Humour in British First World War Literature: Taming the Great War

Author:   Emily Anderson
Publisher:   Springer International Publishing AG
Edition:   2023 ed.
ISBN:  

9783031340505


Pages:   235
Publication Date:   12 September 2023
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Our Price $258.72 Quantity:  
Add to Cart

Share |

Humour in British First World War Literature: Taming the Great War


Add your own review!

Overview

This book explores how humorous depictions of the Great War worked to familiarise, domesticate, and tame the conflict. While well-known examples of First World War literature often emphasize enormous emotional disruption and the war’s extremes, other writers used humour to encourage a gentle, mild amusement, drawing on familiar, popular genres and forms used before 1914. In humorous portrayals of the war, tameness outdoes the unmanageable and the temperate exceeds the extraordinary. Humour in British First World War Literature is based on little-known primary material uncovered from detailed archival research, as well as works that, though written by celebrated authors, tend not to be placed in the canon of Great War literature. Each chapter examines key examples of literary texts, ranging from short stories and poetry to theatre and periodicals, in doing so investigating the complex representational, political, and social significance of the tame strand in humorous Great War literature.

Full Product Details

Author:   Emily Anderson
Publisher:   Springer International Publishing AG
Imprint:   Palgrave Macmillan
Edition:   2023 ed.
Weight:   0.452kg
ISBN:  

9783031340505


ISBN 10:   3031340507
Pages:   235
Publication Date:   12 September 2023
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: ‘[A]s in most war fiction, humour predominates’.- 2. Humour and Britishness During the Great War: ‘If a man brings us a joke, we require to be satisfied of its durability’.- 3. The Domestication of Death: ‘There are lots of jokes’.- 4. Class and Social Structure: ‘It is not taken seriously’.- 5. War and the Depiction of Gender: ‘Let us hope for the best and assume that he is dead’.- 6. The War and the Domestic Sphere: ‘That perpetual sense of the ridiculous’.- 7. Parody and Pop Culture in Trench Newspapers: ‘Let’s whistle ragtime ditties while we’re bashing out Hun brains’.- 8. Short Fiction and Service-Author Heroes: ‘You can’t expect glory and accuracy for a half-penny’.- 9. Conclusion.

Reviews

Author Information

Emily Anderson is a researcher, writer, and podcaster. Her research interests are in literary humour and unfinished projects. 

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions
Latest Reading Guide

Aorrng

Shopping Cart
Your cart is empty
Shopping cart
Mailing List