Advertisement
20th Century British Literature: A Journey Through Modernity and Beyond
Author: Dr. Eleanor Vance, Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford, specializing in Modernist and Postmodernist British fiction. Dr. Vance has published extensively on the works of Virginia Woolf, T.S. Eliot, and Graham Greene, and is the author of The Shifting Sands of Modernity: Narrative Experimentation in 20th Century British Literature.
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP). OUP is a globally recognized academic publisher with a long history of producing high-quality scholarly works in the humanities, including numerous authoritative texts on British literature. Their rigorous editorial process ensures accuracy and academic integrity.
Editor: Professor Arthur Davies, Emeritus Professor of English Literature at Cambridge University, whose expertise lies in the social and political contexts of 20th-century British literature. He has edited several anthologies on the subject, including Voices of the Century: An Anthology of 20th Century British Prose.
Keywords: 20th Century British Literature, Modernist Literature, Postmodernist Literature, British Literature, English Literature, War Literature, Women's Writing, Postcolonial Literature, Irish Literature, Welsh Literature.
1. The Rise of Modernism (1900-1945): A Break from Tradition
20th-century British literature witnessed a radical shift from Victorian traditions. The early decades were dominated by Modernism, a movement characterized by experimentation with form and style, reflecting a sense of disillusionment and fragmentation following World War I. Key figures include Virginia Woolf (whose stream-of-consciousness technique revolutionized the novel, exemplified in Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse), T.S. Eliot (whose poetry, such as The Waste Land, captured the spiritual desolation of the era), and James Joyce (though Irish, his influence on British Modernism is undeniable, particularly Ulysses). These authors challenged conventional narrative structures and explored subjective experience, reflecting the anxieties of a rapidly changing world. Research by scholars like Harold Bloom demonstrates the enduring impact of Modernist aesthetics on subsequent literary movements. Further contributing to the development of 20th Century British literature was the rise of literary magazines such as The Criterion and The Egoist, which provided platforms for modernist writers to disseminate their work and engage in intellectual debates.
2. World War II and its Literary Aftermath
World War II profoundly impacted 20th-century British literature. The war's brutal realities shaped the works of authors like George Orwell (whose dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four remains chillingly relevant), Evelyn Waugh (Brideshead Revisited), and Graham Greene (The Power and the Glory), who explored themes of survival, moral ambiguity, and the psychological toll of conflict. Statistical data on wartime literature production and readership demonstrate the pervasive influence of the war on the literary landscape. Post-war literature grappled with the legacy of the conflict, exploring themes of trauma, disillusionment, and the search for meaning in a changed world. The rise of the "Angry Young Men" in the 1950s, exemplified by John Osborne's play Look Back in Anger, reflected a generation's frustration with societal norms and the lingering effects of the war.
3. The Flourishing of Postmodernism (1945-2000)
The latter half of the 20th century saw the rise of Postmodernism, a movement characterized by irony, metafiction, and a playful deconstruction of literary conventions. Authors like Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot), Margaret Atwood (though Canadian, her influence on Postmodern themes in 20th Century British Literature is noted), and Salman Rushdie (though Indian, his works profoundly engaged with British Postcolonial themes) challenged traditional notions of narrative and explored the fragmented nature of identity and reality. Academic studies consistently highlight the influence of postmodern theory on the interpretation of 20th-century British literature. The rise of feminist and postcolonial perspectives further enriched the literary landscape, prompting a re-evaluation of canonical texts and leading to the emergence of diverse voices.
4. The Impact of Postcolonialism and Diverse Voices
20th-century British literature was significantly shaped by its colonial past and the growing awareness of postcolonial realities. Authors like Chinua Achebe (though Nigerian, his critique of colonial narratives had a massive impact on British writing), Wole Soyinka, and Ngugi wa Thiong'o challenged Eurocentric perspectives and explored the experiences of marginalized communities. The rise of Black British literature, with authors like Caryl Phillips and Zadie Smith, further diversified the literary landscape. Statistical analysis of literary prizes and publishing data reveals a gradual but significant increase in the representation of diverse voices in 20th-century British literature.
5. Key Themes in 20th Century British Literature
Several recurring themes dominate 20th-century British literature. These include: the exploration of identity (personal, national, and cultural); the impact of war and its aftermath; the search for meaning in a rapidly changing world; the questioning of traditional social structures and values; and the ongoing tension between individual experience and societal forces. These themes are interwoven throughout the literary works discussed above and many more. Further analysis of these themes reveals the complexities of the 20th-century British experience.
