Search

This essay reconsiders Nathaniel Hawthorne's Civil War memoir, "Chiefly About War-Matters. By a Peaceable Man" (1862), in light of the radical transformation of the federal state under Lincoln. While critics have long recognized Hawthorne's political resistance to--and ironic deflation of--Union patriotism, I situate "War-matters" in a Union political culture of censorship aimed at repressing treasonous discourse. Hawthorne's account of his visit to the front lines analyzes the transformation of the wartime state and provides--through self-conscious parodies of Unionist censorship--new models for literary production and interpretation to engage the "state of exception." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on interwar writings of W. H. Auden such as book "The Orators: An English Study" and project of individual and national formation is repeatedly linked to an intelligence of one's enemies. It mentions generation of British lyric poetry and memoirs is that it shows how war has entered into the various ways we apprehend, express, or practice a shared culture. It also mentions George Orwell used to critique Auden for his inauthentic relation to violence.

The article lists the books received by the journal as of spring 2016 which includes "War and Literature: Essays and Studies 2014" edited by Laura Ashe and Ian Patterson, "The Shakespeare Workbook and Video: A Practical Course for Actors" by David Carey and Rebecca Clark Carey, and "Shakespeare's Princes of Wales: English Identity and the Welsh Connection" by Marisa R. Cull.

At Livy 22.14, M. Minucius Rufus' speech against Q. Fabius Maximus exhibits differing interpretations of Latin pastoral's effects. While the Livian narrator highlights the presence of war in Campania, a region of otium, Minucius focuses on Fabius' idyllic, pastoral retreat from martial duties. The emphasis placed on otium and amoenitas throughout the passage gestures to a fictional world that ultimately remains unrealized. Attempts by Minucius to cast Fabius as a pastoral figure at odds with his legacy in Latin epic and historiography fall short. In the end, pastoral poetic features actually undermine Minucius' understanding of Fabian delay (cunctatio). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essay is presented about the war writing of author and poet Walt Whitman. His autobiography "Specimen Days" and poetry collection "Drum-Taps" are said to provide the idiosyncratic notions of desire and forgetting as a solution to the devastation of the Civil War in the U.S. Whitman's view on dying and killing during the war as an alternative to psychoanalytic conceptualizations of sexuality, trauma and repression is explored. Also explored is Whitman's imagined postwar future.

While he was Scipio's legate in Locri Epizephyrii from 205 to 204 BCE, Quintus Pleminius plundered the local sanctuary of Proserpina. His actions and their aftermath prompt Diodorus Siculus, Livy and Valerius Maximus to create several incompatible death scenes for him that reflect the gravity of his crime. Since Pleminius is a minor character in the Second Punic War, he is a virtual historiographical blank slate. We can therefore observe how authors work with stock characteristics and comparisons to fashion a villain and give him a death that is appropriate for the narrative context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the writings of medical personnel from the First World War, and their participation as witnesses and healers of disease. It cites the nervous breakdowns prevalent in nurses on active service during the time. It analyzes the traumatic experiences of personnel through psychiatric and psychological approaches. It presents definitions for experiences presented in narratives of the personnel's emotional responses to war events.

An essay is presented on the relationship between Cold War military strategy and metafiction. According to the author, both contain a discourse of simulation and display a need to create parallel worlds and institutions. Examples are drawn from several works of literature including the book "The Nuclear Age" by Tim O'Brien and the short story "Game" by Donald Barthelme. War-gaming and nuclear warfare are also discussed.

An essay is presented that considers the male body in literature from a historical perspective that begins in the 1640s and how domestic wars in England at that time impacted the national literature and created a number of instances where male characters are dismembered in some way. The ideas of literary critic Peter Brooks on how the bodies of men and women are represented in literature are considered. Other topics include the 1639-1659 Civil War in England, soldiers' manuals, and technological innovations in modern warfare, such as gunpowder.

Are the texts written by Josef Mühlberger dealing with war experience really texts about war? And if they are, to what extent are they a relevant testimony about war events? Scholars have rarely focused on these questions. Based on the analysis of the story The Partisan this paper shows that political content in Mühlberger's work is used to present problems and the camouflaged discussion of homosexual intimacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the association and influence of the economic and social situations in la banlieue, refers to the residential district outside a city in France with the country's literary field. It states that the concept of la banlieue originates in 1920s wherein social and political problems arise due to war. It also features the literary idea between colony and banlieue concerning the origin of immigrants and the distinction of Jacques Rancière.

The article focuses on the perspective of the actors of the classical literature "The Iliad" by Homer as part of the "Page and Stage" program held at the Los Angeles Central Public Library in California. It examines how the play affects the psychological aspects of the actors in understanding their own humanity. It highlights that the play gave actors as well the audiences the opportunity to reflect on the outcomes of war. Furthermore, the play made the audiences to mirror the corrupt practices of politicians and the international conflict of some countries particularly the war in Iraq.

