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

This module 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 war is relatively 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, sources and genders students will be able to gauge the extent to which the production and interpretation of war poetry is conditioned by cultural, social, political and gender 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, and civilian versus combatant representations of war.