Home/Fronts

In recent years, the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq have had an impact on the UK, rivalled only by the Brexit and the global financial crisis. For people at home, the wars were ever-present in the media, yet remained distant and difficult to apprehend. This study offers an analytical survey of British contemporary war narratives in novels, drama, film, and television that seek to make sense of the experience. The study shows how the narratives, instead of reflecting on the UK`s role as invader, portray war as invading the British home. Home loses its post-Cold War sense of »permanent peace« and is recast as a home/front where war once again becomes part of what it means to be »us«.

Janina Wierzoch has been working as a research assistant at Universität Hamburg and as a lecturer at Leuphana University, Lüneburg. With a degree in British literature and culture, media studies, and German literature, her research and teaching interests include British prose fiction from the 19th century onwards as well as contemporary drama; a special focus lies on film and television but also includes other visual and new media.