Gender and War in Twentieth-Century Eastern Europe

This volume explores the role of gender on both the home and fighting
fronts in eastern Europe during World Wars I and II. By using gender as a category
of analysis, the authors seek to arrive at a more nuanced understanding of the
subjective nature of wartime experience and its representations. While historians
have long equated the fighting front with the masculine and the home front with the
feminine, the contributors challenge these dichotomies, demonstrating that they are
based on culturally embedded assumptions
about heroism and sacrifice. Major
themes include the ways in which wartime experiences challenge traditional gender
roles; postwar restoration of gender order; collaboration and resistance; the body;
and memory and commemoration.