Conclusion
20th-century British literature reflects a period of profound social, political, and cultural transformation. From the experimental innovations of Modernism to the ironic deconstructions of Postmodernism, the literature of this era offers a rich tapestry of voices and perspectives. The exploration of identity, the grappling with historical trauma, and the questioning of established norms define this era's literary output. The continuing study of 20th-century British literature allows us to better understand the complexities of the past and the enduring relevance of its literary legacies.
FAQs
1. What are the major literary movements of 20th-century British literature? Modernism, Postmodernism, and the rise of diverse voices including feminist, postcolonial, and Black British literature are key movements.
2. How did World War I and World War II impact British literature? The wars profoundly shaped the literature, influencing themes of disillusionment, trauma, and the search for meaning.
3. Who are some of the most important female writers of 20th-century British literature? Virginia Woolf, Doris Lessing, Margaret Drabble, and Angela Carter are among the significant figures.
4. What is the significance of Postcolonial literature in 20th-century British literature? It challenged Eurocentric perspectives and gave voice to marginalized communities.
5. How did Modernism differ from Victorian literature? Modernism rejected Victorian conventions, experimenting with form and style to reflect a sense of fragmentation and disillusionment.
6. What are some key themes explored in 20th-century British literature? Identity, war and its aftermath, the search for meaning, social structures, and individual experience are prominent themes.
7. What is the legacy of 20th-century British literature? Its influence continues to shape contemporary literature and cultural discourse globally.
8. How has the study of 20th-century British literature evolved? The field has expanded to embrace diverse perspectives and critical approaches, including feminist, postcolonial, and queer theory.
9. Where can I find more information on 20th-century British literature? University libraries, online databases, and reputable academic publishers are excellent resources.
Related Articles:
1. Virginia Woolf and the Stream of Consciousness: An exploration of Woolf's innovative writing style and its impact on 20th-century literature.
2. T.S. Eliot and the Modernist Poetic Revolution: Examining Eliot's contributions to modernist poetry and his influence on subsequent generations of poets.
3. The Angry Young Men and the Social Realism of the 1950s: An analysis of the literary movement that captured the anxieties of post-war Britain.
4. Postcolonial Literature and the Decolonization of the Literary Canon: A discussion of the impact of postcolonial writers on the British literary landscape.
5. The Rise of Feminist Literature in 20th-Century Britain: An examination of the contributions of female authors to British literature and their challenge to patriarchal norms.
6. Modernism and the Great War: Examining the impact of World War I on the development of Modernist literature in Britain.
7. The Novels of Graham Greene: Faith, Morality and the Human Condition: A deep dive into the theological and moral themes present in Graham Greene's works.
8. Samuel Beckett and the Absurd: Exploring the themes of existentialism in his plays: An analysis of Beckett's plays and their impact on Postmodern drama.
9. The Legacy of George Orwell: Nineteen Eighty-Four and its enduring relevance: A look at the ongoing impact of Orwell’s dystopian novel and its prophetic warnings.
| 20th century british literature: The Routledge Concise History of Twentieth-century British Literature Ashley Dawson, 2013 In The Routledge Concise History of Twentieth-Century British Literature Ashley Dawson identifies the key British writers and texts, shaped by era-defining cultural and historical events and movements from the period. He provides: Analysis of works by a diverse range of influential authors Examination of the cultural and literary impact of crucial historical, social, political and cultural events Discussion of Britain's imperial status in the century and the diversification of the nation through Black and Asian British Literature Readers are also provided with a comprehensive timeline, a glossary of terms, further reading and explanatory text boxes featuring further information on key figures and events. |
| 20th century british literature: The Cambridge History of Twentieth-Century English Literature Laura Marcus, Peter Nicholls, 2004 Publisher Description |
| 20th century british literature: Cold Comfort Farm Clare West, Stella Gibbons, 1998-01-01 A school reader for secondary pupils, in the OXFORD BOOKWORMS. BLACK SERIES STAGE 6. This new series offers students at all levels the opportunity to extend their reading and appreciation of English. |
| 20th century british literature: The Image of the English Gentleman in Twentieth-Century Literature Dr Christine Berberich, 2013-04-28 Studies of the English gentleman have tended to focus mainly on the nineteenth century, encouraging the implicit assumption that this influential literary trope has less resonance for twentieth-century literature and culture. Christine Berberich challenges this notion by showing that the English gentleman has proven to be a remarkably adaptable and relevant ideal that continues to influence not only literature but other forms of representation, including the media and advertising industries. Focusing on Siegfried Sassoon, Anthony Powell, Evelyn Waugh and Kazuo Ishiguro, whose presentations of the gentlemanly ideal are analysed in their specific cultural, historical, and sociological contexts, Berberich pays particular attention to the role of nostalgia and its relationship to 'Englishness'. Though 'Englishness' and by extension the English gentleman continue to be linked to depictions of England as the green and pleasant land of imagined bygone days, Berberich counterbalances this perception by showing that the figure of the English gentleman is the medium through which these authors and many of their contemporaries critique the shifting mores of contemporary society. Twentieth-century depictions of the gentleman thus have much to tell us about rapidly changing conceptions of national, class, and gender identity. |
