The Korean War (1950-1953), often called the ‘Forgotten’ or ‘Unknown War’, is one of the
most important conflicts of the latter half of the twentieth century, fundamentally shaping
the nature of Cold War and modern politics. Yet beyond these well-studied political
dimensions, the Korean War arguably witnessed the emergence of a new, ‘militarised self’ in
the post-1945 world. By locating and deconstructing this formation, I hope to build a novel,
innovative and rigorous study of the British soldier of the Korean War and thereby make a
positive academic contribution to the field of history, and indeed to literary theory and
psychology. Furthermore, such a study is especially pertinent given the burgeoning
importance of ‘the self’ as a new field inquiry for the human and social sciences. I intend to
study the mechanisms through which such a self emerged, the relationship between the
individual and the post-1945 state and the significance of the ‘prison writing’ of British
POWs, as well as answering questions about trauma, masculinity and collective identity.
My own academic achievements thus far would support such a project; I was awarded a
first-class History degree with an overall degree average of 76% (2010). I also won the Iain
Smith prize for the best overall examination performance (2010), Prize for Best Examination
Performance in Second-Year History (2009) and a prize for outstanding work in First-Year
History (2008). Furthermore, I researched ‘working-class autobiography’ for an assessed
4500-word essay, gaining great interest and insight into the form and theoretical
underpinnings of such writing, with a mark of 85%. So far in my Modern History MA, I have
secured an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Research Preparation Award and
attended many optional seminars, in particular the History of Medicine series and sought to
become involved in the academic community, acting as a secretary for the Postgraduate
Staff Student Liaison Committee (SSLC, 2010-11). In addition I have sought to deepen my
knowledge of academic history through vacation employment; for the last two summers, I
have worked for Oxford University Press in the Academic Journals department, facilitating
the publication of scholarly articles. I have also worked in number of historical archives,
spending time at the Houses of Parliament (2008), the Imperial War Museum (2006) and
Windsor Castle (2005). These experiences were both informative and exciting, revealing the
workings of such organisations and the wealth of material available to the researcher.