Evolution of antiwar novels in American literature

This article is a study of the American antiwar novel from the Civil War to the present day (the War on Terror). It looks at how the novel has responded to political power, military ideology and technological change. It sees the antiwar novel as a counter-narrative to the official story of war and to the mythologising of the military. Using Kelly Roy Polasek’s model and Eric London’s threefold classification of war literature it looks at how antiwar fiction challenges the pro-war myths of the state and interrogates the roles of nation state, race, gender and sexuality. It identifies five distinct periods. In the 19th century the advent of new military technology (cordite, smokeless powder etc) encouraged a move towards realism and impressionism. The First World War saw the rise of modernist disillusionment and the use of very concise prose as a challenge to the idea of national glory. The total war of the mid 20th century (with firebombing and the threat of nuclear weapons) led to the use of non-linear narrative, absurdism and satire of the bureaucracy of war. The Vietnam War produced a literature of fragmented narrative and of the veteran's account which in turn questioned the political rationale for the war and exposed the reality of the counterinsurgency. In the 21st century the antiwar novel continues to grapple with the issue of imperial aggression and the extent to which society is willing to accept the violence of war. The article concludes that the antiwar novel is a counter-hegemonic text in that it challenges the dominant political narrative, exposes the mechanisms of American militarism and reveals the human and social costs of war.