Gertrude Atherton’s WWI Propaganda to the Home Front:Mrs. Balfame,The Living PresentandThe White Morning

Abstract

AbstractGertrude Atherton’sMrs. Balfame(1916),The Living Present(1917) andThe White Morning(1918) address the home front audience about the war front of World War I. Atherton chronicles American political transition from isolationism to new internationalism with her pro-Ally and pro-American agenda. In her novelMrs. Balfame, Atherton reflects political polarization in American society during the U. S. neutrality and anti-German stance, referring to the impacts of war reports on public opinion.The Living Presentunderlines French women’s wartime services on the home front and transatlantic collaboration through Atherton’s recollections. In her novelThe White Morning, German women’s suffering and sense of duty gradually carry them to the war front with women’s revolution that brings their war to an end with Prussian militarism and patriarchal oppression. Thus, Atherton’s propaganda literature encourages women’s political awareness and wartime mobilization for their postwar progress and demands as citizens.