Literature+In+The+Great+War+(World+War+I)

http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopi

World War I had a great influence on the literature of the time period; much literature focused on or satirized American society, addresses issues concerning the war its after-math, and the disillusioned youth who were a product of the era.

Many popular themes of World War I literature included death, losses, futility, sacrifice, horrors of the war, patriotism, duty, as well as the glory, and honor of the war. Several American writers such as **Sinclair Lewis, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald**, along with many Europeans novelists are associated with this great era of literature.

Many authors and artists of the Great War era were identified with the **"Lost Generation"** which included **Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, Sherwood Anderson, Waldo Pierce, John Dos Passos, John Steinbeck, and Cole Porter**.

The term **"Lost Generation"** is a motif which describes the disillusionment of American literary elite who lived in Europe (The New Book of Knowledge). Moving to Europe had become a popular trend among artists, musicians, poets, composers, and novelists, they felt that Europe had the things America lacked, a utopia-like get away that could ameliorate their work. The term has recently become a generic shorthand for groups of young people disproportionately "affected by economic shocks, often involving lengthy periods of unemployment" (The New Book of Knowledge) as is seen clearly with the Great Depression that followed. It was Made famous by the poet, and author Getrude Stein when she said "une génération perdue."



=**//Main Street//** **(1920) &** **//Babbitt//** **(1922) - Sinclair Lewis**=

Harry Sinclair Lewis was the first American to win the Nobel Prize for literature, which he received in 1930. Lewis is best known for his realism in depicting life in Middle American society, his style has much emphasis on description of society in order to reveal truths, and struggles of the everyday man//. **Main Street**// **(1920)** is satire of small-town life it looks at the bigotry and petty behavior of American society.The protagonist, Carol Kennicott, gets married to the town doctor hoping to bring beauty and culture to the town; she is stymied by the townspeople. Kennicott befriends the social outcasts, and poor. Eventually she leaves to work in a government office in Washington D.C. during the waring years. The novel was an extreme contrast to the typical story template based off of the"American myth of happy small-town life". It also challenged the traditional gender roles, and even earned him a nice international reputation. In //Babbit// (1922) the satire of Middle American society is continued as a young man learns he is incapable of changing his life. The novel received a large acceptance from the everyday man, and woman. The title "Babbit" became the name to represent an American social type. (Martin)

=//A Farewell to Arms// (1929) - Ernest Hemingway=


 * //A Farewell to Arms// (1929)** can be characterized as an allegory as it has two levels of meaning; the romance between an American solider, and a British nurse and on a deeper level the novel is about World War I and the individual tragedy that was faced within the larger tragedy, and conflict. The novel is realistic in the sense that it shows the cynicism displayed by the soldiers, and displacement of various populations as a result of the war. This novel helped set Hemingway as a great in literature.

=**// This Side of Paradise (1920)- F. Scott Fitzgerald //**= Published **//This Side of Paradise//** in 1920 it was Fitzgerald's debut novel. The novel places its main focus on the morality and lives of the post World War I youth. It revolves around the main points that were important to the generation of disillusioned youth; love entangled, and corrupted by status-seeking and greed, a popular theme in Fitzgerlad's works such as **//The Great Gatsby (1925)//.** Fitzgerald addressed these problems that faced the rich, upper-class, and disillusioned youth of the generation; mainly greed and corruption. He saw the threat these vices posed upon the future, and saw this change, and transition in character from generation to generation. Burton Rascoe of The Chicago Tribune commented on the novel describing it as " the only adequate study that we have had of the contemporary American in adolescence and young manhood."



=//The Enormous Room// (1922) - E.E. Cummings=

=// Three Soldiers// - John Dos Passos (1920)=
 * E.E. Cummings**, the poet, and novelist wrote this autobiographical novel based upon his short term imprisonment in France during World War I. E.E. Cummings was arrested because he did not wish to abandon a friend also a novelist B (William Slater Brown) who wrote letters with anti-war sentiments while they served as drivers. The novel has two narrators Cummings himself, and a fictional Harvard student character. The title of the novel refers to cell Cummings shared with other filthy prisoners, as well as an allegory for his memories, and state of mind of the jail. By using this allegory he suggests that the residents, and things he experienced in that time have not left "The Enormous" of his mind, very symbolic of the effect of the Great War on all its veterans, and the youth especially.


 * John Dos Passos** was an American critic, and writer also associated with the "**Lost Generation**". The novel is a classic in the realist war novel genre. It is also a key World War One American war novel. By ridding of trivial details of romance hogwash i t changed the whole tone of Americans opinions towards the war. The novel has even been said to have changed the recollections of actual veterans of the war many felt more or discovered more sentiment from their memories. The novel received such a acclaim it left John Dos Passos with considerable recognition. This novel is one the best anti-war pieces of literature that was published as it crossed various lines, and did not leave veterans feeling angered.



=Ernest Hemingway's & Fellow Writers' Great War Military Service= Some time after leaving high school Hemingway worked as an ambulance driver during World War I before being heading for the Italian front. Within a year of service, Hemingway was badly critically injured and was sent home. He then moved to Paris with his first wife where he became involved, met and was influenced by the "**Lost Generation**" writers, and artists of the 1920's. These experiences heavily his writing as he began writing after these circumstances, and had first hand experience to be able to write about. Other writers like Fitzgerald enrolled in the army however the war concluded soon before they were able to serve. E.E. Cummings served as an ambulance driver as well, but was imprisoned for some time. John Dos Passos also served as an ambulance driver in Italy, and France with friend E.E. Cummings. Having some sort of first hand experience, and exposure to the war, they interacted with other soldiers, victims, and civilians of the war helping to collect various points of view, and accounts. These great poets and authors who did serve during the Great War were able to truly discuss these topics with in-depth knowledge of the situation.

Sources:
The New Book of Knowledge ABC-CLIO Sparknotes Wikipedia Grolier Online //The Quixotic Vision of Sinclair Lewis// by Martin Light http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/FWWliterature.htm http://net.lib.byu.edu/english/WWI/newmain.html http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1735