Contact Zones of the First World War Cultural Encounters across the British Empire

This is the first in-depth and comparative study of the experience of colonial encounters for troops from the British Empire during the First World War. Drawing on a rich variety of textual and visual material, Anna Maguire explores new contact zones that materialised beyond the battlefield, on troopships, in ports, in military camps and hospitals, in cafes and city streets. She reveals how the colonial mobilisation of troops during the conflict prompted the emergence of spaces for interactions, fleeting moments or ongoing relationships. Through their personal experiences, she uncovers how men from New Zealand, South Africa and the West Indies viewed themselves and their identities during a time of global conflict, simultaneously asserting the strength of the existing colonial order and challenging its enactment, through contact, conflict and collaboration. In spaces away from the frontlines, Maguire uses these cultural encounters of colonial troops to offer a more intricate understanding of imperial power relations.

Introduction; 1. Contexts: The British Empire Goes To War; 2. Wartime Journeys: Troopships and Ports; 3. At Camp: Encounters under Khaki and Canvas; 4. On Leave: Tourism as Encounter; 5. Behind the Lines: Encounters with Civilians; 6. On the Wards: Hospitals and Encounters; 7. Legacies: The Aftermath of Encounter.

Anna Maguire is a Leverhulme Postdoctoral Fellow at Queen Mary University of London. She is co-editor (with Santanu Das and Daniel Steinbach) of Colonial Encounters in a Time of Global Conflict, 1914–1918 (2021).