Narratives of Memory: British Writing of the 1940s identifies memory as a previously unexamined concern in both literary and popular writing of this decade. It traces developments in narrative, especially the novel, during the war years and immediately after, showing how memory was used as both a structural device and a theme. Depictions of amnesia and other memory disorders, can elucidate how the workings of memory were understood at this time, whilst also exposing authors' attitudes to the events of wartime. Other types of memory, such as nostalgia, can also express complicated relationships to both past and present. Considering both familiar and less-familiar writers, including Margery Allingham, Elizabeth Bowen, Graham Greene, Patrick Hamilton and Denton Welch, this book will be of relevance both to those concerned with representations of the Second World War, and to those with interests in the development of the novel in the twentieth century.
'Stewart's study offers an astute understanding of how writers during the 1940s conceived of the past, how they understood memory, and what they believed should be remembered and preserved for the future... it makes an important contribution to studies of the novel in the twentieth century.' - Carolyn Perry, Literature& History
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Remembering the Last War
Damaged Minds: Crime and Detection
Remembering the Country
In Time of War
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
VICTORIA STEWART is Lecturer in the Department of English, University of Leicester, UK. She is also the author of Women's Autobiography: War and Trauma (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003).
Description
Narratives of Memory: British Writing of the 1940s identifies memory as a previously unexamined concern in both literary and popular writing of this decade. It traces developments in narrative, especially the novel, during the war years and immediately after, showing how memory was used as both a structural device and a theme. Depictions of amnesia and other memory disorders, can elucidate how the workings of memory were understood at this time, whilst also exposing authors' attitudes to the events of wartime. Other types of memory, such as nostalgia, can also express complicated relationships to both past and present. Considering both familiar and less-familiar writers, including Margery Allingham, Elizabeth Bowen, Graham Greene, Patrick Hamilton and Denton Welch, this book will be of relevance both to those concerned with representations of the Second World War, and to those with interests in the development of the novel in the twentieth century.
Reviews
'Stewart's study offers an astute understanding of how writers during the 1940s conceived of the past, how they understood memory, and what they believed should be remembered and preserved for the future... it makes an important contribution to studies of the novel in the twentieth century.' - Carolyn Perry, Literature& History
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Remembering the Last War
Damaged Minds: Crime and Detection
Remembering the Country
In Time of War
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Authors
VICTORIA STEWART is Lecturer in the Department of English, University of Leicester, UK. She is also the author of Women's Autobiography: War and Trauma (Palgrave Macmillan, 2003).
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