The History of British Women’s Writing, 1945–1975 The History of British Women’s Writing General Editors: Jennie Batchelor and Cora Kaplan Advisory Board: Isobel Armstrong, Rachel Bowlby, Helen Carr, Carolyn Dinshaw, Margaret Ezell, Margaret Ferguson, Isobel Grundy, and Felicity Nussbaum The History of British Women’s Writing is an innovative and ambitious monograph series that seeks both to synthesise the work of several generations of feminist schol- ars, and to advance new directions for the study of women’s writing. Volume edi- tors and contributors are leading scholars whose work collectively reflects the global excellence in this expanding field of study. It is envisaged that this series will be a key resource for specialist and non-specialist scholars and students alike. Titles include: Elizabeth Herbert McAvoy and Diane Watt (editors) THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 700–1500 Volume One Caroline Bicks and Jennifer Summit (editors) THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1500–1610 Volume Two Mihoko Suzuki (editor) THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1610–1690 Volume Three Ros Ballaster (editor) THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1690–1750 Volume Four Jacqueline M. Labbe (editor) THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1750–1830 Volume Five Holly Laird (editor) THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1880–1920 Volume Seven Mary Joannou (editor) THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1920–1945 Volume Eight Mary Eagleton and Emma Parker (editors) THE HISTORY OF BRITISH WOMEN’S WRITING, 1970–Present Volume Ten History of British Women’s Writing Series Standing Order ISBN 978-0-230-20079-1 (hardback) (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Springer Nature, Cromwell Place, Hampshire International Business Park, Lime Tree Way, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG24 8YJ, UK Also by Clare Hanson A CULTURAL HISTORY OF PREGNANCY: Pregnancy, Medicine and Culture in Britain, 1750-2000 EUGENICS, LITERATURE AND CULTURE IN POST-WAR BRITAIN HYSTERICAL FICTIONS: The Woman’s Novel in the Twentieth Century KATHERINE MANSFIELD (with Andrew Gurr) RE-READING THE SHORT STORY (ed.) SHORT STORIES AND SHORT FICTIONS 1880-1980 THE CRITICAL WRITINGS OF KATHERINE MANSFIELD (ed.) VIRGINIA WOOLF, Macmillan Women Writers Series Also by Susan Watkins DORIS LESSING DORIS LESSING: Border Crossings ( ed.) SCANDALOUS FICTIONS: The Twentieth-Century Novel in the Public Sphere (ed.) TWENTIETH-CENTURY WOMEN NOVELISTS: Feminist Theory into Practice The History of British Women’s Writing, 1945–1975 Volume Nine Edited by Clare Hanson and Susan Watkins Clare Hanson and Susan Watkins History of British Women’s Writing ISBN 978-1-137-47735-4 ISBN 978-1-137-47736-1 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-137-47736-1 © The Editor(s) 2017 The author(s) has/have asserted their right(s) to be identified as the author(s) of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988. This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover credit: Homer Sykes Archive / Alamy Stock Photo Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by SpringerNature The registered company is Macmillan Publishers Ltd. The registered company address is: The Campus, 4 Crinan Street, London, N1 9XW, United Kingdom Contents Series Editors’ Preface ix Acknowledgements x Notes on Contributors xi Chronology xv Introduction 1 Clare Hanson and Susan Watkins Part I Changing Forms 1 Post-War Fiction: Realism and Experimentalism 19 Kaye Mitchell 2 Lyric, Narrative and Performance in Poetry 37 Jane Dowson 3 Look Back in Gender: Drama 54 Gabriele Griffi n 4 Journalism 71 Deborah Chambers Part II Reconstructing Gender 5 Angry Young Women: Education, Class, and Politics 91 Mary Eagleton 6 Sex, Censorship and Identity 108 Kerry Myler 7 The Second Wave 124 Leanne Bibby 8 The Aftermath of War 142 Kristin Bluemel Part III Global Politics 9 Responding to the Holocaust 159 Sue Vice 10 Internal Empire 176 Katie Gramich 11 The Transcultural Tryst in Migration, Exile and Diaspora 192 Sandra Courtman vii viii Contents 12 ‘Witness Literature’ in the Post-war Novels of Storm Jameson and Doris Lessing 210 Elizabeth Maslen Part IV Expanding Genres 13 Double Trouble: Helen MacInnes’s and Agatha Christie’s Speculative Spy Thrillers 227 Phyllis