The history of British women's writing, 1945-1975. Volume 9

Description

This volume reshapes our understanding of British literary culture from 1945-1975 by exploring the richness and diversity of women's writing of this period. Essays by leading scholars reveal the range and intensity of women writers' engagement with post-war transformations including the founding of the Welfare State, the gradual liberalization of attitudes to gender and sexuality and the reconfiguration of Britain and the empire in the context of the Cold War. Attending closely to the politics of form, the sixteen essays range across "literary", "middlebrow" and "popular" genres, including espionage thrillers and historical fiction, children's literature and science fiction, as well as poetry, drama and journalism. They examine issues including realism and experimentalism, education, class and politics, the emergence of "second-wave" feminism, responses to the Holocaust and mass migration and diaspora. The volume offers an exciting reassessment of women's writing at a time of radical social change and rapid cultural expansion. Read more... Abstract: This volume reshapes our understanding of British literary culture from 1945-1975 by exploring the richness and diversity of women's writing of this period. Essays by leading scholars reveal the range and intensity of women writers' engagement with post-war transformations including the founding of the Welfare State, the gradual liberalization of attitudes to gender and sexuality and the reconfiguration of Britain and the empire in the context of the Cold War. Attending closely to the politics of form, the sixteen essays range across "literary", "middlebrow" and "popular" genres, including espionage thrillers and historical fiction, children's literature and science fiction, as well as poetry, drama and journalism. They examine issues including realism and experimentalism, education, class and politics, the emergence of "second-wave" feminism, responses to the Holocaust and mass migration and diaspora. The volume offers an exciting reassessment of women's writing at a time of radical social change and rapid cultural expansion Front Matter ....Pages i-xxiii Introduction (Clare Hanson, Susan Watkins)....Pages 1-15 Front Matter ....Pages 17-17 Post-War Fiction: Realism and Experimentalism (Kaye Mitchell)....Pages 19-36 Lyric, Narrative and Performance in Poetry (Jane Dowson)....Pages 37-53 Look Back in Gender: Drama (Gabriele Griffin)....Pages 54-70 Journalism (Deborah Chambers)....Pages 71-88 Front Matter ....Pages 89-89 Angry Young Women: Education, Class, and Politics (Mary Eagleton)....Pages 91-107 Sex, Censorship and Identity (Kerry Myler)....Pages 108-123 The Second Wave (Leanne Bibby)....Pages 124-141 The Aftermath of War (Kristin Bluemel)....Pages 142-156 Front Matter ....Pages 157-157 Responding to the Holocaust (Sue Vice)....Pages 159-175 Internal Empire (Katie Gramich)....Pages 176-191 The Transcultural Tryst in Migration, Exile and Diaspora (Sandra Courtman)....Pages 192-209 ‘Witness Literature’ in the Post-war Novels of Storm Jameson and Doris Lessing (Elizabeth Maslen)....Pages 210-223 Front Matter ....Pages 225-225 Double Trouble: Helen MacInnes’s and Agatha Christie’s Speculative Spy Thrillers (Phyllis Lassner)....Pages 227-241 Historical Fictions (Diana Wallace)....Pages 242-258 Children’s Literature: Ideologies of the Past, Present and Future (Catherine Butler)....Pages 259-272 Science Fiction (Susan Watkins)....Pages 273-288 Back Matter ....Pages 289-305