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The King’s Shilling: Post WWI Masculinity in Peaky Blinders

Larke-Walsh, George S. (2016) The King’s Shilling: Post WWI Masculinity in Peaky Blinders. In: Film and History Annual Conference, Oct 26-30, Milkwaukee, WI, USA.

Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)

Abstract

The successful British TV series, Peaky Blinders (2013-Present) is a gangster narrative focused on class and ethnic identity. This paper will discuss the convergence of criminal and state sanctioned violence and its effect on individual identities – specifically Thomas (Cillian Murphy) and Arthur Shelby (Paul Anderson).  Not only are these criminal brothers used as pawns by government agents in each season, but Thomas Shelby frequently references their 'taking the King's shilling' in the first world war as indicative, not only of national loyalty, but also the genesis for their postwar criminal activities and violent behavior.

Drawing on the connections between manhood, violence and loyalties this paper supports J.A. Mangan’s (2012) assertion of “manliness [as] a cultural construct with the important concomitant of martial expendability” (295). Therefore, the postwar world of Peaky Blinders, that involves near-death experiences in every season, is a fascinating study of masculine identity honed and continually tested within both state-sanctioned and criminal violence. The series’ portrayal of masculine, class and ethnic identities combine to reveal the hypocrisy involved in violence enacted to protect both national and local concerns in the early twentieth century. Thus, it continually challenges the concept of, as well as the motivation for, individual heroism.

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More Information

Depositing User: George Larke-Walsh

Identifiers

Item ID: 13057
URI: http://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/id/eprint/13057

Users with ORCIDS

Catalogue record

Date Deposited: 28 Jan 2021 09:50
Last Modified: 28 Jan 2021 09:50

Contributors

Author: George S. Larke-Walsh

University Divisions

Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries > School of Media and Communications

Subjects

Media > Cinema and Film
Media > Film

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