ABSTRACT
This introductory chapter sets the collection in perspective by moving towards a definition of the concept of narrative. Without becoming a theoretical straightjacket into which the ensuing chapters are shoehorned, it discusses the various possible definitions of ‘narrative’ which have informed the contributors to this volume. Narrative or ‘emplotment’ in the sense of war narrative takes shape as a deliberate way of stringing together events in the past into some sort of order which makes sense, and which then can be used for such ends as easing psychological distress or identity-building, for political goals, for moral instruction, for philosophical assertion and especially for meaning-making. Narrative gives events both cultural meaning and significance, by framing the past in a particular way.
Armed conflict was all but constant in twentieth-century Europe, and the narratives of war generated by that recurrent conflict flowed back and forth, forever being revised and reformulated, challenged and replotted, sometimes provoking further conflict, but more often providing meaning and comfort. It becomes clear how vitally important these narratives of war are to our societies, and indeed to each of us.
