Abstract
Owen’s poetry is perhaps quite unfamiliar to those who don’t have much knowledge of English literature, because it is an unexplored area by Chinese students and scholars.
Although there are a lot of war poems in Chinese literature, many of them glorify war. These poems form a sharp contrast with many of the most prominent war poems of World War One that depicted was as “hell”, the cause of all the miseries and sufferings of the participants, whichever side they were on.
There also exist a number of Chinese war poems, which express sympathy for soldiers, their families, and other victims of war. These war poems, while showing weariness and even hatred of war, are largely gentle complaint. However, the war poetry by Wilfred Owen is much stronger in mood. His poems all show anger towards the waste and futility of war. His perspective on war remains largely unknown to Chinese readers who are used to reading poems that either glorify war or complain gently about war.
Therefore, I believe that my dissertation will fill the gap. By comparing anti-war poems in English literature and in Chinese literature in terms of their mood and language, and reviewing other literary works on war, the dissertation may help Chinese readers get a better understanding about the anti-war perspective in English literature, and hopefully can enable them to understand the influences of this perspective in western society. I believe that understanding more about anti-war poetry can be conducive to their ability to think independently as it can help them form wiser and more rational judgments about current affairs concerning war.
Key Words: The Pity of War The Spirit of Humanity Wilfred Owen’s war poetry Chinese War Poems
