WAR POETRY

ENGLISH 685:002  /  SUSAN TICHY  /  FALL 2005  / 

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A handful of anti-war war poems by World War I soldiers are among the most  famous and admired poems in our language. They established the modern definition of "war poem" as a bitter, ironic, yet highly polished artifact crafted by a man whose extreme experience granted him special moral and epistemological authority. Poetic styles since have come and gone, but the tendency to keep war writing ‘in parenthesis’, as David Jones phrased it, isolated from the literary and intellectual cultures which produce it, has proved one of our most enduring literary practices. In this survey of 20th century responses to war by English, Welsh, Scottish, and American poets, we will follow a more recent trend in the criticism of war poetry, one which examines its foundation in personal witness while also addressing the cultural, intellectual and linguistic resources by which such experience becomes a constituent of art.

In other words, we will approach our texts as both war poetry and war poetry.

Among our topics will be war poetry's place among contesting ideas of national identity; the impact of World War I on the development of literary Modernism and of subsequent wars on Postmodernism; "expression of the inexpressible;" and multiple skirmishing patterns set up around ideas of masculinity and comradeship, the dead or living body, guilt and confession, women and other noncombatants, and the ritually repeated drama of the loss of innocence. Our reading will emphasize the poets of World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War, including combatants and resisters, women and men, and a few Vietnamese writers whose work has been translated by American veteran poets. Our World War II and Vietnam War texts will also include some British and American music, both folk and rock.

Please read Paul Fussell's The Great War and Modern Memory before the semester begins. This study of English Great War poetry (and poets' memoirs) is a touchstone for every discussion of the subject published since. Its fundamental thesis, that war experience sets war writing apart from other literature, is shared by most critics and cultural historians. It is fair to say that the brilliance of Fussell's book can obscure the possibility of there being another position. As you will see, Simon Featherstone does take another position, one that is not antithetical to Fussell but establishes a somewhat larger definition of "war poetry" in British (and, by extension, American) culture. This course will follow Featherstone in that regard; nevertheless, Fussell's treatment of subjects such as war and pastoral, war and the erotic, strategies for expressing the inexpressible, and the mutual, multiple influences of experience on literature and literature on experience, make his work indispensable.

The Great War and Modern Memory (Oxford University Press, 1975) is widely & cheaply available. I did not order it at the bookstore. If pressed for time, concentrate on Chapters I, II, IV, V, & VII.

• On this page, WarPoetryMain, you'll find the book list, course requirements, and a short version of the schedule, with links to the Detail Pages for each week. At left you'll find links to all other pages for the site.
  

• Guidelines page includes requirements and recommendations for written assignments.
  

• Bibliography includes a selection of the sources I use in preparing the course.
  
  
• Links on the Schedule (below) take you to the Detail Pages, which lay out each week's reading & projected topics for discussion. Please read these pages carefully and completely, as they may include quotes and short readings, headed in orange, external links, and other miscellany. Think of this mild confusion as replacing a shower of miscellaneous handouts in the classroom.
  
  
• Links on the Detail Pages will take you to external sources.
  
  
• "Optional Reading" always appears last, after any quotes or short readings. Be sure to check it out, as it may relate to one of your particular interests.
  
  
• To reduce confusion as the semester progresses, I will use the Updates page to post changes to the weekly detail, course requirements, or schedule. Please check this page frequently. Ignorance is no defense.
  

• Anthology of poems responding to the Vietnam War, with critical introduction, plus a short paper on a topic of your choice re: poetry responding to the Vietnam War (parallels your first set of assignments on soldier poets).
  
• A longer anthology (about 20 poems) with 2500 word critical introduction, defined by a topic of your choice.
• A longer paper on a topic of your choice.

• Attendance is expected at the full length of all class meetings. If illness or emergency requires you to be absent, please let me know ahead of class time. If you choose to miss class for another reason, turn in your work ahead of time and arrange to find out from a classmate what you missed. Absences will adversely affect your participation grade.
  

• No late work accepted. Exceptions may be made, at my discretion, in cases of severe illness or genuine emergency. Documentation may be required. Business trips, vacations, birthday parties, computer problems, general disorganization, etc., are not emergencies. You are strongly urged to complete your work before the last possible moment. Missed presentations may not be made up.
  
  
• If your first paper receives less than a B, you may revise it. No other revisions will be considered.
  
  
• You are always welcome to make an appointment for a conference or chat. Without an appointment -- well, I'm almost always glad to see you, but dropping in during office hours won't guarantee I'll be able to talk with you, as I may have a prior commitment.
  

Schedule