THIS COURSE AIMS: 1. to introduce students to a range of war poetry of World War I, and to map the changes in form and content over the period, 1914-1918; 2. to consider the extent to which the production and interpretation of war poetry is conditioned by cultural, social and political factors; 3. to evaluate the importance of gender and the direct experience of fighting in war writing.

This course examines a range of poetic responses to the conflict, from the beginning of the Great War to the end. How poets have conditioned our view of 'authentic' war writing? The course will interrogate the rich variety and complexity of war poetry, and the time span of the option is intentionally long so that the effect of the technologies of war - how war itself changes - can be evaluated in a literary context. Through comparisons of texts from different periods, students will be able to gauge the extent to which production and interpretation of war poetry is conditioned by cultural, social and political factors. Issues to be considered include: war poetry as propaganda; war poetry and literary movements/genres (imagism/pastoral); the representation of gender and identity in war writing; war writing and religion; war poetry and empire; the 'touristic' aspect of war writing; and civilian versus combatant representations of war.