
Touch and Intimacy in First World War Literature
Santanu Das(Author)
Cambridge University Press
Published on 19. June 2008
Book
Paperback/Softback
284 pages
978-0-521-06687-7 (ISBN)
Description
The First World War ravaged the male body on an unprecedented scale, yet fostered moments of physical intimacy and tenderness among the soldiers in the trenches. Touch, the most elusive and private of the senses, became central to war experience. War writing is haunted by experiences of physical contact: from the muddy realities of the front to the emotional intensity of trench life, to the traumatic obsession with the wounded body in nurses' memoirs. Through extensive archival and historical research, analysing previously unknown letters and diaries alongside literary writings by figures such as Owen and Brittain, Santanu Das recovers the sensuous world of the First World War trenches and hospitals. This original and evocative study alters our understanding of the period as well as of the body at war, and illuminates the perilous intimacy between sense experience, emotion and language as we try to make meaning in times of crisis.
Reviews / Votes
Review of the hardback: '... delicately nuanced, intricately subtle ...' The Times Literary Supplement Review of the hardback: 'Santanu Das has written an original, closely argued and highly detailed account of the way in which touch - the physical interaction with one's surroundings and one's fellow soldiers - defined the experience of the war and the ways in which it was recorded. ... it is packed with original research and is uncommonly well written.' Daily Telegraph Review of the hardback: 'Touch and Intimacy melds a wide range of sources into a brilliantly convincing whole. Methodologically, it makes use of a sophisticated and erudite mix of theory ...' CLIO 'There are some beautiful and revealing passages of writing here ...' The Ivor Gurney Society JournalMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
21 Halftones, unspecified
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
465 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-06687-7 (9780521066877)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Santanu Das
Touch and Intimacy in First World War Literature
E-Book
03/2014
1st Edition
Cambridge University Press
€38.49
Available for download
Person
Santanu Das is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at Queen Mary, University of London.
Content
Introduction: 'Touch is the spirit and rule of all'; Part I. Mud: 1. 'A real monster that sucked': the threat of mud in First World War literature; 2. Muddy narratives; Part II. Intimacies: 3. 'Kiss me, Hardy': the dying kiss in the First World War trenches; 4. Wilfred Owen and the sense of touch; Part III. Wounds: 5. 'Deep into his body': service, sympathy and suffering in the nurses' memoirs; 6. The operating theatre; Conclusion; Bibliography.