The Idea of Race in Interwar Britain: Religion, Entertainment and Childhood Experiences A thesis submitted to The University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2013 Helen M. Rajabi School of Arts, Languages and Cultures CONTENTS List of Illustrations p. 3 Abstract p. 4 Acknowledgements p. 7 Note on Key Terms p. 8 Introduction p. 9 Chapter One Race, Religion and Empire, p. 29 Chapter Two Orientalism in Popular Entertainment between the Wars, p. 55 Chapter Three From Stage to Screen: Popular Entertainments and the Idea of Blackness, p. 90 Chapter Four The Idea of Race in the Newspaper Children’s Page, p. 118 Chapter Five Formative Influences on Ideas about Race: The Imagined Jew in the Mass-Observation Archive, p. 164 Conclusion p. 188 Bibliography p. 196 WORD COUNT (up to but not including bibliography): 78,323 2 ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1: ‘The Harvesting of Victory’, The Times, 1919, p. 39. Figure 2: Junior Missionary Association, Poster for Annual Demonstration, 1933, p. 46. Figure 3: Lily Brayton as Zahrat al Kulub in Chu Chin Chow, The Tatler, 1916, p. 79. Figure 4: Oscar Asche and Lily Brayton in Kismet, 1911, p. 80. Figure 5: Lily Brayton as Marsinah in Kismet, The Sketch, 1911, p. 80. Figure 6: ‘The Craze for Eccentric Parties’, Daily Mirror, 1928, p. 94. Figure 7: ‘Teachers of Youth: Yesterday and To-Day’, Daily Mirror, 1920, p. 107. Figure 8: ‘Wtzkoffski “Hoist with His Own Petard”’, Daily Mirror, 1930, p. 122. Figure 9: ‘Oriental Splendour’, Daily Mirror, 1934, p. 124. Figure 10: Oriental Villainy vs. Oriental Splendour, Daily Mirror, 1926, p. 125. Figure 11: ‘Dr. Fu Manchu’, Daily Mirror, 1923, p. 127. Figure 12: ‘Poppington Politics’ and ‘“Revengeski is Sweet!”’, Daily Mirror, 1922 and 1932, p. 128. Figure 13: ‘“Please to Remember The Popski Guy!”’, Daily Mirror, 1924, p. 129. Figure 14: ‘Bank Holiday “Snaps”’, Daily Mirror, 1934, p. 131. Figure 15: ‘Rag St. “Battle”’, Daily Mirror, 1933, p. 132. Figure 16: ‘Jungle Comedy’, Daily Mirror, 1932, p. 133. Figure 17: ‘Sambo Arrives – On His Head!’, Daily Mirror, 1935, p. 134. Figure 18: ‘God Save The King!’, Daily Mirror, 1935, p. 135. Figure 19: ‘Bank Holiday “Snaps”’, Daily Mirror, 1934, p. 136. Figure 20: ‘Wilf Whitewashes Curly’, Daily Mirror, 1934, p. 137. Figure 21: ‘Captured by Cannibals’, Daily Mirror, 1932, p. 140. Figure 22: ‘A “Black” Look’, Daily Mirror, 1928, p. 141. Figure 23: ‘Cannibal Creek’, Daily Mirror, 1924, p. 142. Figure 24: ‘Empire Day’, Daily Mirror, 1922, p. 146. Figure 25: ‘The Nigger Minstrel’, Daily Mirror, 1919, p. 153. Figure 26: ‘World-Friendship Stories’, 1924-1925, p. 156. Figure 27: ‘Curly’s “Mammy” Arrives!’, Daily Mirror, 1934, p. 159. Figure 28: ‘By Speedboat to Africa!’, Liverpool Echo, 1932, p. 160. Figure 29: ‘Sad Darkie who “went back” to Tennessee’, Daily Mirror, 1926, p. 161. 3 ABSTRACT Historians writing on the subject of race have largely focused on the period after the Second World War: the arrival of the SS Empire Windrush in 1948 has become a defining symbol of Britain’s immigration history. Studies that examine the earlier decades of the twentieth century privilege either imperial or scientific discourses on race. This focus neglects the variety of social and cultural discourses through which the idea of racial difference was disseminated to the British public. This thesis focuses on the idea of race in the 1920s and 1930s and explores how other peoples and places were constructed in the British imagination through three separate but interconnected themes: religion, entertainment and childhood experiences. The thesis has three central arguments: firstly it argues that racial discourses were varied; secondly, that while Britain’s cities offered opportunities for interracial contact, most British people’s experiences of the racial other were limited to the realm of the imagination, nourished by a variety of constructions emanating from churches, schools, entertainment venues and the home; thirdly, that the racial other was constructed in the British imagination as a source of both fear and desire. Religion was one of the dominant forces disseminating ideas about racial difference to the British public in the interwar years. Religious leaders were able to construct an image of other peoples and places through their connection to important annual events such as Empire Day and in their commentaries on current events; their response to the 1919 race riots illustrates how religion, empire and politics intersected on matters of race and national identity. Missionary groups also played an important role in constructing ideas about race, especially to children, through missionary exhibitions. The role of religion in society in the interwar years has been underplayed and yet religious discourses on race that were familiar in the nineteenth century continued