British Literature of the Blitz : Fighting the People's War

this Book Interrogates The Patriotic, Utopian Ideal Of The People’s War By Analyzing Conflicted Representations Of Class And Gender In Literature And Film. Its Subtitle-- fighting The People’s War-- describes How British Citizens Both United To Fight Nazi Germany And Questioned The Nationalist Ideology Binding Them Together. "Analyzing conflicted representations of class and gender in British literature and film of the Blitz, this book interrogates the ideal of the People's War, which claimed to unite men and women of all classes in defense of the home front. The paradox of the People's War is that it counters a totalitarian threat with a potentially totalizing ideal: because it is both patriotic and utopian, the rhetoric resists critique, even though the right to question compulsory nationalism was precisely what Britain was fighting for. Above all else, British Literature of the Blitz values the voicing of individual opinion, even - or especially - when individuals do not agree: a utopia that denies the freedom to critique utopianism is no utopia at all."--Jacket Contents......Page 8 List of Illustrations......Page 9 List of Abbreviations......Page 10 Acknowledgments......Page 11 Introduction: Fighting the People’s War......Page 14 1 Mobile Women in Elizabeth Bowen’s War Writing......Page 39 2 Immobile Women in Rosamond Lehmann’s War Writing......Page 72 3 Real Men in Henry Green’s War Writing......Page 96 4 No Escape in the Detective and Spy Fiction of Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, and Graham Greene......Page 129 5 The Film-Minded Public......Page 165 Notes......Page 202 Bibliography......Page 210 B......Page 222 C......Page 223 G......Page 224 J......Page 225 M......Page 226 P......Page 227 T......Page 228 Z......Page 229 Contents 8 List of Illustrations 9 List of Abbreviations 10 Acknowledgments 11 Introduction: Fighting the People’s War 14 1 Mobile Women in Elizabeth Bowen’s War Writing 39 2 Immobile Women in Rosamond Lehmann’s War Writing 72 3 Real Men in Henry Green’s War Writing 96 4 No Escape in the Detective and Spy Fiction of Agatha Christie, Margery Allingham, and Graham Greene 129 5 The Film-Minded Public 165 Notes 202 Bibliography 210 Index 222 A 222 B 222 C 223 D 224 E 224 F 224 G 224 H 225 I 225 J 225 K 226 L 226 M 226 N 227 O 227 P 227 Q 228 R 228 S 228 T 228 U 229 V 229 W 229 Y 229 Z 229 British Literature of the Blitz interrogates the patriotic, utopian ideal of the People's War by analyzing conflicted representations of class and gender in literature and film. Its subtitle – Fighting the People's War – describes how British citizens both united to fight Nazi Germany and questioned the nationalist ideology binding them together.