Not All Gallantry, Gongs and Glory: Wartime in popular American novels

Abstract

This article discusses perceptions of World War II in modern American literature. Authors acknowledge novels inspired by their authors’ combat, and discuss visions of war, aims of wartime literature and major literary archetypes. Material and methods: The authors analyzed the most popular American novels devoted to the subject of World War II. The analysis covered the visions of war, war literature functions and aims, and major literary archetypes of characters affected by war. Results: Literary visions of war vary considerably between historical, fictive, realistic, non-realistic, humorous or self-critical. Functions of war literature include: glorifying or demystifying war, but also healing both authors and readers. Also, many literary archetypes can be distinguished. Conclusions: War in literature is presented as a time of glory and a catastrophe. Attitudes to war in novels vary from historical to fictive, realistic to non-realistic, or humorous, and some novels glorify war while others condemn it. Literary archetypes also vary considerably.