: War and Ideology: A Re-Reading of the War Poetry of Walt Whitman, Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon

Research Abstract

ABSTRACT Title: War and Ideology: A Re-Reading of the War Poetry of Walt Whitman, Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon Degree: M.A. By: Mahmoud Ahmad Mahdi Supervisors: Professor Dr.Ahmad El-Sheemi Dr.Shiymaa S.Abd El-Ati Specialization: English Language and Literature (Poetry) ABSTRACT The present thesis sheds light on the relationship between wars and ideologies as deeply presented in the war poetry of Walt Whitman, Wilfred Owen, and Siegfried Sassoon. Their ideology of war can be investigated in their poems that present the thought that lies behind their antagonistic attitude towards war. Both Owen and Sassoon highlight to what extent Politicians-ideologists- are rational profiteers; they sent soldiers to die off for promoting and legitimating their personal tendencies. Promotion of interests is always legitimized and rationalized by political rulers-the Western European generals- that believe in their own ideas as the righteous ones. Ideologists always exploit ideologies-narrow nationalism, Imperialism-to achieve their colonial ambitions and to have their share of expansion, hegemony, and superiority. In this thesis, the researcher focuses on the poets’ ideologies as displayed in their poetry. For Whitman, the most prevalent ideology in his poetry is both nationalism and humanism. While Owen, in his war poetry, presents the First World War as an imperial war serving the ambitions of a certain class. For Sassoon, the reader of his poetry notices his changeable attitude toward WWI. Since the beginning of war, Sassoon is depicted as one of its volunteers. He is spurred by a very strong religious persuasive national propaganda that portrayed War as an opportunity to show his bravery and love of homeland. But later on, Sassoon launches his attack against the Anglican Church for its support of the war. The thesis falls into an introduction, and three chapters followed by a conclusion and bibliography. The first chapter presents Whitman as a nationalist who has a long-sighted vision of America as a perfect society. He stresses his role as a nationalist and humanist who gives a new national and democratic voice to America as a great world nation. He wrote Leaves of Grass, in which he portrays the American life from his own national perspective. The second chapter tackles the imperial ideology of war leaders, and to what extent the elite class has exploited narrow nationalism to achieve their colonial ambitions. The third chapter deals with religion as a justification for WWI. It also investigates the role played by the Church and clergymen during the First World War (1914-1918), and how the Anglican Church supported the idea of war as a “Holy War" against evil powers in Europe represented by the German Empire at that time. To conclude, the present thesis aims at drawing a connection between ideologies and wars. The thesis also contextualizes the three poets’ efforts within the historical and sociopolitical ambience of the era. Accordingly, the researcher attempts to re-read the war poetry of three prominent poets whose poetry is characterized by its profound depictions of the leaders’ political intentions.

Research Keywords

: War and Ideology: A Re-Reading of the War Poetry of Walt Whitman, Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon