War literature and comparative politics

Abstract

War is one of the social problems that the global society is facing today. War has plagued humanity since time immemorial. Many countries have gone through this experience at some point in their peoples’ lives. It can bring immense emotional trauma and suffering to the people left behind by the dead. This paper is committed to explore the ramifications of both inter- state and intra-state wars and its political realities which took place in different continental settings. The paper revolves around central figures that were lead into war and war zones sometimes by the urge for justice and at other times by insurmountable circumstances. The main objective of this study is to analyse the comparative perspective on three war-related literary texts. The First, Ivan by Vladimir Bogomolv, is a story of a child based in Germany who is way ahead of his age. It has rightly been described as the war ensues and the fall of Hitler is imminent, lieutenant finds evidence that Ivan is killed by the Germans. The second novel If I Die in War Zone is set in war-torn Vietnam. The protagonist O’Brien is forced to join the war against his wishes. Specially, this second text shows how the culture of his hamlet requires him to display courage and prove his mettle by fighting for his country. The third text is Tamil Tigress which depicts the life of a teenager who joins the LTTE insurgency in Sri Lanka against the discriminatory policies of the Sinhalese government. She is moved by the injustices committed by the state apparatus on the Tamil minority. This paper attempts to engage with the political realities as they have been conceptualized by the three novelists in question. Also, a large portion of these three novels explore the nature of war, its stages and its effects on the human soul in three different parts of the world. This study uses analytical and comparative methods. The qualitative methodology of the research is carried out through texts, journals, and articles. Thus, I attempt to analyse, compare and contrast the above three war- related texts.