Read more
A bold new study of photographic and literary depictions of London in the 1930s London Writing in the 1930s offers a new perspective on the decade that has long been associated with the Auden generation and the rise of documentary. It argues for the centrality of urban fiction and photography to the decade's experiments in representing daily life. Novels of the period set in London were often described as 'photographic', but what kind of photographs inspired such comparisons? Tracing representations of London by a wide range of 1930s writers and photographers, including Patrick Hamilton, Jean Rhys, George Orwell and Bill Brandt, the book's chapters are organised around London's spaces of leisure. Teashops, cinemas and the night clubs of Soho were central to 1930s negotiations of the interrelation between urban life, gender and class; these settings provide this book both with cultural-historical context and with the basis for its argument about the decade's aesthetic orientations. Anna Cottrell writes about mid-twentieth-century and contemporary British literature and urban culture. Her work has appeared in Textual Practice, Literature & History and Critical Quarterly. Cover design: [EUP logo] edinburghuniversitypress.com ISBN 978-1-4744-2564-3 Barcode
About the author
Dr Anna Cottrell writes about mid-twentieth-century and contemporary British literature and urban culture. Her work has appeared in
Textual Practice,
Literature & History and
Critical Quarterly.
Summary
London Writing in the 1930s offers a new perspective on the decade that has long been associated with the Auden generation and the rise of documentary.
