World War One Literature

Paper Summary:

This paper considers a wide range of texts written about the First World War, focusing on "Blackadder Comes Forth" written by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton and Pat Barker's "The Ghost Road". It analyses the texts in terms of language form and structure and the way the writers use the genre of their choice to express their thoughts and feelings. The influence of the time of composition and the significance of the gender of the writers is also discussed.

From the Paper:

"More than in any other previous conflict, the Great War inspired writers of all generations and classes to write about their experiences in a way that was totally new to previous war literature. The new manner in which the First World War was conducted dramatically changed the way war was viewed, which is naturally reflected in the literature written. Before 1914 wars were largely fought abroad, which therefore meant that people wrote about war with a somewhat detached view as they were completely removed from the immediate situation. At this time war was considered, by most, to be a cleansing, almost health giving experience and the literature written, for example Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade", celebrated Victorian values of devotion to duty, patriotic loyalty and sacrifice."

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