Women, War and Words: a Verbal Archaeology of Shield-maidens

Scholarly discussions of the question of the participation of women in war in the Viking Age have based their arguments on a variety of evidence, including both archaeology and texts. However, even those scholars who make substantial use of the textual evidence have not paid sufficiently close attention to (a) the vocabulary used in the representations (whether historical or fictional) of women acting in the supposed male role of warrior and (b) the literary-historical contexts in which the texts were produced, including potential relationships between texts. To further these discussions, this paper proposes a method which might be called the ‘stratigraphy of texts’ to demonstrate how a careful sifting of the cumulative textual evidence can enrich discussion about this important question. With close attention to the vocabulary used by the texts, and by considering the date, genre and sources of, and – importantly – the relationships between, texts in Old Norse, the discussion will demonstrate what can and what cannot be deduced from these textual representations of female warriors in the Viking Age. The paper will focus on tracing the development of the Old Norse concept of the skjaldmær, ‘shield-maiden’, through a variety of texts in which this term occurs, and also suggest a probable origin for the concept. There will also be a brief consideration of the term ‘valkyrie’ (ON valkyrja).

Situating Women in Trauma of War: An Analysis of Baghdad Burning: A Blog from an Iraqi Woman

The paper deals with situating women in war trauma in Baghdad Burning Volume 2, a girl's blog from Iraq. In the current study, the researcher attempts to reveal the rising of fundamentalism in Iraq after the war. The objective of this study is to safeguard the rights and honour of women after traumatic experiences. The study explores whether the unlashed media is doing its duties truthfully or it dishonestly manipulates the facts about the Iraqi women's traumatic experiences. The paper exposes the reason behind the hiding of the true identity of the author, pseudo-named Riverbend. The framework for the study has been taken from an article "A Conceptual Framework for the Impact of Traumatic Experiences", written by Eve B Carlson and the co-author Constance Dalenberg. The study unfolds the reality that a traumatic event becomes a nightmare, especially for a woman, and a series of flashbacks to the same traumatic experience becomes recurrent. The paper concludes the living standards, disparities and situation of women in contemporary war-stricken Iraq.

Cinematic Islamic feminism and the female war gaze

One of 2019’s most acclaimed documentaries, Waad Al-Kateab’s For Sama is an extraordinary feminist representation of the Syrian civil war (2011present). Al-Kateab impressively documents five years of the most traumatic contemporary conflict in the Middle East by focusing on personal confessions to Sama, her new-born daughter. Raw, dramatic, and sometimes unbearable to watch, it is a poetic tribute to a micro-level, “singularly unmanly”, and painfully intimate portrayal of war and hope (Montgomery). A mixture of love and horror unfold through a kaleidoscopic personal narrative that broaches macro-political and religious subjects without centralising them in the cinematic experience. This article discusses how Al-Kateab’s documentary is a novel and risky experiment that intermingles the female war gaze with a subtle, image-based Islamic feminism. Capitalising on Svetlana Alexievich’s “female war gaze”, which represents the invisible stories of women in war, I show how Al-Kateab’s cinematography expands the scope of the female war experience through carefully selected visual refences to Islamic ethical praxis, as interiorised by the camerawoman. For Sama is simultaneously an intimate motherly confession and act of both “listening” and “remembrance” (as the praxis of the Sufi Samāʿ suggests). In short, it mediates an ethical truth about the human condition in ruins.

The participation of Polish female soldiers in World War I

Purpose: The aim of this paper is to outline a history of the participation of Polish female soldiers in the World War I. Its outlines their commitment, struggle, and efforts made to contribute to Poland's military effort during the war. The article describes the legal situation of the military participation of women in Poland, and also deals with their role and place in society. Design/methodology/approach: The aim of the article was to organize, systematize and describe the knowledge about the role and participation of female soldiers of the Polish armed forces during the World War I. The above theoretical goal has been achieved by applying the methods of analysis, synthesis, deduction, induction and inference. Findings: In the course of the work were found results, which testify to historically underestimated contribution of women in war efforts. These, both in reinforcement and in other spheres of hostilities significantly contributed to the end of the war and its final result. Social implications: Publication of the article may contribute to increasing social awareness of the underestimated participation and involvement of female soldiers in military action during the war and of the social and cultural roles they fulfill. Originality/value: The article organizes and systematizes the knowledge about the military service of women in the described period. It is addressed both to people associated with all kinds of uniformed services, management and command, as well as people from the civilian environment

Role of Afghan Women in War against British Ahmad Wali Alemi,

The presence of Afghan women in Afghan society in major national and local decision-making is faded and often marginalized. But they have a key role in the production and processing of resources that are unfortunately deprived of ownership. On the contrary, in issues such as conflict, Afghan women are present on the battlefields and stand on the train with their men in a single row, fighting with their enemies and defending their country. With the end of the war, their role does not end, but they are also involved in more serious decisions related to the war.One good example of this can be remembered in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, that Afghan women have played a key role in the solution of local conflicts in Afghan tribal society and, through the Jirga and the Soviets, have made peace with the warring factions and ultimately. Ends of strife, war, and hostility have become essential. Therefore, in this article, citing the archives and historical sources, efforts have been made to express the role of Afghan women in War against the British and to investigate their activities.

Re-presenting Wrens

Chris Hopkins focuses on how wartime participation in the Wrens was represented during and immediately after the war by exploring the written forms in which Wrens were characterized and how these forms were put into the wider context of wartime popular writing about servicemen and particularly about the Royal Navy. Writing about women’s service experience has not yet been adequately studied, though a significant number of women took part. The essay deals with some of the documentary writing that forms a rich context for the only wartime novel written by a servicewoman about the Wrens, Edith Pargeter's She Goes to War (1942), a Naval fiction/documentary unexpectedly engaging with the agenda of the People's War. The essay argues that this neglected writing tells a significant story about women in war-time Britain and as such is important for understanding the experience of servicewomen, opening debates about society, gender and class.