More than a War CorrespondentEdith Wharton's chronicles about French civilians in the Great War and the beginning of citizen journalism

Abstract

Neglected during decades, Edith Wharton�s literary production on the First World War has finally received due attention during these last years. McLoughlin�s scholarly work (2005) on The Marne, A Son at the Front and �Writing a War Story�, together with Olin-Ammentorp�s Edith Wharton�s Writings from the Great War (2004) have offered new documented sources and a deep analysis on how the Great War affected Wharton�s fiction. However, within these sources a distinction should be made: Wharton�s short stories differ greatly from her essays and other non-fiction pieces published contemporaneously. Whereas in her fiction the Great War becomes a character itself, in her non-fiction writing Wharton abandons her narrative voice to develop a protagonist voice. In fact, some of these pieces can be read as war chronicles that advance the most significant features of war correspondents and citizen journalists throughout the 20th century.