| 20th century british literature: The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro, 2010-07-15 BOOKER PRIZE WINNER • From the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, here is “an intricate and dazzling novel” (The New York Times) about the perfect butler and his fading, insular world in post-World War II England. This is Kazuo Ishiguro's profoundly compelling portrait of a butler named Stevens. Stevens, at the end of three decades of service at Darlington Hall, spending a day on a country drive, embarks as well on a journey through the past in an effort to reassure himself that he has served humanity by serving the great gentleman, Lord Darlington. But lurking in his memory are doubts about the true nature of Lord Darlington's greatness, and much graver doubts about the nature of his own life. |
| 20th century british literature: The Oxford Book of Twentieth-century English Verse Philip Larkin, 1973 Anthology of about 600 poems from more than 200 twentieth century English poets. |
| 20th century british literature: The Cambridge Companion to the Twentieth-Century English Novel Robert L. Caserio, 2009-04-30 The twentieth-century English novel encompasses a vast body of work, and one of the most important and most widely read genres of literature. Balancing close readings of particular novels with a comprehensive survey of the last century of published fiction, this Companion introduces readers to more than a hundred major and minor novelists. It demonstrates continuities in novel-writing that bridge the century's pre- and post-War halves and presents leading critical ideas about English fiction's themes and forms. The essays examine the endurance of modernist style throughout the century, the role of nationality and the contested role of the English language in all its forms, and the relationships between realism and other fictional modes: fantasy, romance, science fiction. Students, scholars and readers will find this Companion an indispensable guide to the history of the English novel. |
| 20th century british literature: A History of Eighteenth-Century British Literature John Richetti, 2017-10-05 A History of Eighteenth-Century British Literature is a lively exploration of one of the most diverse and innovative periods in literary history. Capturing the richness and excitement of the era, this book provides extensive coverage of major authors, poets, dramatists, and journalists of the period, such as Dryden, Pope and Swift, while also exploring the works of important writers who have received less attention by modern scholars, such as Matthew Prior and Charles Churchill. Uniquely, the book also discusses noncanonical, working-class writers and demotic works of the era. During the eighteenth-century, Britain experienced vast social, political, economic, and existential changes, greatly influencing the literary world. The major forms of verse, poetry, fiction and non-fiction, experimental works, drama, and political prose from writers such as Montagu, Finch, Johnson, Goldsmith and Cowper, are discussed here in relation to their historical context. A History of Eighteenth-Century British Literature is essential reading for advanced undergraduates and graduate students of English literature. Topics covered include: Verse in the early 18th century, from Pope, Gay, and Swift to Addison, Defoe, Montagu, and Finch Poetry from the mid- to late-century, highlighting the works of Johnson, Gray, Collins, Smart, Goldsmith, and Cowper among others, as well as women and working-class poets Prose Fiction in the early and 18th century, including Behn, Haywood, Defoe, Swift, Richardson, Fielding, and Smollett The novel past mid-century, including experimental works by Johnson, Sterne, Mackenzie, Walpole, Goldsmith, and Burney Non-fiction prose, including political and polemical prose 18th century drama |
| 20th century british literature: The British Study of Politics in the Twentieth Century Jack Hayward, Brian Barry, Archie Brown, 2003-05 A collection of articles about British studies relating to various political issues including: totalitarianism, individualism, pluralism, political parties, elections, political institutions, public administration, nationalism, authoritarianism, and international relations. |
| 20th century british literature: Dubliners James Joyce, 2015-08-01 This collection of fifteen short stories by Irish author James Joyce examines how one's surroundings can shape and influence a person. Although initially considered too edgy for publication, Dubliners later became a classic as readers began to appreciate Joyce's realistic fiction. In each story, Joyce documents the daily lives and hardships of fictional Dublin citizens. Joyce's collection progresses from the struggles of childhood to the struggles of adulthood. This collection includes one of Joyce's most famous short stories, The Dead, which depicts the ways memories of the past can intrude upon the present. Joyce provides a glimpse into twentieth-century Irish culture and history in this unabridged short story collection, first published in 1914. |
