Trench warfare during World War One (WWI) created a social context in which professional and human connections were strengthened among soldiers in their daily life on the frontline (see Walker, 2017). In these unique conditions, the military slang used by British soldiers had a dramatic development, to the point that a real ‘trench slang’, or ‘trench talk’, originated (see Coleman, 2009; Doyle and Walker, 2012; Winkowski, 2017 for an overview of trench terms in WWI). Within the tendency towards solidarity with soldiers fighting on the frontline – which was strengthened through propaganda – civilians in England became familiar with trench talk, to the point that for instance some newspapers started publishing ‘trench glossaries’ (Walker, 2017:204-5), thus accelerating its enregisterment (as intended by Agha, 2003) as a technical language recognised beyond its original domain, associated with the image of soldiers on the frontline and with values such as camaraderie, bravery, and service to the nation. During the conflict, the dawning film industry did its part in the war effort by producing propaganda films. Among these, The Battle of the Somme (1916) can be considered “not only the most successful propaganda film of the War, but arguably the most successful British film of all time” (Reeves, 1999). Although this silent film has a clear propaganda intent, it was presented at the time as a genuine depiction of the British Army during the preparation and the beginning of the battle; the descriptive use of text in the intertitles reflects this documentary nature. By using the aforementioned studies by Coleman (2009) and Walker (2017) among others, but also trench dictionaries such as the one compiled by the veterans Fraser and Gibbons (1925), this work aims at detecting trench talk terms and pinpointing their meaning and role in the description. The study analyses 23 intertitles, selected from a total of 63 intertitles in 74 minutes of film. In doing so, this work seeks to delve into the process of enregisterment of this slang, and concurrently its pivotal role in the early representation of WWI soldiers on screen.
Film Propaganda and the Enregisterment of Trench Slang: The Battle of the Somme as a Case Study / Dall'Olio, Alberto. - (2024). (Intervento presentato al convegno 8th International Conference on Late Modern English tenutosi a Università di Salamanca (Spagna)).
Film Propaganda and the Enregisterment of Trench Slang: The Battle of the Somme as a Case Study
Alberto Dall'Olio
2024
Abstract
Trench warfare during World War One (WWI) created a social context in which professional and human connections were strengthened among soldiers in their daily life on the frontline (see Walker, 2017). In these unique conditions, the military slang used by British soldiers had a dramatic development, to the point that a real ‘trench slang’, or ‘trench talk’, originated (see Coleman, 2009; Doyle and Walker, 2012; Winkowski, 2017 for an overview of trench terms in WWI). Within the tendency towards solidarity with soldiers fighting on the frontline – which was strengthened through propaganda – civilians in England became familiar with trench talk, to the point that for instance some newspapers started publishing ‘trench glossaries’ (Walker, 2017:204-5), thus accelerating its enregisterment (as intended by Agha, 2003) as a technical language recognised beyond its original domain, associated with the image of soldiers on the frontline and with values such as camaraderie, bravery, and service to the nation. During the conflict, the dawning film industry did its part in the war effort by producing propaganda films. Among these, The Battle of the Somme (1916) can be considered “not only the most successful propaganda film of the War, but arguably the most successful British film of all time” (Reeves, 1999). Although this silent film has a clear propaganda intent, it was presented at the time as a genuine depiction of the British Army during the preparation and the beginning of the battle; the descriptive use of text in the intertitles reflects this documentary nature. By using the aforementioned studies by Coleman (2009) and Walker (2017) among others, but also trench dictionaries such as the one compiled by the veterans Fraser and Gibbons (1925), this work aims at detecting trench talk terms and pinpointing their meaning and role in the description. The study analyses 23 intertitles, selected from a total of 63 intertitles in 74 minutes of film. In doing so, this work seeks to delve into the process of enregisterment of this slang, and concurrently its pivotal role in the early representation of WWI soldiers on screen.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
