Alienation on Post War Poetry: A Rereading of Jacques Prevert’s Breakfast

Abstract

Alienation or estrangement was a major theme in world literature after World Wars. It began to exist with people who started to be isolated from their relationships while engrossing in personal development. One of the discussable poems of Jacques Prevert, entitled Breakfast, is an excellent specimen to talk about this isolation of people by diving deep into the concept of alienation. The poet talks about the conflicts and misunderstandings within relationships due to their lack of communication; nonetheless, everything happens because of the estrangement between people. Applying short lines and a frustrated, descriptive and distant tone, Prevert indicates estrangement through the central focuser’s quick, simple actions, which come out as his impetuous nature towards the speaker. As a poet associated with or influenced by Surrealists and their thoughts, he revolutionizes human experiences and especially points out non-sequiturs throughout the poem. The objective is to satisfy the alienation on post-war poetry using textual and content analysis of the selected poem, Breakfast. Moreover, alienation is used as a theoretical concept in addition to being a research tool. Finally, the finding of this study reveals that Jacques Prevert’s poem Breakfast, which was written one year after the end of World War II, covers the predicaments and chaos of people after World Wars. Mainly, it divulges how individuals suffered in their relationships, and features of post-war literature can be captured within the poem.