Sahyadri Books Online Trivandrum.: 146. The First World War first hesitated but then gave birth to powerful literature. P S Remesh Chandran

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

146. The First World War first hesitated but then gave birth to powerful literature. P S Remesh Chandran

146

The First World War first hesitated but then gave birth to powerful literature

P. S. Remesh Chandran

Editor, Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum

Article Title Image 1 By BMEwett. Graphics: Adobe SP.

The First World War was a great time for testing the spine and courage of the intellectuals of the first and the second decades of the twentieth century. In those times, responding to the horrors of this war and criticizing the need for this war generally made them considered as traitors to their nation and alienated them from government, media, other intellectuals, politicians, military generals and most of the other people. Such responding and holding critical views of war also led to arrests, incarceration and publicly burning their books in the streets by people. That was why there was not much voice raised by writers in the beginning years of the war. The children of the world were frightened and terrified by the daily news. Children began to consider grown up people including their fathers, uncles, neighbours, teachers and whoever grown ups were there as weak, timid and evil siblings, responsible for all the torments they suffered during the war. They sensed that the grown ups will leave only misery and a sad life behind for them children. The world’s children’s confidence in people, society, mankind and humanity was shattered. A few intellectuals in the world, in those times, indeed were conscious of this bad and aggravating situation and began to respond to war horrors and criticize war boldly, the first ever response and criticism coming from Britain, in the form of H. G. Wells.

Article Title Image 2 By Stijn Swinnen. Graphics: Adobe SP.

Then there were Romaine Rolland from France and Maxim Gorky from Russia. A Farewell To Arms was an American response to this war, come in the form of perhaps the first American war novel, from Ernest Hemingway. Everyone agrees that though it is a very bleak novel, the fact that the book written by an active participant in the war and published in 1929 was a bold attempt to criticize Italy’s military imperialism and, as its borrowed title indicates, to condemn war, cannot be ignored. A Farewell To Arms indeed was censored by the fascist administration of Italy and was not permitted to be published in Italy until 1948 when the war was over. Even its illegal Italian translator of 1943, a lady, was arrested by the Italian military police.

Article Title Image 3 By Bec Townsend. Graphics: Adobe SP.

More English articles by the author at:
http://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.com/

Malayalam articles by the author at:
http://sahyadrimalayalam.blogspot.in/

More political article by the author here:
http://sahyadribooks-remesh.blogspot.com/p/list-of-political-articles.html

About the Author P. S. Remesh Chandran:

Editor of Sahyadri Books & Bloom Books, Trivandrum. Author of several books in English and in Malayalam. And also author of Swan: The Intelligent Picture Book. Born and brought up in the beautiful village of Nanniyode in the Sahya Mountain Valley in Trivandrum, in Kerala. Father British Council trained English teacher and Mother University educated. Matriculation with distinction and Pre Degree Studies in Science with National Merit Scholarship. Discontinued Diploma studies in Electronics and entered politics. Unmarried and single.