Literature of the 1900s: The Great Edwardian Emporium
Challenges conventional views of the Edwardian period as either a hangover of Victorianism or a bystander to literary modernism
In this ground-breaking study, Jonathan Wild investigates the literary history of the Edwardian decade. This period, long overlooked by critics, is revealed as a vibrant cultural era whose writers were determined to break away from the stifling influence of preceding Victorianism. In the hands of this generation, which included writers such as Arnold Bennett, Joseph Conrad, E. M. Forster, Beatrix Potter, and H.G. Wells, the new century presented a unique opportunity to fashion innovative books for fresh audiences. Wild traces this literary innovation by conceptualising the focal points of his study as branches of one of the new department stores that epitomized Edwardian modernity.  These ‘departments’ – war and imperialism, the rise of the lower middle class, children’s literature, technology and decadence, and the condition of England – offer both discrete and interconnected ways in which to understand the distinctiveness and importance of the Edwardian literary scene. Overall, The Great Edwardian Emporium offers a long-overdue investigation into a decade of literature that provided the cultural foundation for the coming century.

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Literature of the 1900s: The Great Edwardian Emporium
Challenges conventional views of the Edwardian period as either a hangover of Victorianism or a bystander to literary modernism
In this ground-breaking study, Jonathan Wild investigates the literary history of the Edwardian decade. This period, long overlooked by critics, is revealed as a vibrant cultural era whose writers were determined to break away from the stifling influence of preceding Victorianism. In the hands of this generation, which included writers such as Arnold Bennett, Joseph Conrad, E. M. Forster, Beatrix Potter, and H.G. Wells, the new century presented a unique opportunity to fashion innovative books for fresh audiences. Wild traces this literary innovation by conceptualising the focal points of his study as branches of one of the new department stores that epitomized Edwardian modernity.  These ‘departments’ – war and imperialism, the rise of the lower middle class, children’s literature, technology and decadence, and the condition of England – offer both discrete and interconnected ways in which to understand the distinctiveness and importance of the Edwardian literary scene. Overall, The Great Edwardian Emporium offers a long-overdue investigation into a decade of literature that provided the cultural foundation for the coming century.

29.95 In Stock
Literature of the 1900s: The Great Edwardian Emporium

Literature of the 1900s: The Great Edwardian Emporium

by Jonathan Wild
Literature of the 1900s: The Great Edwardian Emporium

Literature of the 1900s: The Great Edwardian Emporium

by Jonathan Wild

Paperback(Reprint)

$29.95 
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Overview

Challenges conventional views of the Edwardian period as either a hangover of Victorianism or a bystander to literary modernism
In this ground-breaking study, Jonathan Wild investigates the literary history of the Edwardian decade. This period, long overlooked by critics, is revealed as a vibrant cultural era whose writers were determined to break away from the stifling influence of preceding Victorianism. In the hands of this generation, which included writers such as Arnold Bennett, Joseph Conrad, E. M. Forster, Beatrix Potter, and H.G. Wells, the new century presented a unique opportunity to fashion innovative books for fresh audiences. Wild traces this literary innovation by conceptualising the focal points of his study as branches of one of the new department stores that epitomized Edwardian modernity.  These ‘departments’ – war and imperialism, the rise of the lower middle class, children’s literature, technology and decadence, and the condition of England – offer both discrete and interconnected ways in which to understand the distinctiveness and importance of the Edwardian literary scene. Overall, The Great Edwardian Emporium offers a long-overdue investigation into a decade of literature that provided the cultural foundation for the coming century.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781474437707
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Publication date: 08/13/2018
Series: The Edinburgh History of Twentieth-Century Literature in Britain
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 224
Product dimensions: 6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jonathan Wild is Senior Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Edinburgh. He has published widely on late Victorian and Edwardian topics and is the author of The Rise of the Office Clerk in Literary Culture, 1880-1939 (2006).

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter One: Department of War and External Affairs: The Anglo-Boer War and Imperialism

Chapter Two: Department of Administration: Office Clerks and Shop Assistants

Chapter Three: Children’s Department: Edwardian Children’s Literature

Chapter Four: Department of Decadence: Sex, Cars, and Money

Chapter Five: Department of Internal Affairs: England and the Countryside

Afterword

Works Cited

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