Lassner 14 Historical Fictions 242 Diana Wallace 15 Children’s Literature: Ideologies of the Past, Present and Future 259 Catherine Butler 16 Science Fiction 273 Susan Watkins Electronic Resources 289 Select Bibliography 290 Index 301 Series Editors’ Preface One of the most significant developments in literary studies in the last quar- ter of a century has been the remarkable growth of scholarship on women’s writing. This was inspired by, and in turn provided inspiration for, a post-war women’s movement, which saw women’s cultural expression as key to their emancipation. The retrieval, republication and reappraisal of women’s writing, beginning in the mid 1960s, have radically affected the literary curriculum in schools and universities. A revised canon now includes many more women writers. Literature courses that focus on what women thought and wrote from antiquity onwards have become popular undergraduate and postgraduate options. These new initiatives have meant that gender – in language, authors, texts, audience and in the history of print culture more generally – are cen- tral questions for literary criticism and literary history. A mass of fascinating research and analysis extending over several decades now stands as testimony to a lively and diverse set of debates, in an area of work that is still expanding. Indeed so rapid has this expansion been, that it has become increasingly difficult for students and academics to have a comprehensive view of the wider field of women’s writing outside their own period or specialism. As the research on women has moved from the margins to the confident cen- tre of literary studies it has become rich in essays and monographs deal- ing with smaller groups of authors, with particular genres and with defined periods of literary production, reflecting the divisions of intellectual labour and development of expertise that are typical of the discipline of literary studies. Collections of essays that provide overviews within particular peri- ods and genres do exist, but no published series has taken on the mapping of the field even within one language group or national culture. A History of British Women’s Writing is intended as just such a cartographic standard work. Its ambition is to provide, in ten volumes edited by lead- ing experts in the field, and comprised of newly commissioned essays by specialist scholars, a clear and integrated picture of women’s contribution to the world of letters within Great Britain from medieval times to the present. In taking on such a wide ranging project we were inspired by the founding, in 2003, of Chawton House Library, a UK registered charity with a unique collection of books focusing on women’s writing in English from 1600 to 1830, set in the home and working estate of Jane Austen’s brother. Jennie Batchelor University of Kent Cora Kaplan Queen Mary, University of London ix Acknowledgements We are grateful to the General Editors of this series, Cora Kaplan and Jennie Batchelor, for their guidance and support throughout the produc- tion of this volume and to the anonymous external reader for suggestions for improvement. The production process has been carried out with exem- plary professionalism by the editorial team of Paula Kennedy, Ben Doyle, Peter Cary, Tomas Rene and Camille Davies at Palgrave. Our greatest debt, however, is to our contributors, who have enthusiastically embraced this project and whose depth of engagement with post-war women’s writing is evident on every page. Their responsiveness, professionalism and good humour have made the editing process a pleasure and a privilege. We are also grateful to the editors of Vol 10 of the History of British Women’s Writing, Mary Eagleton and Emma Parker, for their generous support and astute advice. We have found working together a pleasure and each of us would like to take this opportunity to thank the other for the ongoing con- versation that co-editing the volume has involved. We are grateful to the Homer Sykes Archive / Alamy Stock Photo for permission to reproduce the cover photograph. x Notes on Contributors Leanne Bibby is Senior Lecturer in English Studies at Teesside University and has previously taught at Leeds Beckett and Leeds Trinity Universities. Her research specialisms include contemporary women’s writing and the relationship between literature and historical narrative.