well into the twentieth. In the realm of popular entertainment, both blackface and orientalist productions excelled in the art of racial disguise. These productions underline the contradiction at the heart of race discourse between fear and desire; fear of a difference that undermined the notion of white supremacy and thus the strength of Britain’s Empire, and a simultaneous desire to ‘know’ the ‘other’, be that through cultural interactions or physical intimacy. The act of dressing-up as the racial ‘other’ was a crucial means of exploring fantasies of the ‘other’ without transgressing contemporary racial boundaries. Newspaper reviews of popular entertainments constructed a narrative on race that used both positive and negative stereotypes. The history of licensing and censorship in the files of the Lord Chamberlain’s Archive reveals contemporary anxieties about race focusing particularly on miscegenation. People were encouraged to imagine racial difference in a variety of ways and from a young age. The stereotyped images presented to children are open to less nuanced interpretation than those aimed at adults and more than any other were composed of binary oppositions between black and white, civilised and savage, ancient and modern. Evidence from newspapers and the Mass-Observation Archive highlights how children were encouraged to imagine racial difference and the variety and complexity of childhood experiences that defined people’s ideas about race. This thesis builds on an established body of work on the subject of race and uses a variety of sources in order to advance the discussion beyond a narrow focus on empire or scientific debates towards a more comprehensive analysis of the circulation of the idea of race in interwar Britain. It focuses on an era that has received less scholarly attention than the years after 1945 and highlights the variety of discourses on race that permeated the social and cultural life of interwar Britain. 4 DECLARATION No portion of the work referred to in this thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. 5 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns certain copyright or related rights in it (the “Copyright”) and s/he has given The University of Manchester certain rights to use such Copyright, including for administrative purposes. ii. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts and whether in hard or electronic copy, may be made only in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) and regulations issued under it or, where appropriate, in accordance with licensing agreements which the University has from time to time. This page must form part of any such copies made. iii. The ownership of certain Copyright, patents, designs, trade marks and other intellectual property (the “Intellectual Property”) and any reproductions of copyright works in the thesis, for example graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s) of the relevant Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions. iv. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure, publication and commercialisation of this thesis, the Copyright and any Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions described in it may take place is available in the University IP Policy (see http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/DocuInfo.aspx?DocID=487), in any relevant Thesis restriction declarations deposited in the University Library, The University Library’s regulations (see http://www.manchester.ac.uk/library/aboutus/regulations) and in The University’s policy on Presentation of Theses 6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My interest in the history of the idea of race and the many ways that people have understood racial difference was first kindled as an undergraduate student at the University of Liverpool. I would like to thank Dr. Harald Braun; through his third-year module on encounters between the ‘Old’ and ‘New’ world I was encouraged to think about the construction of racial difference for the first time. Thanks also go to Dr. Matt Houlbrook; as my undergraduate dissertation supervisor his suggestion that I use newspapers for my primary material has benefited me enormously in my subsequent research. As a postgraduate, my work has developed though the supervision of Dr. Joanna de Groot at the University of York where I studied for my MA in Modern History. Since coming to the University of Manchester I have been especially fortunate in my supervisors; Professor Penny Summerfield and Dr. Charlotte Wildman have provided both pastoral and academic support, inspiring me to greater confidence, not only in my research but also in the wider world of academia. During my panel reviews, Professor Frank Mort has been generous with his time and advice and I would like to thank him in advance for agreeing to examine my thesis.