Tuesday, December 11, 2007

the land army vs the lyrical army...

On the same day that the first woman to be convicted under the Terrorism Act 2000 was sentenced, the "Land Girls", who worked on British farms to supply food to the army during World War II, received a commendation recognising their efforts. This struck a discordant note, hearing the stories back-to-back, I don't know why. I suppose because one marked attempts by a woman to attack our society, while the other marked attempts by women to defend it.

In fact, if you want to make a narrative from the coincidence, you could say that the latter's efforts led, in time, to the former's discontent. The Land Girls fed the army that won a war and carved up a planet the way it, and its Western allies, desired it - to suit their interests - and leading to the aggressive foreign policies that have so riled so many Islamic nations. And in history's customary way of tangling time and looping up narratives (history is never controllably linear...) an old thread got knotted into the newest in the story on exactly the same day last week.



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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

my granny was a land girl. i guess for her it was the equivalent to being at uni - sleeping in haystacks, getting drunk on cider, ultimately culminating in the blind date with my grandad...

however much she adored that freedom though she is very much pro-family and traditional roles now. haven't heard her view on the lyrical terrorist but no doubt she will be frowning and gesticulating wildly if i bring it up over christmas...

x