Modernism, Male Friendship, and the First World War

Sarah Cole examines the rich literary and cultural history of masculine intimacy in the twentieth century. Cole approaches this complex and neglected topic from many perspectives - as a reflection of the exceptional social power wielded by the institutions that housed and structured male bonds; as a matter of closeted and thwarted homoerotics; as part of the story of the First World War. Cole shows that the terrain of masculine fellowship provides an important context for understanding key literary features of the modernist period. She foregrounds such crucial themes as the over-determined relations between imperial wanderers in Conrad's tales, the broken friendships that permeate Forster's fictions, Lawrence's desperate urge to make culture out of blood brotherhood and the intense bereavement of the war poet. Cole argues that these dramas of compelling and often tortured male friendship have helped to define a particular spirit and voice within the literary canon. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 Acknowledgments......Page 8 ARGUMENT: THE ORGANIZATION OF INTIMACY......Page 11 DEFINITIONS AND CHOICES: MODERNISM, MODERNITY, LITERARY AUTHORITY......Page 21 STRUCTURE: FOUR SITES OF MASCULINE BONDING......Page 25 CHAPTER 1 Victorian dreams, modern realities: Forster’s classical imagination......Page 31 HELLENISM AND THE BEAUTIFUL BODY: CARPENTER, PATER, SYMONDS......Page 33 THE FALL OF HELLENISM: FORSTER’S MODERN DISAFFECTION......Page 60 A PASSAGE TO INDIA AND THE FAILURE OF INSTITUTIONS......Page 81 CHAPTER 2 Conradian alienation and imperial intimacy......Page 102 FRIENDSHIP’S DRAMATIC DEMISE: HEART OF DARKNESS AND UNDER WESTERN EYES......Page 104 FROM SYSTEM TO SOLIPSISM: LORD JIM......Page 124 HOMOEROTIC HEROICS, DOMESTIC DISCIPLINE: CONRAD AND FORD’S ROMANCE......Page 132 CHAPTER 3 “My killed friends are with me where I go”: friendship and comradeship at war......Page 148 WAR DISCOURSE: FRIENDSHIP AND COMRADESHIP......Page 150 THE MAJOR WAR POETS: INTIMACY, AUTHORITY, ALIENATION......Page 165 POST-WAR ARTICULATIONS: LOST FRIENDS AND THE LOST GENERATION......Page 183 CHAPTER 4 “The violence of the nightmare”: D.H.Lawrence and the aftermath of war......Page 195 BODIES OF MEN: THE LANDSCAPE OF POST-WAR ENGLAND......Page 197 DESIRE AND DEVASTATION: MALE BONDS IN D. H. LAWRENCE......Page 236 INTRODUCTION......Page 262 1 VICTORIAN DREAMS, MODERN REALITIES: FORSTER’S CLASSICAL IMAGINATION......Page 267 2 CONRADIAN ALIENATION AND IMPERIAL INTIMACY......Page 276 3 “MY KILLED FRIENDS ARE WITH ME WHERE I GO”: FRIENDSHIP AND COMRADESHIP AT WAR......Page 281 4 “THE VIOLENCE OF THE NIGHTMARE”: D. H. LAWRENCE AND THE AFTERMATH OF WAR......Page 291 Index......Page 302

The terrain of masculine fellowship provides an important context for understanding key literary features of the modernist period. Sarah Cole's examination of the literary and cultural history of twentieth century masculine intimacy considers such crucial themes as the broken friendships that permeate Forster's fictions, Lawrence's desperate urge to make culture out of blood brotherhood and the intense bereavement of the war poet. Cole argues that these dramas of compelling and often tortured male friendship have helped to define a particular voice within the literary canon.

Cole examines the rich history of masculine intimacy in the twentieth century. She foregrounds such crucial themes as broken friendships, blood brotherhood, and the bereavement of the war poet. Cole argues that these dramas of compelling and often tortured male friendship have generated a particular voice within the literary canon. This text examines the rich literary and cultural history of masculine intimacy in the twentieth century. The author shows that the terrain of masculine fellowship provides an important context for understanding key literary features of the modernist period

cole Examines The Rich Literary And Cultural History Of Masculine Intimacy In The Twentieth Century.