Men and Women Writers of the 1930s: the Dangerous Flood of History

Description

Men and Women Writers of the 1930s is a searching critique of the issues of memory and gender during this dynamic decade. Montefiore asks two principle questions; what part does memory play in the political literature of and about 1930s Britain? And what were the roles of women, both as writers and as signifying objects in constructing that literature? Montefiore's topical analysis of 1930s mass unemployment, fascist uprise and 'appeasement' is shockingly relevant in society today. Issues of class, anti-fascist historical novels, post war memoirs of 'Auden generation' writers and neglected women poets are discussed at length. Writers include: * George Orwell * Virginia Woolf * W.H. Auden * Storm Jameson * Jean Rhys * Rebecca West.;Book Cover -- Half-Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Chapter 1 Remembering the 1930s -- POLITICS AND COLLECTIVE MEMORY -- LOOKING BACK IN IRONY -- 'WHAT ABOUT THE WOMEN?': THE SEXUAL POLITICS OF MEMORY -- MEMORIALS OF THEIR TIME -- NEGLECTED CLASSICS: STORM JAMESON AND CLAUD COCKBURN -- Chapter 2 The pram in the hall -- CASE-HISTORIES VERSUS THE 'UNDELIBERATE DREAM'? -- CASE-STUDIES FROM THE AUDEN GENERATION -- WOMEN IN AND OUT OF HISTORY -- MARGINAL SUBJECTIVITIES -- GENDERING THE SELF: MARION MILNER AND REBECCA WEST -- Chapter 3 Vamps and victims -- WOMEN AS SIGNS -- DEVOURING MOTHERS AND REVENGEFUL SPINSTERS: WOMEN IN THE PLAYS OF AUDEN, ISHERWOOD AND SPENDER -- CLASS STEREOTYPES: THE EXPENSIVE WHORE AND THE WASHERWOMAN -- POETRY AND THE SYMBOLIC FEMININE: RICKWORD, DAY LEWIS AND OTHERS -- Chapter 4 'Undeservedly forgotten' -- A BURIED TRADITION -- TAKING SIDES: WOMEN AND POLITICAL POETRY -- 'THE MEN WHO DIE': WOMEN POETS REMEMBERING THE GREAT WAR -- WOMEN POETS AND THE AUDENESQUE STYLE: NAOMI MITCHISON AND STEVIE SMITH -- IRONY AND TRADITION: RUTH PITTER AND SYLVIA TOWNSEND WARNER -- TRADITIONAL LYRICS -- E.J. SCOVELL, VALENTINE AGKLAND AND OTHERS -- Chapter 5 Parables of the past -- REALISM VERSUS FANTASY? -- LUKACS, MARXIST HUMANISM AND OTHER STORIES -- THE PRESENT IN THE PAST: JACK LINDSAY AND SYLVIA TOWNSEND WARNER -- SEXUALITY AND SOCIALISM: NAOMI MITCHISON -- LISTENING TO MINNA: SYLVIA TOWNSEND WARNER AND HISTORICAL REALISM -- Chapter 6 Collective and individual memory -- A 'TYPICAL ENGLISHWOMAN' AND HER HYBRID BOOK -- COLLECTIVE MEMORY AND THE GRAND NARRATIVES -- BLACK LAMB AND GREY FALCON -- MICRO-NARRATIVE: REBECCA WEST'S OWN JOURNEY -- WRITER AS SUBJECT: DIARY VERSUS BOOK -- Notes -- Select bibliography -- POEMS -- NOVELS AND STORIES.