War of Words: Bridging the Language Divide in the Great War

This article explores the different ways in which soldiers in the First World War communicated with the enemy. Drawing, in particular, on accounts of capture and captivity recorded in interview with escaped and exchanged British prisoners of war, it argues that language was central to these experien...

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Détails bibliographiques
Publié dans:War in History. - Sage Publications, Inc.. - 18(2011), 4, Seite 515-529
Auteur principal: Constantine, Simon (Auteur)
Format: Article en ligne
Langue:English
Publié: 2011
Accès à la collection:War in History
Sujets:Political science Linguistics Law History Behavioral sciences
Description
Résumé:This article explores the different ways in which soldiers in the First World War communicated with the enemy. Drawing, in particular, on accounts of capture and captivity recorded in interview with escaped and exchanged British prisoners of war, it argues that language was central to these experiences, and that a soldier's ability to understand, and make himself understood, was often pivotal to the question of whether he survived or perished.
ISSN:14770385