An influence of World War 1914-1918: Perspective of Humanities

Abstract

“There was no really good true war book during the entire four years of the war. The only true writing that came through during the war was in poetry. One reason for this is that poets are not arrested as quickly as prose writers”

– Ernest Hemingway, in “Men at War”

World wars had a tremendous impact on society. This influence resulted in a new approach to art, literature, philosophy, and religion. It created a new genre of literature about the war. As a result, the wars had a significant impact on the genre and style of novels that were published. The majority of what was published at the time was about the war and its consequences. The experience of war disappointed authors, and while they did not write directly about the war, their writing reflects an anti-authoritarianism derived from their experiences. From the beginning of World War I to the end of World War II, literature evolved into what we know today.

The Great War, started in July 1914 and ended in November 1918 between the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria) and the Allies Powers (Russia, France, Britain, Italy, and the United States). It shifted people's perspectives; writers' subjects and literary techniques shifted; and readers' tastes and expectations shifted. It has had numerous significant influences on American literature. T.S. Eliot's poem "The Waste Land," for example, which he referred to post-war Europe, expressed anguish about life through a variety of historical, religious, and literary references. Eliot witnessed the social upheaval and transformation that accompanied World War I. His work was heavily influenced by the modernist movement, and it became the greatest expression of that movement. This paper is an attempt to analyse how literature has been drawing a path for the artists and writers. How they responded to the war in their own idiosyncratic ways.