Downton Abbeygoes to War
Cowards, Conscience, and Commemoration
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5681402 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Patricia Molloy (0000-0001-8479-2911) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 296-312 |
| Publication date | 2021-07-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Critical Military Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2333-7486 • E-ISSN: 2333-7494 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/23337486.2019.1657329 |
| OpenAlex | W2970730892 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 10 |
In 2006, the British government issued a blanket pardon to all 306 soldiers, including 23 Canadians, who were executed for desertion and cowardice during World War I, due to a lengthy campaign by families and anti-war activists who argued that those executed were suffering from what we now recognize as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, there was significant controversy surrounding the issue of the blanket pardon as well as how and whether those executed in World War I should be commemorated. This article argues that this reluctance speaks to a nationalist narrative in which remembrance and resistance are made incommensurable. Specifically, in reading through how the British television drama, Downton Abbey, represents a range of positions on ‘the Great War,’ the article examines how the existing British and Canadian literature on military executions fails to consider the possibility of desertion as anti-war resistance. It also argues that understandings of PTSD which fuelled the pardons campaign, however well intentioned, also efface the possibility of desertion as a conscious and rational act
Art · Conscience · Cowardice · Drama · Government (linguistics · Literature · Media studies · Narrative · Nationalism · Political science · Politics · Resistance (ecology · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · World War II · Canadian Identity and History · Military History and Strategy · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies · Law · Philosophy
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |