Representation of war and peace in arabic and english literatures: A comparative study

The main purpose of this paper is to help disseminate thoughts from literature that supports the notion that war is savage and cruel in a way that makes war-decision makers abhor warfare. This paper investigates the way war is depicted in two major English and Arabic poems. Although the poems belong to two different yet remote cultures, there is a major commonality in between. A close reading technique was adopted to investigate the major thematic debates between the two poems. Major ideas will be generated to reflect upon how Arabs and Muslims are normally accused of being extremists and fundamentalists, along with their Western peers view war and look at peace. The two poems are Wilfred Owen's Dulce et decorum EST and Mahmoud Darwish's Peace Talk. It is found that both poems condemn wars and condemns the means, techniques and procedures used to justify waging wars. It also argues against with what wise people say about peace, if you want peace be prepared for war.