Poetry and politics on the American homefront, 1914-1918

Since many American war poems written between 1914 and 1918 not only commented on contemporary events but also represented the aims and ideals of major political groups, they are arguably more central to American culture than the more aesthetically distanced modernist poems which literary critics favor. Genteel poets and editors reflected closely the country's official posture towards the war, as they moved steadily from outrage at the war and professed neutrality to advocacy of American intervention. This shift is apparent in anthologies published by the major Eastern presses, which by 1917 contrasted the righteous Allies with the barbarous Central Powers and, simultaneously, offered ever larger quantities of soldier-poetry that both humanized and idealized the Allied armies.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2011

Author dc:creator

• Van Wienen, Mark William

Contributors dc:contributor

• Nelson, Cary

• Literature, Modern
• History, United States
• Literature, American

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 1992 Van Wienen, Mark William

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

AAI9305723
(UMI)AAI9305723

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/23496