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Representations of the Other in the Time of War: Does War Matter?
the 1950s. Gender values were undergoing noticeable re-conceptualisation in these
years, highlighting the role of the woman as a worker, mother, carrier of tradition,
etc. In order for those values to be introduced and sustained, it was necessary to
stage reality so that it would fit the imaginary.
Also addressing identity construction in the Silesian region of Poland, Ewa
Baniowska-Kopacz describes images published in Sigsk. Miesiecznik Iustrowany
(‘Silesia. Monthly Illustrated’). The visual material in this periodical aimed at con¬
structing a ‘new history’ for Silesia, a region Poland regained after WWII. Pictures
of rural work and the cultural and historical legacy (kings, important places and
buildings) were published to present the Regained Territories as a friendly, well¬
known and safe space so that the audience would identify with this area, which is
another good example of redefining the past and conditioning the present with the
help of images.
Liudmila Limanskaya’s chapter about the deconstruction of socialist ideals at
the beginning of the 21* century draws the volume to a conclusion. She describes
the works produced within the Sots Art movement, where the ‘heroes’ of socialist
realism are both revived and desacralised by an ironic use of gestures, expressions and
postures known from the 1950s. This shows quite clearly the persisting relevance
of these images and points to the indirect effects of WWII in contemporary art.
Conclusion
The chapters of this volume address wartime images (but, to give a wider context,
include in some cases images from before and after WWII) from a number of
European countries. It is exactly the multiplicity of the material that makes the
volume unique. Different periods in history—and different countries or regions—
highlight specific sets of topics and can be differentiated by the style of the images
and by the favourite media in which the Other was represented. It is highly
important to explore what causes a specific type of message to prevail in a given
period, country or region. Moreover, every type of medium has its own ways of
representing the reality. The representations that are studied in this volume form
a comparable set of material because all of them have been shaped by the presence
of total war—WWII (and WWI to some extent).
If we look into the past, we can find out something about the present. This
volume shows once again that the question of how war matters makes a relevant
topic—at every time when there is a split, a chiasm, similar processes are triggered.
The well-known human disposition to see only black and white, heroes or villains,
especially in times of conflict, is an eternal one, although with modifications condi¬
tioned by context and previous experience. We can delve deeper into the question
posed by Stuart Hall* (1997: 225) by asking whether “the repertoires of represen¬
§ He asks, "have the repertoires of representation around ‘difference’ and ‘otherness’ changed or do earlier
traces remain intact in contemporary society?” (Hall 1997: 225).
y y
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