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

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 "Cover"--"Half Title"--"Title"--"Copyright" -- "Contents" -- "Series Editorsâ#x80;#x99; Preface" -- "Acknowledgements" -- "Notes on Contributors" -- "Chronology" -- "Introduction" -- "Part I Changing Forms" -- "1 Post-War Fiction: Realism and Experimentalism" -- "2 Lyric, Narrative and Performance in Poetry" -- "3 Look Back in Gender: Drama" -- "4 Journalism" -- "Part II Reconstructing Gender" -- "5 Angry Young Women: Education, Class, and Politics" -- "6 Sex, Censorship and Identity" -- "7 The Second Wave" -- "8 The Aftermath of War" -- "Part III Global Politics" -- "9 Responding to the Holocaust" -- "10 Internal Empire" -- "11 The Transcultural Tryst in Migration, Exile and Diaspora" -- "12 â#x80;Witness Literatureâ#x80;#x99; in the Post-war Novels of Storm Jameson and Doris Lessing" -- "Part IV Expanding Genres" -- "13 Double Trouble: Helen MacInnesâ#x80;#x99;s and Agatha Christieâ#x80;#x99;s Speculative Spy Thrillers" -- "14 Historical Fictions" -- "15 Childrenâ#x80;#x99;s Literature: Ideologies of the Past, Present and Future" -- "16 Science Fiction" -- "Electronic Resources" -- "Select Bibliography." Literature written between 1945-1975 does not fit easily into dominant critical paradigms, falling between the categories of modernism/ modernity and post-modernism/ post-modernity. However, recent criticism has begun to address this issue and to map the contours of an era which saw both rapid social change and radical literary innovation. This new volume in the History of British Women's Writing series will participate in this reassessment, drawing on new interpretive models which are illuminating the complexities of writing in this period. Moreover, the volume argues that a focus on women's writing, set firmly in its intellectual, material and cultural contexts, is central to defining the period 1945-1975 as a literary period or field of study. This volume focuses on women's literary history in Britain between 700 and 1500. It brings to the fore a wide range of women's literary activity undertaken in Latin, Welsh and Anglo-Norman alongside that of the English vernacular, demanding a rethinking of the traditions of literary history, and ultimately the concept of 'writing' itself. "Volume 1 focuses on women's literary history in Britain between 700 and 1500. It brings to the fore a wide range of women's literary activity undertaken in Latin, Welsh and Anglo-Norman alongside that of the English vernacular, demanding a rethinking of the traditions of literary history, and ultimately the concept of 'writing' itself