| 20th century british literature: British Literature of the Blitz K. Miller, 2008-12-18 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. |
| 20th century british literature: Knowing Their Place Lucy Delap, 2011-06-16 Historians have traditionally seen domestic service as an obsolete or redundant sector from the middle of the twentieth century. Knowing Their Place challenges this by linking the early twentieth-century employment of maids and cooks to later practices of employing au pairs, mothers' helps, and cleaners. Lucy Delap tells the story of lives and labour within British homes, from great houses to suburbs and slums, and charts the interactions of servants and employers along with the intense controversies and emotions they inspired. Knowing Their Place also examines the employment of men and migrant workers, as well as the role of laughter and erotic desire in shaping domestic service. The memory of domestic service and the role of the past in shaping and mediating the present is examined through heritage and televisual sources, from Upstairs, Downstairs to The 1900 House. Drawing from advice manuals, magazines, novels, cinema, memoirs, feminist tracts, and photographs, this fascinating book points to new directions in cultural history through its engagement in innovative areas such as the history of emotions and cultural memory. Through its attention to the contemporary rise in the employment of domestic workers, Knowing Their Place sets modern Britain in a new and compelling historical context. |
| 20th century british literature: The Broadview Anthology of British Literature Volume 2: The Renaissance and the Early Seventeenth Century - Third Edition Joseph Black, Leonard Connolly, Kate Flint, Isobel Grundy, Don LePan, Roy Liuzza, Jerome J. McGann, Anne Lake Prescott, Barry V. Qualls, Claire Waters, 2016-03-14 In all six of its volumes The Broadview Anthology of British Literature presents British literature in a truly distinctive light. Fully grounded in sound literary and historical scholarship, the anthology takes a fresh approach to many canonical authors, and includes a wide selection of work by lesser-known writers. The anthology also provides wide-ranging coverage of the worldwide connections of British literature, and it pays attention throughout to issues of race, gender, class, and sexual orientation. It includes comprehensive introductions to each period, providing in each case an overview of the historical and cultural as well as the literary background. It features accessible and engaging headnotes for all authors, extensive explanatory annotations, and an unparalleled number of illustrations and contextual materials. Innovative, authoritative and comprehensive, The Broadview Anthology of British Literature has established itself as a leader in the field. The full anthology comprises six bound volumes, together with an extensive website component; the latter has been edited, annotated, and designed according to the same high standards as the bound book component of the anthology, and is accessible by using the passcode obtained with the purchase of one or more of the bound volumes. For the third edition of this volume a considerable number of changes have been made. Newly prepared, for example, is a substantial selection from Baldassare Castiglione’s The Courtier, presented in Thomas Hoby’s influential early modern English translation. Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy is another major addition. Also new to the anthology are excerpts from Thomas Dekker’s plague pamphlets. We have considerably expanded our representation of Elizabeth I’s writings and speeches, as well as providing several more cantos from Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene and adding selections from Sir Philip Sidney’s Arcadia. We have broadened our coverage, too, to include substantial selections of Irish, Gaelic Scottish, and Welsh literature. (Perhaps most notable of the numerous authors in this section are two extraordinary Welsh poets, Dafydd ap Gwilym and Gwerful Mechain.) Mary Sidney Herbert’s writings now appear in the bound book instead of on the companion website. Margaret Cavendish, previously included in volume 3 of the full anthology, will now also be included in this volume; we have added a number of her poems, with an emphasis on those with scientific themes. The edition features two new Contexts sections: a sampling of “Tudor and Stuart Humor,” and a section on “Levellers, Diggers, Ranters, and Covenanters.” New materials on emblem books and on manuscript culture have also been added to the “Culture: A Portfolio” contexts section. There are many additions the website component as well—including Thomas Deloney’s Jack of Newbury also published as a stand-alone BABL edition). We are also expanding our online selection of transatlantic material, with the inclusion of writings by John Smith, William Bradford, and Anne Bradstreet. |
| 20th century british literature: A Companion to Early Twentieth-Century Britain Chris Wrigley, 2008-04-15 This Companion brings together 32 new essays by leading historians to provide a reassessment of British history in the early twentieth century. The contributors present lucid introductions to the literature and debates on major aspects of the political, social and economic history of Britain between 1900 and 1939. Examines controversial issues over the social impact of the First World War, especially on women Provides substantial coverage of changes in Wales, Scotland and Ireland as well as in England Includes a substantial bibliography, which will be a valuable guide to secondary sources |
