Literature and Justice in Mid-Twentieth-Century Britain - Crimes and War Crimes

This book examines how ideas about crime and judicial procedure that had developed in a domestic context influenced the representation and understanding of war crimes trials, victims of war crimes, and war criminals in post-WW II Britain. The depiction of Belsen concentration camp and the subsequent British-run trial are a focal point.

List of contents

• Acknowledgements


• Introduction


• 1: Publishing and Publicising the Belsen Trial


• 2: Constructing Criminality in the Work of Derrick Sington


• 3: Memoir, Biography, and Justice


• 4: Holocaust Survivors and Refugees in 1940s Detective Fiction


• Conclusion


• Bibliography

About the author

Victoria Stewart is Honorary Visiting Fellow at the School of Arts, University of Leicester, UK. She has published widely on war writing and crime writing.

Summary

Literature and Justice in Mid Twentieth Century Britain: Crime and War Crimes examines how ideas about crime, criminality, and judicial procedure that had developed in a domestic context influenced the representation and understanding of war crimes trials, victims of war crimes, and war criminals in post-Second World War Britain. The representation of Belsen concentration camp and the subsequent British-run trial of its personnel are a particular focal point. Drawing on a range of source material including life-writing, journalism, and detective fiction, as well as criminological and sociological works from this period, this book explains why the fate of the Jews and other victims of the Nazis was sometimes brought starkly into focus and sometimes marginalised in public discourse at this period. What remain are glimpses of the events now called the Holocaust, but glimpses that can be as powerful and as meaningful as more direct or explicit representations.

Product details

• Authors: Editor, Honorary Visiting Fellow Victoria (School Stewart, Victoria Stewart, Victoria (Honorary Visiting Fellow Stewart, Victoria (Reader in Modern and Contempora Stewart, Stewart Victoria
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 19.01.2023
• EAN: 9780192858238
• ISBN: 978-0-19-285823-8
• No. of pages: 224
• Series: Oxford Mid-Century Studies Series
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > 20th century (up to 1945); Europe, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Genocide & War Crimes, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, LITERARY CRITICISM / European / General, LITERARY CRITICISM / Modern / 20th Century, Second World War, The Holocaust, War Crimes, Literary studies: from c 1900 -, c 1940 to c 1949, c 1939 to c 1945 (including WW2), Literary studies: c 1900 to c 2000, HISTORY / Modern / 20th Century / Holocaust, History / Wars & Conflicts / World War II / European Theater