Aftershocks : Politics and Trauma in Britain, 1918-1931

Aftershocks studies how meanings of shellshock and imagery presenting the traumatized psyche as shattered contributed to Britons' understandings of their political selves in the 1920s. It connects the force of emotions to the political culture of a decade which saw extraordinary violence against those regarded as 'un-English'. Aftershocks argues the crucial connection between structures of feeling and political culture in Britain. Britons incorporated into their understandings of their political selves the meanings attacked to shellshock, especially the imagery that informed the view of the traumatized psyche as shattered. The political force of emotions must be appreciated if we are to grasp the political history of Britain in the 1920s, a decade whose historians have failed to come to grips with the extraordinary violence visited upon those regarded as 'un-English.' Shellshocked Britons turned to certain political actions to repair the collective psyche--the passage of the Aliens' Act of 1919, the race riots of 1919; the Amritsar massacre in 1919; the reprisals against the Irish in 1919-21; the General Strike of 1926; and the debates over the bill to enfranchise women over the age of 30 in 1927 and the Igbo Women's War of 1929 Aftershocks argues the crucial connection between structures of feeling and political culture in Britain. Britons incorporated into their understandings of their political selves the meanings attacked to shellshock, especially the imagery that informed the view of the traumatized psyche as shattered. The political force of emotions must be appreciated if we are to grasp the political history of Britain in the 1920s, a decade whose historians have failed to come to grips with the extraordinary violence visited upon those regarded as 1un-English.4 Shellshocked Britons turned to certain political actions to repair the collective psyche--the passage of the Aliens2 Act of 1919, the race riots of 1919; the Amritsar massacre in 1919; the reprisals against the Irish in 1919-21; the General Strike of 1926; and the debates over the bill to enfranchise women over the age of 30 in 1927 and the Igbo Women's War of 1929 Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction....Pages 1-9 Britons’ Shattered Psyche....Pages 10-34 Jews, “Blacks,” and the Promises of Radical Conservatism, 1919–1925....Pages 35-63 The Amritsar Massacre, 1919–1920....Pages 64-90 Reprisals in Ireland, 1919–1921....Pages 91-121 The General Strike of 1926....Pages 122-148 Flappers and the Igbo Women’s War of 1929 (with Marc Matera)....Pages 149-179 Conclusion: Resolving the “National Crisis” of 1929–1931....Pages 180-195 Back Matter....Pages 196-232