| 20th century british literature: Folklore and the Fantastic in Nineteenth-Century British Fiction Jason Marc Harris, 2016-04-15 Jason Marc Harris's ambitious book argues that the tensions between folk metaphysics and Enlightenment values produce the literary fantastic. Demonstrating that a negotiation with folklore was central to the canon of British literature, he explicates the complicated rhetoric associated with folkloric fiction. His analysis includes a wide range of writers, including James Barrie, William Carleton, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Sheridan Le Fanu, Neil Gunn, George MacDonald, William Sharp, Robert Louis Stevenson, and James Hogg. These authors, Harris suggests, used folklore to articulate profound cultural ambivalence towards issues of class, domesticity, education, gender, imperialism, nationalism, race, politics, religion, and metaphysics. Harris's analysis of the function of folk metaphysics in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century narratives reveals the ideological agendas of the appropriation of folklore and the artistic potential of superstition in both folkloric and literary contexts of the supernatural. |
| 20th century british literature: Anthology of Twentieth-century British and Irish Poetry Keith Tuma, 2001 Collects over 450 works by such poets as Thomas Hardy, Catherine Walsh, W.H. Auden, Dylan Thomas, T. S. Eliot, and D.H Lawrence; and covers modernist traditions, black British poets, and avant-garde poetry. |
| 20th century british literature: The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-century Literature in English Jenny Stringer, 1996 Survey of twentieth century English-language writers and writing from around the world, celebrating all major genres, with entries on literary movements, periodicals, more than 400 individual works, and articles on approximately 2,400 authors. |
| 20th century british literature: The Reader's Companion to Twentieth-century Writers Peter Parker, Frank Kermode, 1995 Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy in a Nutshell provides a concise overview of a popular therapeutic approach, starting with the ABCDE Model of Emotional Disturbance and Change. Written by leading REBT specialists, Michael Neenan and Windy Dryden, the book goes on to explain the core of the therapeutic process: - Assessment - Disputing - Homework - Working through - Promoting self-change. As an introduction to the basics of the approach, this updated and revised edition of Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy in a Nutshell is the ideal first text and a springboard to further study. |
| 20th century british literature: Edinburgh Companion to Twentieth-Century British and American War Literature Adam Piette, 2012-03-07 The first reference book to deal so fully and incisively with the cultural representations of war in 20th-century English and US literature and film. The volume covers the two World Wars as well as specific conflicts that generated literary and imaginativ |
| 20th century british literature: Twentieth-century Writing and the British Working Class John Kirk, 2003 An examination of representations of the British working class in 20th-century literature and film. John Kirk reasserts the importance of class as a category of critical analysis through a wide-ranging discussion of the changing nature, status and ideological concerns of working-class writing. |
| 20th century british literature: Who's who in Twentieth Century Literature Martin Seymour-Smith, 1976 |
| 20th century british literature: Twentieth-Century English Literature A. Norman Jeffares, Harry Blamires, Michael Morony, 1986-12-12 In revising this book for a second edition, Harry Blamires has updated his final chapters to give a thorough coverage to the work of dramatists, novelists and poets who have achieved prominence in the 1980s, either as new writers or rediscovered authors who have recently been brought back into print or revived by radio and television. |
| 20th century british literature: The Dictionary of 20th Century British Book Illustrators Alan J. Horne, 1994 |
| 20th century british literature: Missionary Cosmopolitanism in Nineteenth-Century British Literature Winter Jade Werner, 2023-05-08 Examines the missionary roots of cosmopolitanism through Romantic and Victorian literature, revealing the interconnectedness between evangelically motivated imperialisms and secularized cosmopolitanism. |
| 20th century british literature: The Human Body Anthony A. Goodman, 2007 Dr. Anthony Goodman presents a systematic survey of what can go wrong in the human body, why it goes wrong and how the body itself responds, as well as what doctors can do to intervene. |
| 20th century british literature: The Broadview Anthology of British Literature: The Victorian era Joseph Black, 2015 Shaped by sound literary and historical scholarship, The Broadview Anthology of British Literature takes a fresh approach to many canonical authors and includes a broad selection of work by lesser-known writers. The anthology also provides wide-ranging coverage of the worldwide connections of British literature, and it pays attention throughout to matters such as race, gender, class, and sexual orientation ... Highlights of Volume 5: The Victorian Era include the complete texts of In Memoriam A.H.H., The Importance of Being Earnest, Carmilla, and Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as well as Contexts sections on Work and Poverty, Women in Society, Sexuality in the Victorian Era, Nature and the Environment, The New Woman, and Britain, Empire, and a Wider World. The third edition also offers expanded representation of writers of color, including Mary Prince, Mary Seacole, Toru Dutt, and Rabindranath Tagore.--Provided by publisher. |