The article discusses Greek historian Herodotus as commentator on international relations. It notes that the father of history has been underestimated as theorist of empire. It also presents Herodotus' representation of Persian power as means that empires project their own values and realities as universal. Moreover, it explores the reflections on empire in "Histories." It states that Herodotus explores the contribution of people to imperial expansion, empire's inclination to exude their values as universal, and the function played by historian relative to power.

An essay is presented which explores poet W. H. Auden's portrayal of war in his literary works. The author asserts that Auden had a belief that real emotion could only be obtained in literary efforts if the author had first-hand knowledge of his subject. To that end, Auden traveled throughout the world in the 1930s so he could gain a journalistic understanding of the world. His itinerary included visiting Spain during the Civil War and going to China to observe the Sino-Japanese War.

This article examines how the face-to-face ethical encounter concept of French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas resonates in the literature of war. It discusses the relevance of this philosophy to combat and examines the novel "All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque as a text that best embodies Levinas' formulation. It describes an encounter when a combat veteran practically rejected Levinasian ethics as absurd and uninformed to battlefield realities.

The author reflects on the historical perspective on the Jewish War based on the works of Flavius Josephus. The author argues that the new historical perspectives are possible of the Jewish War if some entrenched thinking on its causes are revisited. An overview of the controversial life and apologetic tone of the works of Josephus is offered. The author suggests that a more independent reading of his text is important in order to trace the evolution of the thinking and biases of Josephus.

The article reports on the war between the U.S. and Mexico from 1846 to 1848 and James Russell's "The Biglow Papers." It mentions that literature on the war ignore the contradictions in its purpose and instead discusses American exceptionalism and patriotism. The article describes the debates on the war's morality and the mythology which writers created in support of the war. It discusses "The Biglow Papers," a satire against the war by James Russell. The article examines "The Biglow Papers" and its discussion on the war.

The article reports on children's literature during World War I. It also underlines how the war is represented and influenced by cultural beliefs, current research into war studies, and shifts in the representation of the war. It is noted that children's literature during World War I is a literary retelling of the war based on texts and cultural shifts rather than on historical point of view.

The article underlines how foreigners were depicted in children's literature during World War I. It is noted that during the war children were perceived as a group who had to be unified and persuaded of the merits of the war. Children's literature during this period were essentially different from those written for the adult population. Books written for children in the period showed social attitudes to prepare children for war.

This article focuses on the practice of theory in literature departments of schools in the U.S. When theory was in the verge of ascendancy in literature departments in schools, it was on its way to become canonical, with the internalization of ideas born in the wake of World War II. Theory is a set of rhetorical strategies and assignable anthologies to disseminate studies exemplary for intelligence and in favor of liberation. Moreover, practice of theory has many distinct approaches.

The article discusses the book "Persuasion," written by Jane Austen. According to the article Austen's feelings towards the sea are represented in the book. The historical context of the book, for it is set at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, does not account for the sense of change which is present throughout the work.

Focuses on the Canudos war in Brazil during 1896-97. Dominant representation of the war; Writings about the Conselheiro; Comments on the book "Rebellion in the Backlands"; Impact on Brazilian literature.

This article looks at how one West German poet, Rolf Dieter Brinkmann, adapted the spontaneity found in American Beat writing as an ethical principle in his own work. Like many West German writers in the 1970s, Brinkmann wished to turn away from the highly moralistic literature that had been prevalent in the post-war years. His poems suggest that such moral values have become part of an overly rigid system, which is eliminating the individual's capacity for spontaneity. For this reason, ethics should not be seen as the duty to lay down moral standards, but rather as the questioning of any kind of predetermination or fixture. This article insists that it is vital to distinguish between authorial levels if one is to understand the ethical project in Brinkmann's work. While many poems seem to feature a narrator that is not clearly ethical, this is part of the implied author's strategy for eliciting a particular effect.

This article presents literary criticism of Katherine Mansfield's books. Through ritual encounters with death in her stories, Mansfield is able to transform the mundane into something sacred. Mansfield presents The Great War and the violent death that came with it in many of her post 1915 stories.

This article provides a literary criticism of the book "The Things They Carried," by Tim O'Brien. The author seeks to defend the book from critics who believe that "The Things They Carried," silences women and re-enforces traditional masculine views of war and gender.

Focuses on the Vietnam War fiction and its relationship with postmodern literature. Narrative paradigm for the authorship of experiences in the Vietnam War; Significance of the Vietnam War as a cause of political tumult of the 1960s; Historical contingencies that influenced the rise of postmodernism.

Focuses on the implication of male comradeship for war literature. Use of comradeship as replacement for social orders; Presentation of the institutional hierarchy as function of the extremity of war; Distinction between comradeship and friendship.

Discusses Edith Wharton's war stories. Change in Wharton's view of writing after the war; Use of visual language to picture the horrors of war; Plot of Wharton's war fiction, `Coming Home'; Plot summary of `The Refugees'; Plot of `Fighting France'; `Writing a War Story' as Wharton's last war story; Allegations that Wharton's post-war fiction declined in quality.

