Not all gallantry, gongs and glory: wartime in popular american novels

Abstract This article discusses perceptions of World War II in modern American literature. Authors acknowledge novels inspired by their authors’ combat, and discuss visions of war, aims of wartime literature and major literary archetypes. Material and methods The authors analyzed the most popular A...

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Main Authors: Adrianna Białecka, Barbara Ewa Struk
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Akademia Bialska im. Jana Pawła II 2023-09-01
Series:Rozprawy Społeczne
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Online Access:https://rozprawyspoleczne.edu.pl/Not-all-gallantry-gongs-and-glory-wartime-in-popular-american-novels,169168,0,2.html
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author Adrianna Białecka
Barbara Ewa Struk
author_facet Adrianna Białecka
Barbara Ewa Struk
author_sort Adrianna Białecka
collection DOAJ
description Abstract This article discusses perceptions of World War II in modern American literature. Authors acknowledge novels inspired by their authors’ combat, and discuss visions of war, aims of wartime literature and major literary archetypes. Material and methods The authors analyzed the most popular American novels devoted to the subject of World War II. The analysis covered the visions of war, war literature functions and aims, and major literary archetypes of characters affected by war. Results Literary visions of war vary considerably between historical, fictive, realistic, non-realistic, humorous or self-critical. Functions of war literature include: glorifying or demystifying war, but also healing both authors and readers. Also, many literary archetypes can be distinguished. Conclusions War in literature is presented as a time of glory and a catastrophe. Attitudes to war in novels vary from historical to fictive, realistic to non-realistic, or humorous, and some novels glorify war while others condemn it. Literary archetypes also vary considerably.
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publisher Akademia Bialska im. Jana Pawła II
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spelling doaj-art-d5ce4382ffe9419ebb232000c1c8d6a42025-08-20T02:27:43ZengAkademia Bialska im. Jana Pawła IIRozprawy Społeczne2657-93322023-09-0117114315010.29316/rs/169168169168Not all gallantry, gongs and glory: wartime in popular american novelsAdrianna Białecka0Barbara Ewa Struk1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2747-0240Zakład Neofilologii, Akademia Bialska im. Jana Pawła II, PolskaZakład Neofilologii, Akademia Bialska im. Jana Pawła II, PolskaAbstract This article discusses perceptions of World War II in modern American literature. Authors acknowledge novels inspired by their authors’ combat, and discuss visions of war, aims of wartime literature and major literary archetypes. Material and methods The authors analyzed the most popular American novels devoted to the subject of World War II. The analysis covered the visions of war, war literature functions and aims, and major literary archetypes of characters affected by war. Results Literary visions of war vary considerably between historical, fictive, realistic, non-realistic, humorous or self-critical. Functions of war literature include: glorifying or demystifying war, but also healing both authors and readers. Also, many literary archetypes can be distinguished. Conclusions War in literature is presented as a time of glory and a catastrophe. Attitudes to war in novels vary from historical to fictive, realistic to non-realistic, or humorous, and some novels glorify war while others condemn it. Literary archetypes also vary considerably.https://rozprawyspoleczne.edu.pl/Not-all-gallantry-gongs-and-glory-wartime-in-popular-american-novels,169168,0,2.htmlvictimwartime literaturedemystifying warwarrior
spellingShingle Adrianna Białecka
Barbara Ewa Struk
Not all gallantry, gongs and glory: wartime in popular american novels
Rozprawy Społeczne
victim
wartime literature
demystifying war
warrior
title Not all gallantry, gongs and glory: wartime in popular american novels
title_full Not all gallantry, gongs and glory: wartime in popular american novels
title_fullStr Not all gallantry, gongs and glory: wartime in popular american novels
title_full_unstemmed Not all gallantry, gongs and glory: wartime in popular american novels
title_short Not all gallantry, gongs and glory: wartime in popular american novels
title_sort not all gallantry gongs and glory wartime in popular american novels
topic victim
wartime literature
demystifying war
warrior
url https://rozprawyspoleczne.edu.pl/Not-all-gallantry-gongs-and-glory-wartime-in-popular-american-novels,169168,0,2.html
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