How Did World War II Affect Literature?
As the famous writer C. S. Lewis once said, “Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.” Literature is one of the many ways in which is able to express themselves, where they explain to the world what they had just experienced in their lives. Many authors will especially write about historic events, such as wars, that not only impacted others, but themselves as well. During World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War, the writing style and topics of literature were significantly impacted as a result of the wars. World War I, also known as the Great War, caused the
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One may infer that many of the writers who wrote about World War II were not very surprised by the heartless war. Kurt Vonnegut, one the many writers who wrote about their experiences in war, developed a very graphic novel called Slaughterhouse-Five, which is set in the same place where he was taken as a prisoner of war. Also, there was Norman Mailer's novel, The Naked and the Dead, which exposed all the violence and cruelty of World War II. However, there were many authors who wrote about World War II in a more cheerful manner. There were writers who are considered to be “postmodernists” (Dickstein 1), and chose to write about “the rapid pace and the sheer implausibility of contemporary life” (1). These writers chose not write about World War II in first person point of view. Instead, the writers of the war wrote fictional novels that grasped the readers’ minds and made them think about realistic events that could have actually have occurred in the United States. What was really significant about the postmodernist authors was that they were not all just men, but also women and immigrants. Vladimir Nabokov, a Russian-born American citizen, wrote a few famous English novels, such as “Pnin”, which are loosely based on his own life experiences. In his novel, not only is the main character a refugee of WW2, but Nabokov incorporated hints about the pain and suffering caused by the Holocaust. In fact, there are many other immigrant authors besides Nabokov who wrote about their past. Writers, such as Sandra Cisneros and Maxine Hong Kingston, composed novels that incorporated and connected the influence of America upon their own heritage cultures (“Since 1945, Making Connections” 1). This notion also appeared in Cisneros’ novel, Woman Hollering Woman, or Maxine Hong Kingston’s No name Woman. Both books include traces of their authors’
One may infer that many of the writers who wrote about World War II were not very surprised by the heartless war. Kurt Vonnegut, one the many writers who wrote about their experiences in war, developed a very graphic novel called Slaughterhouse-Five, which is set in the same place where he was taken as a prisoner of war. Also, there was Norman Mailer's novel, The Naked and the Dead, which exposed all the violence and cruelty of World War II. However, there were many authors who wrote about World War II in a more cheerful manner. There were writers who are considered to be “postmodernists” (Dickstein 1), and chose to write about “the rapid pace and the sheer implausibility of contemporary life” (1). These writers chose not write about World War II in first person point of view. Instead, the writers of the war wrote fictional novels that grasped the readers’ minds and made them think about realistic events that could have actually have occurred in the United States. What was really significant about the postmodernist authors was that they were not all just men, but also women and immigrants. Vladimir Nabokov, a Russian-born American citizen, wrote a few famous English novels, such as “Pnin”, which are loosely based on his own life experiences. In his novel, not only is the main character a refugee of WW2, but Nabokov incorporated hints about the pain and suffering caused by the Holocaust. In fact, there are many other immigrant authors besides Nabokov who wrote about their past. Writers, such as Sandra Cisneros and Maxine Hong Kingston, composed novels that incorporated and connected the influence of America upon their own heritage cultures (“Since 1945, Making Connections” 1). This notion also appeared in Cisneros’ novel, Woman Hollering Woman, or Maxine Hong Kingston’s No name Woman. Both books include traces of their authors’