step intervention is intrinsically connected to the state of the Humanities at

universities,andithaspoliticalramifications.Teachersneedtobefacilitatedtodevelop

literary language tasks with clear ties to delicate subjects the force fields of science,

politics and societywisheseducation todealwith,Holocaust andWarbeing themost

necessaryamongsttheseissues.Thesetaskswillproveavitalassetinthebattleagainst

the sharp decline in teenagers reading literature and their general reading skills.

Concretely,my advice is to facilitate and finance the broad formation of professional

learningcommunitiesforteachers,ledbyteacher-researchers.Thesewillprovetheideal

placetodisseminatethetheoryandliteraryinterventionssuchastheseinthisbook,as

wellastranslatethemtotheindividualprofessionalandtheirschool.

Furthermore,giventheimportanceofpupilownershipviatheirowntestimonial

products,rangingfromwritingawarpoemtocreatingtheirownfilm,thesetaskstravel

wellandunderscorethenecessityofanobligatoryfieldtriptoa‘Lieudesmémoire,’as

Pierre Nora explains, ‘the principal places or sites in which memory [is] rooted,’

(Landsberg2004,6).Anobligatoryfieldtriptoaplaceofmemoryandmourningneedsto

be added to the so-called ‘kerndoelen’ (core-goals) of Dutch education. Top-down

governmentalfundingisbothessentialandegalitarian,fortheextrafinancialimpulsewill

enableallschooldenominationstoparticipate,regardlessofaschoolpopulation’swealth

or educational level. This in itself is an act of good citizenship and gives concrete

opportunitytoaddressthe‘sensitive’issuesatschool.Furthermore,itsframewillallow

teacherstowinovertheirsenseofanxietytoaddresssuchcontentionissues,whereasa

realising a broad national implementation will give rise to peer consultancy and

conferencing. It will allow a variety of secondary school subjects to structurally

interconnect and putting so-called ‘core-subject’ English and/or Dutch language and

literaturecentraltothetripandtaskswillfurtherbolstertheHumanities.

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Fromthegas-attacksofGhoutatotheBataclaninParis,fromthecommemorations

of‘MH17’toWorldWarIandII,fromIraqirefugeestoSyriansnowtakingtheirplacein

Dutchclassrooms,thisbookhasshownthatwarinvadestheclassroominmanyguises.

Therewillalwaysbeacurrenteventofconflicta(language)teachermayaddressinhis

orherclassesandcurricula.Thechallengeliesinselectingthepotentialpathosformula

narrativesfromandforthesewarstotriggerteenagerswith,aswellasfindingascholarly

frame.And,importantly,teachersneedtodesignahands-ontaskforpupilstoengagewith

thatwill allow them to reflect and come to termswith the subject athand, aswell as

empowerthemintheirblossomingroleasfuturecitizens.Thisiswhyitisessentialfor

schools and teachers to create curricula that include the creative design of pupils’

products.Theirtestimoniescannotbeunderestimated.Thisbookadvisestoawakenthe

creative and thoughtful force of pupils, our future global citizens. In times ofwar, art

shouldbethefirstthingonhumanity’smind,andifnotinthemindofourpastandpresent

leaders,theninthoseofthefuture,thepupilsoftoday.