| 20th century british literature: Twentieth-Century and Contemporary American Literature in Context Linda De Roche, 2021-03 |
| 20th century british literature: Reader's Guide to Literature in English Mark Hawkins-Dady, 2012-12-06 Reader's Guide Literature in English provides expert guidance to, and critical analysis of, the vast number of books available within the subject of English literature, from Anglo-Saxon times to the current American, British and Commonwealth scene. It is designed to help students, teachers and librarians choose the most appropriate books for research and study. |
| 20th century british literature: Riverbank and Seashore in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century British Literature Gillian Mary Hanson, 2005-11-03 The waters of river and sea represent a kind of freedom, a liberty which, as Iris Murdoch writes, enables man to exist sanely without fear and to perceive what is real. As settings in fiction, the riverbank and seashore are rich in potential, offering a sense of destiny and suggesting the possibility of self-truth and self-knowledge. In British literature, the rural costal setting-shadowed by cliffs, tugged by the constant movement of the sea--becomes the site of revelation and generates the energy that brings characters to a new level of self-awareness. The river's embankments, bridges and tunnels often mark specific stages of revelation and movement in plot. Entrapment and isolation, contingency and communication are themes that seem born of such settings. This book examines the ways in which 21 modern and postmodern writers (from Tennyson to Ted Hughes, from Jane Austen to Jane Gardam) have made use of the physical environment of riverbank and seashore in their work. It considers how each author employs the physical settings in the service of plot and character development, and how those settings are used to connect with some of the major intellectual concerns of the late19th and 20th centuries. Appendices offer significant quotations from the texts under discussion, arranged according to the location they describe: the rural river, the urban river, river into sea, the rural shore, and the urban shore. |
| 20th century british literature: English Literature of the 19th & 20th Centuries Maggs Bros, 1927 |
| 20th century british literature: The New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature: Volume 4, 1900-1950 George Watson, I. R. Willison, 1972-12-07 More than fifty specialists have contributed to this new edition of volume 4 of The Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature. The design of the original work has established itself so firmly as a workable solution to the immense problems of analysis, articulation and coordination that it has been retained in all its essentials for the new edition. The task of the new contributors has been to revise and integrate the lists of 1940 and 1957, to add materials of the following decade, to correct and refine the bibliographical details already available, and to re-shape the whole according to a new series of conventions devised to give greater clarity and consistency to the entries. |
| 20th century british literature: Philanthropy and Early Twentieth-Century British Literature Milena Radeva-Costello, 2019-01-15 Philanthropy and Early Twentieth-Century British Literature explores the relationship between British literature and philanthropy at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, examining the works of E. M. Forster, Rebecca West, W. B. Yeats, Roger Fry, Wyndham Lewis, Virginia Woolf, and Vita Sackville-West. This book considers how writers in the modernist period drew on the liberal welfare reforms, the adoption of scientific methods in charity, the Cambridge tradition of public service, the Irish nationalist movement, and the influence of the Victorian woman philanthropist in order to advocate for an individualist art, revolutionize their aesthetics, redefine ideals of hospitality and beneficence, and affirm the national, social, and economic liberation of the modern subject. Contrary to popular interpretations presenting modernism as a break with Victorian values, Dr. Radeva-Costello argues philanthropic engagements are at the heart of early twentieth-century literature. The writers discussed in this book had a sophisticated knowledge of the philanthropy debates and of their power to transform twentieth-century notions about how to govern, how to conceive of national, class, and gender boundaries, and how to market the work of the professional artist in the real world. In keeping with the strong archival and historicizing approach of the New Modernist Studies of recent years, this book also analyses the rich contextual detail of early modernist magazines, contemporary and archival periodicals, and government publications. |
| 20th century british literature: Encyclopedia of British Writers, 1800 to the Present George Stade, Karen Karbiener, 2010-05-12 Contains alphabetically arranged entries that provide biographical and critical information on major and lesser-known nineteenth- and twentieth-century British writers, and includes articles on key schools of literature, and genres. |
| 20th century british literature: The Influence of Mysticism on 20th Century British and American Literature David Garrett Izzo, 2014-11-01 This volume discusses the relationships between the philosophy of Mysticism, which traces its lineage back into prehistory, with that of the world of more traditional philosophy and literature. The author argues for the centrality of mysticism's role in the philosophical and artistic development of western culture. The connections between these worlds are underscored as the author examines the works of Heraclitus, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Iris Murdoch, Yeats, Æ (George Russell), T.S. Eliot, Joyce, Woolf, Auden, Huxley, Lessing, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Tony Kushner, among others. |
