Intermedial mise en abyme in war narratives

About L’abicì della guerra and War Primer 2

Abstract

This contribution aims to discuss Bertolt Brecht’s representation of war in his War Primer, a less known poetic work. It will be shown how topical such a work is, which is based on interaction between poetry and photography and on the relevance of an enhanced comprehension of photography’s use. War Primer 2, Broomberg’s and Chanarin’s rewriting of Brecht’s work, will be analyzed in order to reflect upon both changes in contemporary war dynamics and the characteristics of Brecht’s paradigmatic way of working.