On the 12th of April 1997, in war torn Sarajevo, John Paul II said: Never again war. Never again hatred and intolerance. Such words, uttered by such a painfully experienced by the war man, appear to be extremely moving and telling. Unfortunately, his will, has never been fulfilled. It could be even claimed that war has always been an attractive method of solving international conflicts. It appears to be tempting for both those who want to prove themselves in combat and for those who want to gain financial benefits from it. The country which presence at war is perceived as really controversial is America. For the last sixteen years, The United States of America have been involved in several military conflicts of which especially the latest are criticized. One of the reasons why international opinion is merciless for the American government is the fact that those military campaigns are not even led on the american territory. Consequently, innocent citizens of the invaded countries are those who suffer from horrors of wars mostly. In comparison to other countries, the United States of America have not gone through many wars led on its territory. Just the opposite, by the time of World War II, there were the Civil War, the War of Independence and………………………………., which distracted everyday existence of american inhabitants citizens.
However, that fact did not prevent numerous artists from both depicting the war and expressing their, very often varied attitudes towards such a complicated issue. Masterpieces created just before or after important historical events have still not only been analysed but are also used to remind the contemporaries about this what each nation should be ashamed of, about the cruelty of war. A european artist who achieved international fame and who, by painting `Guernica' in 1937, expressed his critical attitude towards war was Pablo Picasso. This huge and symbolic painting is exposed in Museo Nacional de la reina Sofia in Madrid. It was created by an artist who was deeply shocked after fascist attack on April 27th against the civilian population of a little Basque village in northern Spain. For over three hours this place was bombed. The village burnt for three days. Consequently, sixteen hundred civilians were killed or wounded. Opisać obraz. Another artistic device developed just for the sake of portraying war was war photography. A camera allowed viewers to witness the carnage of war from detached perspective. Consequently, mass death and mourning could be observed by thousands of the civilians who were not involved in them personally. The first photographers who recognized possibilities given by the camera were Matthew Brady and Alexander Gardner. In 1861,President Lincoln signed a pass which enabled Brady to accompany Union Troops. As a result, a collection `Incidents of the War' was created. Its main themes were: pre-battle scenes and corpses. `The Burial Party' taken in 1865, presents five skulls lying on the stretcher. There is also one shoed foot extending from the stretcher. No corpses, no blood but there is something moving in this image. But still, war known from the pictures was experienced as a detached and frozen event. In the 21st century, war photography has its own miningful place among the devices used as anti-war manifestos. But there is also literature which for centuries have transmitted authors' attitude to war is literature. My main interest focuses on prose. The beginnings of the war novel were extremely difficult. First of all, it must be stated that generally the beginnings of prose were complicated. By the puritans who were the only influential group in America at that time, a novel was terated as a sinful genre. It was barred from any practice. The outbreak came in
One of the most important factors which stimulated developement of the american war novel, was a specific group which was crystalized after World War I. A term used for describing those people was coined by Gertrude Stein - a leading figure of modern art and literature. Born in America, she spent her life in Paris and her salon on 27 Rue de Fleurus attracted many significant and extraordinary figures of the artistic world. Those were american writers who lived not only in Paris but also in other parts of the world in extremely disturbing times, times between the end of the World War I and the Great Depression. Among those artists Ezra Pound, Sherwood Anderson, Francis Scott Fitzgerald and T.S. Elliot could be recognized. They saw the horrors of war due to the fact that they left their homeland to serve in European military services. That term and the whole quotation, which perfectly characterize the members of that group, “You are all a lost generation” were popularized by Ernest Hemingway because it was used as an epigraph to his novel “The Sun Also Rises”. Nevertheless, Stein claimed that she heard it from a French mechanic who cried at the devastated by the war lives of the country's youth.
Those, who chose the lot of soldiers in Europe became quickly disillusioned by the war reality. Deprieved of the Victorian notions of morality they could no longer lead normal lives. Hardly anyone, coul find his or her place among those who had not witnessed such manslaughter which could be observed in combat.
The "Lost Generation" were said to be disillusioned by the large number of casualties of the First World War, cynical, disdainful of the Victorian notions of morality and propriety of their elders and ambivalent about Victorian gender ideals. Like most attempts to pigeon-hole entire generations, this over-generalization is true for some individuals of the generation and not true of others. It was somewhat common among members of this group to complain that American artistic culture lacked the breadth of European work—leading many members to spend large amounts of time in Europe—and/or that all topics worth treating in a literary work had already been covered. Nevertheless, this selfsame period saw an explosion in American literature and in art, which is now often considered to include some of the greatest literary classics produced by American writers. This generation also produced the first flowering of jazz music, arguably the first distinctly American artform.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, is a psychiatric disorder that can occur following the experience or witnessing of life-threatening events such as military combat, natural disasters, terrorist incidents, serious accidents, or violent personal assaults like rape. Most survivors of trauma return to normal given a little time. However, some people will have stress reactions that do not go away on their own, or may even get worse over time. These individuals may develope PTSD. People who suffer from PTSD often relive the experience through nightmares and flashbacks, have difficulty sleeping, and feel detached or estranged, and these symptoms can be severe enough and last long enough to significantly impair the person's daily life.
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii//travels/documents/hf_ip-ii-spe_12041997_sarajevo-arrival_en.html
http://www.polskieradio.pl/kultura/obraz/default.asp?id=9
http://www.polskieradio.pl/kultura/obraz/default.asp?id=9
Remembering Civil War, p. 423 - 425
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Generation