| 20th century british literature: Encyclopedia of British Writers Christine L. Krueger, 2014-07 This concise encyclopedic reference profiles more than 800 British poets |
| 20th century british literature: A Reference Guide for English Studies Michael J. Marcuse, 1990-01-01 This ambitious undertaking is designed to acquaint students, teachers, and researchers with reference sources in any branch of English studies, which Marcuse defines as all those subjects and lines of critical and scholarly inquiry presently pursued by members of university departments of English language and literature.'' Within each of 24 major sections, Marcuse lists and annotates bibliographies, guides, reviews of research, encyclopedias, dictionaries, journals, and reference histories. The annotations and various indexes are models of clarity and usefulness, and cross references are liberally supplied where appropriate. Although cost-conscious librarians will probably consider the several other excellent literary bibliographies in print, such as James L. Harner's Literary Research Guide (Modern Language Assn. of America, 1989), larger academic libraries will want Marcuse's volume.-- Jack Bales, Mary Washington Coll. Lib., Fredericksburg, Va. -Library Journal. |
| 20th century british literature: Autonomy and Commitment in Twentieth-Century British Literature Collectif, 2023-10-10 This collection of essays means to explore the interaction between autonomy and commitment in an attempt at revisiting and possibly, revising conventional literary history. Until recently, literary history has indeed tended to present twentieth century British literature as either autonomous or committed, but such a position certainly needs qualification. By addressing the joint issues of autonomy and commitment and basing their arguments on such theoretical writings as those of Adorno, Benjamin, Jameson, Rancière or Attridge, the essays presented here come to question the canonical definitions of modernism as experimental literature, the literature of the 1940s and 1950s as committed and post-modern fiction as self-reflexive and autonomous. Through reflections on experimentation and ideology, narcissism and metafiction, aestheticism and militancy, abstraction and ethical involvement, they flesh out the very definitions of autonomy and commitment, confront the two notions and relentlessly test their interaction, thus bringing out the complexities and subtleties of the various moments and movements that make up the literary landscape of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st. |
| 20th century british literature: Work and Pay in 20th Century Britain N. F. R. Crafts, Ian Gazeley, Andrew Newell, 2007-01-11 Written by leading British historians and economists, this volume looks at how fundamental changes in British labor markets throughout the 20th century transformed the lives of the British people. |
| 20th century british literature: British Literature and Classical Music David Deutsch, 2015-09-24 British Literature and Classical Music explores literary representations of classical music in early 20th century British writing. Covering authors ranging from T.S. Eliot and Virginia Woolf to Aldous Huxley, H.G. Wells and D.H. Lawrence, the book examines literature produced during a period of widely proliferating philosophical, educational, and performance-oriented musical activities in both public and private settings. David Deutsch demonstrates how this proliferation caused classical music to become an increasingly vital element of British culture and a vehicle for exploring contentious issues such as social mobility, sexual freedoms, and international political rivalries. Through the use of archives of concert programs, cult novels, and letters written during the First and Second World Wars, the book examines how authors both celebrated and satirized the musicality of the lower-middle and working classes, same-sex desiring individuals, and cosmopolitan promoters of a shared European culture to depict these groups as valuable members of and - less frequently as threats to – British life. |
| 20th century british literature: Handbook of British Literature and Culture of the First World War Ralf Schneider, Jane Potter, 2021-09-20 The First World War has given rise to a multifaceted cultural production like no other historical event. This handbook surveys British literature and film about the war from 1914 until today. The continuing interest in World War I highlights the interdependence of war experience, the imaginative re-creation of that experience in writing, and individual as well as collective memory. In the first part of the handbook, the major genres of war writing and film are addressed, including of course poetry and the novel, but also the short story; furthermore, it is shown how our conception of the Great War is broadened when looked at from the perspective of gender studies and post-colonial criticism. The chapters in the second part present close readings of important contributions to the literary and filmic representation of World War I in Great Britain. All in all, the contributions demonstrate how the opposing forces of focusing and canon-formation on the one hand, and broadening and revision of the canon on the other, have characterised British literature and culture of the First World War. |
“20th century” vs. “20ᵗʰ century” - English Language & Usage ...
