Cynicism in British Post-War Culture : Ignorance, Dust and Disease

This book is the first academic text to examine cynicism as a driving force in the context of post-war British culture. It maps a sensibility that transcends divisions between high and low culture, and encompasses figures such as Philip Larkin, John Lennon and Stephen Patrick Morrissey. Cynicism is a neglected subject for investigation in post-war British cultural history, perhaps due to its apparent omnipresence. Kieran Curran aims to rectify this omission by lucidly connecting together literature, music and film as common avatars of the cynic sensibility. Transcending barriers between high and low culture, Curran maps cynicism from 1950 (the end of post-war austerity) to 1987 (the year of the break-up of the Smiths), spanning a number of significant historical moments in the process: decolonisation and the erosion of the British Empire; the expansion of higher education (particularly in the wake of the Robbins Report of 1963); the radical comprehensivisation of secondary education; the dismantling of railways with a parallel valorisation of car culture; and the neo-colonial excursion of the Falklands War Front Matter....Pages i-vi Introduction....Pages 1-11 Annus Mirabilis: Philip Larkin....Pages 12-26 Work Is a Curse: John Wain/Kingsley Amis/Iris Murdoch....Pages 27-45 Just Another Sunday Evening: John Osborne/Jazz....Pages 46-67 That’s What I’m Not: British New Wave Cinema....Pages 68-84 I’ve Heard of Politics, but This Is Ridiculous: TV Satire/Comedy....Pages 85-118 Bed Peace: John Lennon....Pages 119-138 Quiet Riot: Stephen Poliakoff....Pages 139-158 No Future/No Alternative: Punk and the Cynic Sensibility....Pages 159-176 We Are White Crap That Talks Back: The Fall....Pages 177-189 Somehow That Really Impressed Me: The Smiths....Pages 190-202 Conclusion....Pages 203-210 Back Matter....Pages 211-222 Cover 1 Contents 6 Acknowledgements 7 Introduction 8 1 Annus Mirabilis: Philip Larkin 19 2 Work Is a Curse: John Wain/Kingsley Amis/Iris Murdoch 34 3 Just Another Sunday Evening: John Osborne/Jazz 53 4 That’s What I’m Not: British New Wave Cinema 75 5 I’ve Heard of Politics, but This Is Ridiculous: TV Satire/Comedy 92 6 Bed Peace: John Lennon 126 7 Quiet Riot: Stephen Poliakoff 146 8 No Future/No Alternative: Punk and the Cynic Sensibility 166 9 We Are White Crap That Talks Back: The Fall 184 10 Somehow That Really Impressed Me: The Smiths 197 Conclusion 210 Bibliography 218 Index 227