Breithoff, Esther (2015) Conflict landscapes of the Chaco War. PhD thesis, University of Bristol.
Abstract
This research sets itself within the field of modern conflict archaeology and adopts a material approach towards the study of the landscapes and material culture of the Chaco War, fought between Paraguay and Bolivia from 1932-1935. This study represents the first ever attempt at examining the conflict using an archaeological ontological framework. It is the aim of this research to present and discuss the complex entangled relationships between humans and things during the conflict and its aftermath. By employing a symmetrical approach to the study of material culture, it breaks down the modern object/subject divide and treats things as equally contributing factors in the shaping of collectives of human and non- human entities that make up the world we live in. In this vein, the thesis discusses the relationships between indigenous people, Mennonites and soldiers, and argues how opening up to different ontologies and understandings of the Chaco bush can be a life-saver in situations of conflict. The study furthermore examines the material culture of the war in relation to concepts of recycling, trench art and non-modern traditional worldviews. Finally, it assesses the war's physical remains in the landscape as material mementoes of a past that are firmly embedded within the present.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Previously completed thesis (PhD) |
|---|---|
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Historical Studies |
| Depositing User: | Administrator |
| Date Deposited: | 22 Apr 2021 11:50 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Aug 2023 18:09 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/43977 |
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