Of War and Literature — With the publication of Wynne’s War, Aaron Gwyn joins an impressive list of authors and poets who have responded through their writing to war and al of war’s complexities and high costs. As is the case with Aaron’s novel, many war stories combine intensely personal stories and far larger stories of geo-political conflict. This summer marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War One, and there are many great works of literature that respond to this war. In my view, Wynne’s War and its depiction of the complexities of the current war in Afghanistan pairs up well with some of the war novels that deal with the complexities of the First World War. Here is a list of a few literary works about World War One that I recommend:
C.S. Foster’s The African Queen (1935)
Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms 1929).
Lucy Maud Montgomery’s Rilla of Ingleside (1921).
Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front (1929)
Jeff Shaara’s To the Last Man (2005)
Dalton Trumbo’s Johnny Got His Gun (1939)
Candace Ward’s World War One British Poets (1997)
Kudos— As you know, I like to use my Monday Missives to share news about recent accomplishments by members of our department. Here is the latest news:
Liz Miller recently presented a talk to the Linguistic Circle at the University of Edinburgh titled “Adult Immigrants’ ‘Theories of Agency’ as Dialogical Performatives.”
Meaghan Rand received her Ph.D. in the Urban Literacy (English) at the recent commencement ceremony. Tony Scott directed her dissertation, and Lil Brannon participated at the ceremony to “hood” her. She currently is a full-time Lecturer in the FYW program.
Upcoming Events and Deadlines— Here is a date to keep in mind:
May 20 — Last day to add or drop a class with no grade for the first summer session.
Quirky Quiz Question — Aaron Gwyn’s Wynne’s War deals with the current war in Afghanistan. The publication of this novel reminds me that Angie William’s son served a tour of duty in Afghanistan. Does anyone know his first name?