Mothers of Heroes, Mothers of Martyrs

World War I and the Politics of Grief

Suzanne Evans

• Publisher: McGill-Queen's University Press
• Year: 2007
• Print ISBN: 9780773531888
• eBook ISBN: 9780773577978
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

Suzanne Evans finds commonalities between the many images of war mothers - the Canadian Silver Cross mother, the ancient Jewish Maccabean mother of seven martyred sons, the mother of a Palestinian suicide bomber. She compares the lore about mothers of martyrs in the Judeo-Christian, Muslim, and Sikh traditions with stories of World War I Canadian mothers who were depicted in the media as having sacrificed their sons for the sake of civilization, justice, freedom, and God. After the war these mothers were honoured with the Silver Cross medal. Evans argues that, like the mothers of past martyrs, the image of the war-supportive mother in Canada had a powerful influence over public opinion and drew supporters to the cause.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• CONTENTS
• ILLUSTRATIONS
• PREFACE
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• Introduction Heroes and Martyrs
• Chapter 1 The Seeds of the Martyrs Stories of Jewish, Christian, Islamic, and Sikh Mothers of Martyrs
• Chapter 2 The Language of Sacrifice The Voice of Preachers and Artists in World War I
• Chapter 3 “You Are All I Have to Give”: War Mothers’ Stories, Rewards, and the Other Face of Loss
• Chapter 4 Monuments and Memories The Mother’s Role in the Sad Work of Commemoration
• Chapter 5 Governance of the Gardens of the Dead War Graves, the Ancient Greeks, and the Need to Remember and to Forget
• Conclusion Mothers and Memories
• NOTES
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• INDEX