“The Glorious Fruit of our Land”: The Great War in PJ Harvey ’s Let England Shake

Authors

  • José Otaviano da Mata Machado UFMG

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5902/1679849X25174

Keywords:

War Narratives, First World War, Intermedia Studies, Song Studies

Abstract

Let England Shake, PJ Harvey’s 2011 concept album, and the homonymous short films collection directed by Seamus Murphy in collaboration with the singer, consist of a very contemporary example
of war narrative. The album’s lyrics focus centrally – but not exclusively – on the First World War, specially on the Galipoli Campaign, while Murphy’s film approaches mainly the recent conflicts in the Middle East. This article focuses on evidencing how the image of war in Let England Shake is aesthetically constructed both in song and in imagery, supported by the theories of war literature – especially
Samuel Hynes’s – and by debates on the (aesth) ethics of the representation of violence.

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Author Biography

José Otaviano da Mata Machado, UFMG

Mestrado em Literaturas de Língua Inglesa pela Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

References

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BRIDPORT NEWS. Bridport: Local rock star PJ Harvey talks to the News, 26 jan. 2011. Available at:

<http://www.bridportnews.co.uk/news/localnews

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BROSMAN, Catherine Savage. The Functions of War Literature. South Central Review, Baltimore, Vol. 9, No. 1, p. 85-98, 1991.

EAMES, Tom. PJ Harvey wins Mercury Prize 2011 for ‘Let England Shake’. Digital Spy, 6 Set. 2011. Available at: <http://www.digitalspy.com/music/news/a339029/pj-harvey-wins-mercury-prize-2011-for-let-england-shake/> Access in 15 Jun. 2016.

FUSSEL, Paul. Never such Innocence Again. In: FUSSEL, Paul (Org.). The Bloody Game: An Anthology of Modern War. Abacus: London, 1991.

HARVEY, PJ. Let England Shake. Los Angeles: Vagrant, 2011. 1 CD (39:41 min): digital, estéreo.

HARVEY, PJ. Let England Shake: 12 Short Films By Seamus Murphy. Vagrant, 2011. 1 DVD: laser, estéreo.

HYNES, Samuel. A War Imagined: The First World War and English Culture. Vintage Digital, 2011 (Kindle Edition).

HYNES, Samuel. The Soldiers’ Tale: Bearing Witness to Modern War. New York: Penguin, 1997.

MASON, Bobbie Ann. In Country. New York: Harper Perennial, 2005.

McLOUGHLIN, Kate. War and Words. In: McLOUGHLIN, Kate (Org.). The Cambridge Companion to War Writing. New York: Cambridge, 2009. p. 15 – 24.

METACRITIC. Let England Shake. Available at: <http://www.metacritic.com/music/let-englandshake/

pj-harvey/critic-reviews?dist=neutral> Access in 15 Jun. 2016.

NEW ZEALAND HISTORY. Battleship Hill (Big 700). Available at: <http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/page/battleship-hill-big-700> Access in 15 Jun. 2016.

NORRIS, Margot. Writing War in the Twentieth Century. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000.

O’BRIEN, Tim. The Things They Carried. Boston: Mariner, 2009.

SCHRODT, Paul. The Man Who Maketh Polly Jean’s Movies: An Interview with Seamus Murphy. Slant Magazine, 15 jan. 2011. Available at: <http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/article/the-manwho-maketh-polly-jeans-movies> Access in 15 Jun. 2016.

Capa do Dossiê n. 17 do Periódico Literatura e Autoritarismo com o título "Literatura e Guerra: o impacto da Primeira Guerra Mundial na produção cultural"

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Published

2016-12-11

How to Cite

Machado, J. O. da M. (2016). “The Glorious Fruit of our Land”: The Great War in PJ Harvey ’s Let England Shake. Literatura E Autoritarismo, (17). https://doi.org/10.5902/1679849X25174

Issue

No. 17 (2016): Dossiê "Literatura e Guerra: o impacto da Primeira Guerra Mundial na produção cultural"

Section

Artigos

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