Awards

• Winner of Society for Italian Historical Studies Helen and Howard R. Marraro Prize 2012 (United States)

Overview

At the end of the First World War, countries across Europe participated in an unprecedented ritual in which a single, anonymous body was buried to symbolize the overwhelming trauma of the battlefields. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier explores the creation and reception of this symbolic national burial as an emblem for modern mourning. powerfully links the symbolic language and ethics of mourning to a fascinating national ritual.

Full Product Details

Author:   Laura Wittman
Publisher:   University of Toronto Press
Imprint:   University of Toronto Press
Edition:   2nd Revised edition
Dimensions:   Width: 16.10cm , Height: 3.40cm , Length: 23.50cm
Weight:   0.810kg
ISBN:  

9781442643390

ISBN 10:   1442643390
Pages:   464
Publication Date:   11 June 2011
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

"Introduction PART ONE: Anonymity and Sacrifice Introduction: The Return of the Dead A Unanimous Idea Unanimity and confused bones The origins of the Unknown Soldier The primal scene Identification and Chorality Bones manifest themselves Recognition, or reaching across the divide of living and dead Sculpted water A silent inscription Sacrifice and the non finito Taking up anonymity Absolution Initiation PART TWO: Embodiment and Spectacle Introduction: The Undead Body, The Photographic Image, and the Religious Icon Embodiment and Imbestiamento Trauma and animality The symbolic journey The darkness within Mutilation and Spectacle Phantom pain, mutilation, and repetition Touching the absent body: the ""Banner of Randaccio"" Transmitting the experience of death: Promethean fire Mourning Transcendence and Reenchanting the Flesh Confronting Mortality Mourning Transcendence Modernity and the Mystical Body Conclusion Bibliography Notes Illustrations"

Reviews

'This is an interesting, innovative meditation on French and Italian Literary responses to anonymous wartime mortality across a broad chronological time span... primarily of interest to those working on literature, it will also be of value to historians specializing on Italy and the Great War.' -- Heather Jones 'Fine monograph... Laura Wittman addresses the topic with an impressive breadth of sources and depth of analysis. The book is an original and compelling work of scholarship.' -- Thomas Patrick Wisniewski

'This is an interesting, innovative meditation on French and Italian Literary responses to anonymous wartime mortality across a broad chronological time span... primarily of interest to those working on literature, it will also be of value to historians specializing on Italy and the Great War.' -- Heather Jones The Journal of Modern History, vol 85:03:2013

Author Information

Laura Wittman is an assistant professor in the Department of French and Italian at Stanford University.

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