War, Nation and Europe in the Novels of Storm Jameson

Description

Looking beyond Britain to the shores of Europe, Storm Jameson’s novels of the Second World War marked an interesting counterpoint to prevailing literary trends. Whilst her contemporaries mainly focused on interrogations of Britain and Britishness at this time of national crisis, Jameson’s renderings of Czechoslovakia, France and Germany reflect her stubbornly internationalist outlook. This approach underpinned not only her writing but also her activism, and her time as president of the English PEN (Poets, Essayists and Novelists) club, where she was transformative, channelling the energies of Britain’s wartime literary community into political efforts at home and abroad. The first full-length critical study to focus solely on the work of this important midcentury novelist, this book frames Jameson’s work within its historical and literary context. Informed by new archival insights and theoretical approaches, Katherine Cooper reveals how the novelist’s pacifism and evolving attitudes to war and peace were underpinned by her overarching vision for a postwar Europe. Situating her among contemporaries such as Virginia Woolf, H.G. Wells, Elizabeth Bowen and George Orwell, this study shows how Jameson’s novels gesture towards prevalent internationalist perspectives and reshape how we view the literary history of the period. Cover Contents Acknowledgements Copyright and permissions Introduction 1‘ The living nerves which bind nation tonation’: Britain, France and pacifism inThe Moon Is Making and Cousin Honoré 2‘ The tide of cruelty’: Europe to Let andthe path to war 3‘ The memory of sacrifice’: Culture, mythand the occupied nation in Then We ShallHear Singing 4‘ Two sorts of human beings’: Culture andmyth-making in the German nation inThe Other Side and The Black Laurel 5‘ The same tricks, the same corruption’:Aftermath, resistance and reconciliation inThe Hidden River and The Moment of Truth 6‘ The same disconcerting shapes’: The ColdWar, Empire and terrorism in A Cup of Teafor Mr Thorgill and Last Score Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index