Module objectives / Learning outcomes
To introduce students to a range of war poetry from the mid-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century, and to map the changes in form and content over this time.
To consider the extent to which the production and interpretation of war poetry is conditioned by cultural, social and political factors
To evaluate the importance of gender and the direct experience of fighting in war writing.

On completion of this module students should be able to:
demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of a range of war poetry from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century
demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the ways in which the production and interpretation of war poetry is conditioned by cultural, social and political factors and
demonstrate an ability to express themselves clearly in writing and in speech.

Brief description
This module will examine the ways in which war is represented/constructed in poetry, and will discuss texts ranging from the Crimean (1853-56) through until the Second World War (1939-45) in an attempt to ascertain whether the category 'war poetry' is a valid one. Debates about war writing as experiential or non-experiental writing will be examined, as will the relation between history and the imagination; war and empire; gender in war writing; war poetry and popular culture; and identity and nationality in war literature. Through comparison of texts from different periods, students will heighten their awareness of the complex and controversial debates surrounding the genre of war writing itself, and examine the extent to which the production and interpretation of war poetry is conditioned by cultural, social and political factors. The time span of this option is intentionally long so that the effects of the technologies of war - how war itself changes - can be evaluated in a literary context.