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WWI Literature and Culture

WWI Literature and Culture. The Lost Generation. Artistic Tone and Content. Disillusionment Fragmentation Shell s hock/psychological distortion War life vs. proper society Coming out of Victorian values (“Great Expectations” vs. harsh realities) Cost of war, criticisms of policy

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WWI Literature and Culture

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  1. WWI Literature and Culture The Lost Generation

  2. Artistic Tone and Content • Disillusionment • Fragmentation • Shell shock/psychological distortion • War life vs. proper society • Coming out of Victorian values (“Great Expectations” vs. harsh realities) • Cost of war, criticisms of policy • Apocalyptic • Horrific and graphic

  3. Reasons for Disillusionment • Trench warfare: Does not follow ‘gentleman’s rules’=soldiers felt like animals or “beasts” • Great numbers (of youth) killed—entire generation affected (as many as 1 in 4 European men killed) • Governments on all sides not completely honest; perceived as too ready to go to war • Longer life span b/c of nutrition, medication, etc. led to greater fear of death and anxieties (Mid Life Crisis) • Less close-combat (bombs, etc.) meant more walking wounded and maimed, less confirmed dead • First surgical option (b/c of infection) was amputation • New weaponry and tech made for extreme violence • Saw bayonets (Germans), grenades, flame throwers, mortars

  4. Literature • Novels • The Good Soldier (1915)—disillusionment and questionable reality • All Quiet on the Western Front (1929) • A Farewell to Arms (1929)—cynicism, futility of war, personal prob • Johnny Got his Gun (1939)—The disabled, communication problems • Poems • “Waste Land” (1922)—cynicism and death • "Dulce et Decorum Est”—questioning honor, duty • "MCMXIV”—critical, cynical • "Anthem for a Doomed Youth”—critical, costs of war, disillusionment • “How to Die”—realistic portrayal of horror • Plays/Movies • Journey’s End (1928) • The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921)

  5. Other Movements and Effects:“Life is short” • The Lost Generation: Parisian Expats • Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Picasso, Dos Passos, Erich Maria Remarque, etc. • Post-traumatic stress disorder • Problems with career, marriage, socializing, etc. • Drops in marriage rate, more divorce • Increased alcoholism • Dadaism: antiwar, anti-bourgeois, subversive • Nihilism (“God is dead”—Nietzsche)

  6. All Quiet on the Western Front -Germany, 1929 -Enrich Maria Remarque -Wounded in war -Emigrated to US -banned in Nazi Germany -Horrors of war, Lost innocence, Futility of war, Life is short

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