Other Everests: Commemoration, Memory and Meaning and the British Everest Expedition Centenaries, 2021-2024
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Central Lancashire
Department Name: Sch of Humanities and Social Science
Abstract
Other Everests is a new interdisciplinary research network that takes as its starting point the centenary of the post-war British Everest campaigns of 1921-1924. It will bring together international scholars, archivists, curators, learned and professional societies and the UK mountaineering community to critically reassess the legacy of the Everest expeditions and to re-evaluate the symbolic, political and cultural status of Everest in the contemporary world.
Everest became the object of British mountaineering attention after the First World War for a number of reasons. Himalayan mountaineering presented the opportunity to reconstruct a form of heroic masculinity. To 'conquer' Everest would demonstrate British racial vigour and imperial fitness to rule in India. The mass media were avid for stories of heroism and adventure. The mythopoeic disappearance of Mallory and Irvine in 1924 reinforced dominant narratives of ill-fated adventure and the nobility of sacrifice. Enduring archetypes were created that continue to shape the popular understanding of Everest to the present day.
The Other Everests network will bring post-colonial perspectives to bear on Everest mountaineering narratives, challenging us to broaden and deepen our understanding of Everest's mountaineering history, its symbolic legacy and contemporary meanings, shifting the focus away from colonial-era narratives, providing access to the hidden histories of Everest. It brings historical perspectives to bear on the multiple contemporary ethical, social and political challenges thrown up by Everest, bringing together historians, geographers, anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists and literature scholars to examine subjects as diverse as: the legacy of British imperialism, the hidden histories of exploration, labour hierarchies and welfare; 'overtourism' and the environmental and social impacts of adventure tourism, the disposal of human remains on the mountain, and the globalisation of mountaineering.
The Other Everests network will develop a network of academics and the custodians of significant archival collections relating to Everest, such as our project partner, the Royal Geographical Society, enabling contemporary scholarship to contribute to the discussion around appropriate forms of commemoration of the post-war Everest expeditions. The network will reflect on the commemorative activities that have already taken place in 2021 for the centenary of the much smaller Everest Reconnaissance Expedition of 1921, as well as taking part in the debates around the much more significant forthcoming centenaries of the British attempts to climb Everest that will be in 2022 and 2024. The network will ask fundamental questions about commemoration, memory and meaning and the role of contemporary archives in understanding Everest today: questions such as 'Whose history are we commemorating?'; 'How do we incorporate Nepalese and Tibetan perspectives in our interpretation of mountaineering on Everest?'; 'What are the sources for the history of indigenous high-altitude labour?'; 'How does history continue to shape contemporary globalised mountaineering cultures on Everest?'; 'How can digitisation facilitate co-production and digital repatriation?'; 'What are the challenges of engaging different communities and publics as co-producers of knowledge, enabling them to be part of the process of reinterpreting the legacy of mountaineering on Everest?'.
Other Everests will take a once-in-a-100-year opportunity to critically reassess the legacy of Everest and its meaning in contemporary culture and society. It will make its findings widely accessible in an Open-Access collection of critical essays that address key themes highlighted by the network and it will work with our project partners at the Kendal Mountain Festival to develop public lectures and events that translate contemporary scholarship into publicly accessible formats.
Everest became the object of British mountaineering attention after the First World War for a number of reasons. Himalayan mountaineering presented the opportunity to reconstruct a form of heroic masculinity. To 'conquer' Everest would demonstrate British racial vigour and imperial fitness to rule in India. The mass media were avid for stories of heroism and adventure. The mythopoeic disappearance of Mallory and Irvine in 1924 reinforced dominant narratives of ill-fated adventure and the nobility of sacrifice. Enduring archetypes were created that continue to shape the popular understanding of Everest to the present day.
The Other Everests network will bring post-colonial perspectives to bear on Everest mountaineering narratives, challenging us to broaden and deepen our understanding of Everest's mountaineering history, its symbolic legacy and contemporary meanings, shifting the focus away from colonial-era narratives, providing access to the hidden histories of Everest. It brings historical perspectives to bear on the multiple contemporary ethical, social and political challenges thrown up by Everest, bringing together historians, geographers, anthropologists, sociologists, psychologists and literature scholars to examine subjects as diverse as: the legacy of British imperialism, the hidden histories of exploration, labour hierarchies and welfare; 'overtourism' and the environmental and social impacts of adventure tourism, the disposal of human remains on the mountain, and the globalisation of mountaineering.
The Other Everests network will develop a network of academics and the custodians of significant archival collections relating to Everest, such as our project partner, the Royal Geographical Society, enabling contemporary scholarship to contribute to the discussion around appropriate forms of commemoration of the post-war Everest expeditions. The network will reflect on the commemorative activities that have already taken place in 2021 for the centenary of the much smaller Everest Reconnaissance Expedition of 1921, as well as taking part in the debates around the much more significant forthcoming centenaries of the British attempts to climb Everest that will be in 2022 and 2024. The network will ask fundamental questions about commemoration, memory and meaning and the role of contemporary archives in understanding Everest today: questions such as 'Whose history are we commemorating?'; 'How do we incorporate Nepalese and Tibetan perspectives in our interpretation of mountaineering on Everest?'; 'What are the sources for the history of indigenous high-altitude labour?'; 'How does history continue to shape contemporary globalised mountaineering cultures on Everest?'; 'How can digitisation facilitate co-production and digital repatriation?'; 'What are the challenges of engaging different communities and publics as co-producers of knowledge, enabling them to be part of the process of reinterpreting the legacy of mountaineering on Everest?'.
Other Everests will take a once-in-a-100-year opportunity to critically reassess the legacy of Everest and its meaning in contemporary culture and society. It will make its findings widely accessible in an Open-Access collection of critical essays that address key themes highlighted by the network and it will work with our project partners at the Kendal Mountain Festival to develop public lectures and events that translate contemporary scholarship into publicly accessible formats.