Reflecting on photographs emerging from Gaza in 2023, one New York Times war reporter wrote, “One of the hardest parts of journalism is witnessing horror and then trying, in words, sound and image, to convey that pain to the wider world. Many people may want to look away, to see the world as they prefer to see it. But what should we see when we see war? What should war demand all of us to see and understand?”. These questions, faced by both war reporters and readers, troubled early modern writers as much as they trouble us now. After witnessing the bloody attack on Antwerp by the Spanish in 1576, the soldier poet George Gascoigne wrote that war reports might “fetche brinysh teares out of the most craggy rocke” as we “lament and bewayle the burning houses of so neare neighbours”, yet the reporter must resist sensationalism and only “set downe a plaine truthe”. Questions of truth, bias, emotion, memory, and the affective power of the written word plague war narratives then and now. This colloquium seeks to bring together scholars interested in early modern war narratives (historical, literary, and visual) and to address how these narratives navigated the difficulties of depicting war, physical and emotional trauma, and violence, as well as the emotional, political, moral, and religious responses they attempted to evoke from their audiences. Some questions we hope to address include:

●      How do war narratives balance the need for truthfulness with the risk of sensationalism?

●      What ethical responsibilities do war reporters or writers bear when depicting violence and trauma?

●      How did early modern writers use literary devices to evoke empathy or action from their audiences?

●      In what ways can the study of early modern war narratives inform contemporary debates on conflict reporting, empathy, and accountability?

Convenor: Dr. Emily Rowe (KCL)

Keynotes: Prof. Andrew Hopper (Kellogg College, Oxford) and Dr. Ismini Pells (Kellogg College, Oxford)

Sponsors: The Centre for Early Modern Studies at King’s College London.

Timeline

Call for Papers Deadline: Friday 11th April

Acceptance Decisions: Friday 18th April

Colloquium: Friday 6th June

Call for Papers

We invite proposals for 15-minute papers on topics including, but not limited to:

●      The role of memory and commemoration in early modern war narratives

●      Trauma, survival, and testimony in accounts of war

●      The intersection of gender and war writing: voices of soldiers, widows, and civilians

●      Religious justifications and moral dilemmas in depictions of war

●      The influence of classical and medieval war literature on early modern narratives

●      The politics of print: censorship, propaganda, and the circulation of war reports

●      Material culture and the artifacts of war: weapons, letters, and battlefield relics

●      Cross-cultural perspectives on war: how global conflicts shaped early modern narratives

Please submit an abstract (250 words max) and a short bio to cems@kcl.ac.uk by 11th April 2025. Submissions will be reviewed after the deadline and we will notify applicants of acceptance decisions by 18th April 2025.