ABSTRACT
This book focuses on the numerous examples of creativity produced by POWs and civilian internees during their captivity, including: paintings, cartoons, craftwork, needlework, acting, musical compositions, magazine and newspaper articles, wood carving, and recycled Red Cross tins turned into plates, mugs and makeshift stoves, all which have previously received little attention. The authors of this volume show the wide potential of such items to inform us about the daily life and struggle for survival behind barbed wire. Previously dismissed as items which could only serve to illustrate POW memoirs and diaries, this book argues for a central role of all items of creativity in helping us to understand the true experience of life in captivity. The international authors draw upon a rich seam of material from their own case studies of POW and civilian internment camps across the world, to offer a range of interpretations of this diverse and extraordinary material.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|81 pages
Creativity and Narratives of Survival
chapter 2|15 pages
Wonder Bar
chapter 3|17 pages
‘Spiritual Vitamins'
chapter 5|15 pages
Creativity and the Body
chapter 6|17 pages
The Arts of Survival
part II|106 pages
Narratives and Counter-Narratives of Internment
chapter 7|18 pages
In the Distorted Mirror
chapter 8|14 pages
Souvenirs of Internment
chapter 9|19 pages
Deciphering Dynamic Networks from Static Images
chapter 10|16 pages
Beyond Collaboration and Resistance
chapter 11|18 pages
‘God Save the King!'
chapter 12|19 pages
‘Astounding and Encouraging'
part III|101 pages
Creativity and Internment Identities