When you are comparing Remarque and Jünger’s memories of war, ask yourself:
What evidence do they provide to convince you of their version?
How are they similar and how are they different?
What is their opinion of war? What impact does it have on men?
In what ways do you think their historical context influenced their positions?
What is their explanation of why nations went to war?
Dr. Petrone asserts that “gender plays a critical role in the construction of war memory,”
how does gender appear in these Remarque and Jünger’s texts?
How do you think they would define masculinity?
Dr. Petrone mentions the debate between war as holy war and war as abomination:
do any of these apply to your readings, why or why not?
Texts:
Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front. New York: Ballantine Books, 1982 [1929].
Ernst Jünger, Selections from The Storm of Steel: From the Diary of a German Storm-Troop Officer on the Western Front London: Chatto & Windus, 1975 [1920].
Karen Petrone, “Gender and Memory” in Gender and the Great War, Susan Grayzel and Tammy Proctor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
