Twentieth-Century War Poetry

Poets have written about wars throughout the 20th century - questioning, protesting and, sometimes, celebrating the nature and purpose of conflict. Attracting an enthusiastic popular readership, war poetry has often been seen as a way of remembering and re-imagining wars. Today, war poems are not only part of our memorial culture, on epitaphs and in Remembrance Day services, but have inspired books and films and become studied widely around the world.

This Guide examines the genesis and development of the important genre of war poetry in the twentieth century, focusing in particular on the role of the two world wars in the literary and cultural construction of a 'war poetry' category. Philippa Lyon draws upon a range of key historical and contemporary critical responses, from poetic memoir and journalism to sophisticated academic criticism, to demonstrate the rich diversity of expectations and evaluations elicited by the developing genre.

Autorentext

PHILIPPA LYON is completing her PhD thesis on Second World War poetry at the University of Sussex, UK.

Inhalt

Acknowledgements
Introduction
PART ONE: What Do We Mean By War Poetry? Navigating the Genre
Exploring the Literary and Cultural Status of War Poetry Today
The Relationship of War Poetry to the Canon
Poetry and Representation of Wars
War Poetry and the Biographical
Selectivity, 'Packaging' and Publication
PART TWO: First World War
Literary Context and the War Poetry Tradition
Patriotism, Propaganda and Protest
Dissemination and Reception
PART THREE: The Inter-War Years
Key Contexts
The 'War Poets' Emerge
The Developing Genre: Theory, Subject and Form
Spanish Civil War
PART FOUR: Second World War
Cultural and Critical Positioning
Anthologies and the Poetry 'Boom'
Civilisation and its Discontents
PART FIVE: Post-1945 Critical Paths
Militarism, Patriotism and the Naturalisation of War
The Peace Movement and Democratic and Pedagogic Approaches
The Influence of Cultural Historicism and Feminism
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index.