Discusses the relationship between the young Paul De Mann's intellectual and literary collaboration with the Nazi occupation of Belgium, and his mature intellectual work, produced after World War II. Proof of De Mann's own mastery as a reader of literature; Ways in which De Mann's skepticism regarding methods and doctrines became the source of a kind of dogmatism; Dissent from the National Socialist condemnation of modernism as decadent art.

Discusses the narrative technique and historical evidences used to depict World War I in the novels of John Don Passos 'One Man's Initiation: 1917, Three Soldiers' and the first two novels of 'U.S.A.' Interpretation of the war by Passos in his novels; Contribution of historical consciousness of Passos in the novels; Achievement of a sense of shared experience by Passos through the use of various narrative techniques.

The article focuses on the book "Put Out More Flags," by Evelyn Waugh. The lack of seriousness in the book is only superficial. This novel is an artful exploration of the early years of the war. It exposes shock and uncertainty, but, more important, it shows that the war opened up all sorts of attractive opportunities and provided, at least at its beginning, many chances for excitement. Waugh makes his readers laugh at the ridiculous activities of many of his characters and, through this laughter, makes them feel the exhilaration of life in England during the phony war, those months of 1939 and early 1940 before battles and air raids got seriously underway.

The article indicates that art does indeed continue to imitate life. Significant writing on the Vietnam War has suffered from some of the same historical misconceptions as the war itself. For many, American involvement in Vietnam began when the first Marines waded ashore at Da Nang, Vietnam, in 1965, and, unfortunately, for many readers the chronology of important appraisals of the war begins perhaps in 1977 with two memoirs, Michael Herr's book "Dispatches" and Philip Caputo's book "A Rumor of War." There is once again a great burgeoning of interest in the war, a demand finally for a comprehensive, readable history of events and their larger significance.

The article presents an interview with novelists Tim O'Brien and Robert Stone. Both of them discuss their work. First of all, O'Brien talks about his first book "If I Die in a Combat Zone." On first reading, the book strikes as a straight autobiography. Yet the impulse was obviously there for one to fictionalize. All of the events in the book really happened; in one sense it is a kind of war memoir and was never intended to be fiction. Stone also narrates as to how he managed to get involved as a journalist in Vietnam.

The article focuses on the book "One of Ours," by Willa Cather. Novelist Ernest Hemingway wrote in a 1923 letter to writer and critic Edmund Wilson that the book confuses the fantasies of Hollywood with the realities of Belleau Wood. Hemingway singles out the heroic death in Cather's final battle scene and asks Wilson if it was not wonderful. If later critics of the book have been somewhat less condescending than Hemingway, they have essentially concurred with his verdict. Since its appearance in 1922, the novel Cather repeatedly cited as one of her best and most important works has enjoyed little critical favor.

The article focuses on four Vietnam War novels, which contain elements of fantasy. The books under discussion are the political propaganda of John Briley's book "The Traitors," written in 1969, the realism of James Webb's book "Fields of Fire," written in 1978, the blend of realism and absurdism of Charles Durden's book "No Bugles, No Drums," written in 1976, the unrelenting absurdism of Gustav Hasford's book "The Short-Timers," written in 1978 and the documentary fiction of John Clark Pratt's book "The Laotian Fragments," written in 1974.

The article focuses on the perception of author Elizabeth Bowen on war. The author regrets the irreparable damages caused by war, which destroys history even as it is created. The intricate fabric of British history, woven with a sense of cultural permanence, was burned through during the Blitz. Lives were lost, books were burned, works of art and architecture vanished, a way of life disappeared. Even amid this destruction, however, creativity continued. Elizabeth Bowen's wartime short stories speak to later generations, answering the question as to what must it have been like to live in that place at that time.

The article focuses on John Dos Passos and his novels. Perhaps no American writer, however, was as deeply affected by World War I as was Dos Passos. Not only did he publish the first important war novel by a combatant, but he also made the war the recurring thread that was to weave through his entire career. Dos Passos wrote four books about the war. It would be a mistake to explain this interest merely as the desire to use the war as a vehicle or backdrop, for Dos Passos the war always served as an important touchstone. He viewed the war as the most momentous event of his time, remarking many years afterward that the 19th century really came to an end in August 1914 and that a new era, one filled with a great deal of evil, began with the war.

The article presents information on the war novels with particular reference to the book "Gravity's Rainbow," written by Thomas Pynchon. This book has already been the subject of more books, essays, and apoplexy than any other novel. A fertile field for exegetes, the book has been examined for its variety of styles, its scientism, its cinematic qualities, its types of humor, its philosophic stances, its use of parodic, comic, ironic, and allegoric modes. Insufficient attention has been given to the book in the context of the war novel, a form whose problems have engaged the attention of major American novelists.

The article presents a call for papers for the periodical "French Review's" special issue on World War I, to be published in May 2014 in order to commemorate the centennial of the war and particularly focusing on the effect of the war on French literature and culture.