When writing twentieth century using an ordinal numeral, should the th part be in superscript? To some extent, it depends on the font you are using and how accessible its special features are. …
20st or 20th – Which is Correct? - Two Minute English
Apr 11, 2025 · The correct form is 20th, not 20st. This is because ordinal numbers in English follow specific rules for their endings. Numbers ending in 1 use “st” (like 21st), those ending in …
20th or 20ᵗʰ Century – Should “th” Be In Superscript? - Grammarhow
When writing about centuries (or using ordinal indicators like 20th in other ways), it would help to know where the “th” goes. There are two options. It can be on the baseline next to the number …
20nd or 20th? - Spelling Which Is Correct How To Spell
Jul 7, 2022 · The correct way is 20th, as the regular ending for the ordinal numbers is th. nd is only added to ordinal form of number two, so second and every number that ends with second …
Ordinal Numbers | Learn English
This page shows how we make and say the ordinal numbers like 1st, 2nd, 3rd in English. Vocabulary for ESL learners and teachers.
20th century - Wikipedia
The 20th century was dominated by significant geopolitical events that reshaped the political and social structure of the globe: World War I, the Spanish flu pandemic, World War II and the …
20th - definition of 20th by The Free Dictionary
Define 20th. 20th synonyms, 20th pronunciation, 20th translation, English dictionary definition of 20th. Adj. 1. 20th - coming next after the nineteenth in position twentieth ordinal - being or …
TWENTIETH | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
TWENTIETH definition: 1. 20th written as a word 2. one of 20 equal parts of something 3. 20th written as a word. Learn more.
How To Write Ordinal Numbers | Britannica Dictionary
When writing ordinal numbers such as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. you should use the last two letters on the word as it would be if you wrote out the whole word. Below are the ordinal numbers both …
20th - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms - Vocabulary.com
Jun 7, 2025 · DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘20th'. Views expressed in the examples do not …
“20th century” vs. “20ᵗʰ century” - English Language & Usage ...
When writing twentieth century using an ordinal numeral, should the th part be in superscript? To some extent, it depends on the font you are using and how accessible its special features are. …
20st or 20th – Which is Correct? - Two Minute English
Apr 11, 2025 · The correct form is 20th, not 20st. This is because ordinal numbers in English follow specific rules for their endings. Numbers ending in 1 use “st” (like 21st), those ending in …
20th or 20ᵗʰ Century – Should “th” Be In Superscript? - Grammarhow
When writing about centuries (or using ordinal indicators like 20th in other ways), it would help to know where the “th” goes. There are two options. It can be on the baseline next to the number …
20nd or 20th? - Spelling Which Is Correct How To Spell
Jul 7, 2022 · The correct way is 20th, as the regular ending for the ordinal numbers is th. nd is only added to ordinal form of number two, so second and every number that ends with second …
Ordinal Numbers | Learn English
This page shows how we make and say the ordinal numbers like 1st, 2nd, 3rd in English. Vocabulary for ESL learners and teachers.
20th century - Wikipedia
The 20th century was dominated by significant geopolitical events that reshaped the political and social structure of the globe: World War I, the Spanish flu pandemic, World War II and the …
20th - definition of 20th by The Free Dictionary
Define 20th. 20th synonyms, 20th pronunciation, 20th translation, English dictionary definition of 20th. Adj. 1. 20th - coming next after the nineteenth in position twentieth ordinal - being or …
TWENTIETH | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary
TWENTIETH definition: 1. 20th written as a word 2. one of 20 equal parts of something 3. 20th written as a word. Learn more.
How To Write Ordinal Numbers | Britannica Dictionary
When writing ordinal numbers such as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. you should use the last two letters on the word as it would be if you wrote out the whole word. Below are the ordinal numbers both …
20th - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms - Vocabulary.com
Jun 7, 2025 · DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘20th'. Views expressed in the examples do not …
