A Muse of Fire: Literature, Art and War

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A&C Black, 01/01/1998 - 326 páginas
This is the first book to relate to the literature and art of the First World War to the literature and art produced by the Second World War and by earlier wars. A Muse of Fire is also the first serious attempt to examine the whole range of war poetry and war fiction in English in its relation to the work of German, French, Italian and - to a lesser extent - Russian, Danish, and Hungarian authors.

Before 1914 few authors wrote about or experienced war. War, especially its reality, was not the proper subject of literature; while writers seldom served in the armed forces and were almost never in battle.

More than half this book deals with the First World War. In successive chapters A.D. Harvey discusses what sort of people, in what sort of physical and psychological conditions, wrote about the war; or painted it; how they handled the challenge of describing their experiences with complete honesty; what literary and artistic techniques they employed; how other forms of creative talent were fostered by the war; and how far memoirs of the war prepared the way for the next one.

The account given of the Second World War in the final section, like the chapters on pre-1914 war literature, provides far more than simply an introduction and conclusion to the central part of the book. It is an important contribution to an understanding of how literature and art relate to the psychological and social structures of the communities within which they are produced.
This is the first book to relate to the literature and art of the First World War to the literature and art produced by the Second World War and by earlier wars. A Muse of Fire is also the first serious attempt to examine the whole range of war poetry and war fiction in English in its relation to the work of German, French, Italian and - to a lesser extent - Russian, Danish, and Hungarian authors.

Before 1914 few authors wrote about or experienced war. War, especially its reality, was not the proper subject of literature; while writers seldom served in the armed forces and were almost never in battle.

More than half this book deals with the First World War. In successive chapters A.D. Harvey discusses what sort of people, in what sort of physical and psychological conditions, wrote about the war; or painted it; how they handled the challenge of describing their experiences with complete honesty; what literary and artistic techniques they employed; how other forms of creative talent were fostered by the war; and how far memoirs of the war prepared the way for the next one.

The account given of the Second World War in the final section, like the chapters on pre-1914 war literature, provides far more than simply an introduction and conclusion to the central part of the book. It is an important contribution to an understanding of how literature and art relate to the psychological and social structures of the communities within which they are produced.

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Índice

FROM SHAKESPEARE TO GOYA
3
WRITERS AND THE GREAT WAR WITH FRANCE
19
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
45
The First World
69
POETS
71
ARTISTS
105
TRUTH
121
TECHNIQUE
161
HEROES
191
LESSONS
217
The Second World
255
TIRED ACCENTS
257
SECOND TIME AROUND
285
CHARLES NAPIER AT LA CORUÑA
311
Index of Personal Names
318
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