The full-text may be used and/or reproduced and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not for profit purposes provided that: • A full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • A link is made to the metadata record in DRO • The full text is not change in any way. The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Robinson

more »

... University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne. NE1 7RU. Tel. 0191 222 6000 1 Heroic anxieties: the figure of the British soldier in contemporary print media. Abstract This paper is about representations of the figure of the British soldier in contemporary print media. Drawing on photographs reproduced across a range of newspapers over a specified time period in 2006, the paper examines the salient features of the construction of the figure of the soldier within this quantity and diversity of images. A key distinction in this group of images is that between the anonymous and the named soldier. The use of generic images of soldiers is discussed. The paper assesses the functions of these representations of the soldier in terms of the work that they do in consolidating specific narratives about armed conflict. The paper argues that contemporary print media representations of the figure of the British soldier reflect anxieties about armed violence, and its legitimacy or otherwise.