‘Mystery at the Lilacs’ (1938) Elizabeth Bowen's Thriller Serial for Home and Country Clara Jones.pdf

该【‘Mystery at the Lilacs’ (1938) Elizabeth Bowen's Thriller Serial for Home and Country Clara Jones 】是由【好用文档】上传分享，文档一共【25】页，该文档可以免费在线阅读，需要了解更多关于【‘Mystery at the Lilacs’ (1938) Elizabeth Bowen's Thriller Serial for Home and Country Clara Jones 】的内容，可以使用淘豆网的站内搜索功能，选择自己适合的文档，以下文字是截取该文章内的部分文字，如需要获得完整电子版，请下载此文档到您的设备，方便您编辑和打印。:..ArticleLiterature&History‘MysteryattheLilacs’2018,(1)3–27!TheAuthor(s)2018Reprintsandpermissions:(1938):ElizabethBowen’:./home/lahandCountryClaraJonesKing’sCollegeLondon,UKAbstractThisarticleintroducesarediscovered1938serialbyElizabethBowen‘speciallywritten’forHomeandCountry,anoftheNationalFederationofWomen’‘MysteryattheLilacs’withintheperiodicalcultureof‘HomeandCountry’,payingparticularattentiontoBowen’sengagementwiththesocialandculturaldebatesthatplayedoutacrossitspages,andconsidershowBowen’,thisserialoverlapsthematicallywithBowen’-u-piedwiththerelationshipbetween‘high’andpopularculture,‘MysteryattheLilacs’hasmuchtotellusaboutBowen’,Women’sInstitutes,interwarliteratureandpoliticsIntroductionInthesummerof1938,HomeandCountry,anoftheNationalFederationofWomen’sInstitutes(NFWI),ranathree-partserialcalled‘MysteryattheLilacs’.TheJuneeditionof‘HomeandCountry’advertisesthestoryonitsfrontcover;amodestinsertonthetopleft-handcornerpromisesCorrespondingauthor:ClaraJones,King’sCollegeLondon,VirginiaWoolfBuilding,22Kingsway,,LondonWC2B6LE,:clara.******@:..4Literature&History27(1)‘MYSTERYATTHELILACSANEWTHRILLER’aswellasadvertisingapetition‘withprizes’andacolumncalled‘HelpsforHousewives’.ThecontentspageofthejournalrevealstheauthorofthisserialisElizabethBowenandthatithasbeen‘SpeciallyWrittenfor‘‘HomeandCountry’’’.‘MysteryattheLilacs’isnotincludedinanyvolumeofBowen’sstoriescollectedduringherlifetimeorsubsequently,andnordoesitfeatureinSelleryandHarris’sbibliographyofBowen’,whosevaluableworkonBowen’sshort?ction,esstomuchpreviouslyuncollectedmaterial,pointsoutthat‘[O]et-fulness,[Bowen]omittedatleasttwenty-eighttalesfromthebooksofshort?ctionthatsheassembledoverthecourseofhercareer.’2Authorialindifferenceaside,theobscurityoftheHomeandCountryjournalandthelackofcorrespondencerelatingtothisstoryinBowen’’scontributiontoHomeandCountryislesssurprisingwhenweknowofmitmenttotheWomen’sInstitute(WI)‘speciallywrittenfor‘‘HomeandCountry’’’informstheapproachofthisarticle,whichseekstosituatethisserialwithintheperiodicalcultureofthejournal,payingparticularattentiontoBowen’’-rationorcuriosity,thisserialoverlapsthematicallywithBowen’-mu-upiedwiththerelationshipbetweenhighandpopularculture,‘MysteryattheLilacs’hasmuchtotellusaboutBowen’,thefollowingmentingonBowen’’llhaveaniceafternoonwiththeWI,orasweusedtocallitwhenIwasintheHeadingtonone,:sinceIcametoliveinLondonIfeelIdon’’spassionfor‘’isevidentinthisstriking1941lettertoVirginiaWoolf,herselfan,albeit,’sappealtothecollective‘we’oftheHeadingtonbranchofwhichshewasformerlyamemberandhercon?dentuseoftheacronym,.,showherathomewiththeorganisationandthereissomethingborderingonthedisciplinaryinthecorrectionsheoffersWoolf–‘.’not‘Women’sInstitute’–thatmarksBowenoutasaninsider,andonewithakeensenseofprotocol.:..,Oxfordwhereshelivedfortenyearsfrom1925,,anotherlocalresidentandenthusiasticWImember,remembersmeetingBoweninthelatetwentiesatthecommitteeoftheOxfordshireFederationofWIs–bythistimeBowenwaspresi-?cationwiththeorganisationthatgoesbeyondsimplegung-’’scharacterisationofEnglandintermsof‘feeling’maybereadinthecontextofherstatusasanAnglo--cinglyonBowen’s‘ambivalent’relationshiptoEnglandandher‘discontinuous’relationshiptoIreland,bothresultingina‘senseofdislocationandalienness’.8LeealsopointstotheimaginativefreedomBowenidenti?edwiththeEnglishcountry-sideandDeclanKiberdsuggests:TheambivalencefeltbyBowentowardstheEnglishis,intheend,basedonanout-ragedconvictionthatonlytheAnglo-Irishhad,inthetwentiethcentury,,withitspatrioticandpreservationistinstincts,,theWomen’sInstituteMovementwasaCanadianimportbroughttoGreatBritainin1915withthetwinaimsof‘stimulatinginterestintheagriculturalindustry’and‘providingcentresforeducationalandsocialintercourse’,theWIwasestablishedalongpatrioticandnationalistlines–asisclearinitsmotto‘ForHomeandCountry’–’slettertoWoolf(andindeedinherserial)isastrikingarticulationoftheWI’sideology,,evencomforting,?‘beliefinthemoraleffectsofproperty,inbenevolentimperialism,intradition’Bowenwas‘arecognizabletypeofconservative’.13AlanSin?eldidenti?esherapprehensivenessaboutthelanguageofclassconsciousnessandtheprojectofwelfarecapitalismthatemergedduringWWIIwiththe‘panicofliteraryintellectualsinthefaceofthepostwarstate’.14Herattitudetowardsapotentialpost-warLabourgovernmentina1945lettertoWilliamPlomerisstrikingevidenceofthis:‘‘‘whenMrChurchillgoes,Igo’’.Ican’tstickalltheselittlemiddle-classLabourwetswiththeirOldLondonSchoolofEconomicstiesandtheirwomen.’15WhiletheWIprideditselfonitsegalitarianismandnon-denominationalism,16inpracticetraditionalhierarchiesofclassandin?uenceinformeditsinstitutionalstructure:leaders,certainlyatcountyfederationandnationallevelbutalsooftenatindividualinstitutelevel,weredrawn:..6Literature&History27(1)’sprojectofclassconciliation,mostpowerfullyservedbyitsruleprohibitingthediscussionofanycontroversialorpoliticaltopics,18hasbeenreadasameansofheadingoffthepoliticisationofworking-munitiesandthespreadofleft-’’simaginationitislesssurprisingthanitmight?rstappearthatsheshouldhaveputherskillandstatusasawritertoeffectiveusebycontributinganoriginalserialtotheWImagazine,?rstnumberofHomeandCountry,publishedinFebruary1919,wasamodestaffair:threethousandcopieswereprintedandeachwasjusteight-,essfulenterprise,withcirculationgrowingto?,InezJenkins,is,however,equivocalaboutthecontentofearlyissues,especiallyits‘?rstexcursionsintotherealmsof?ctionandverse’.22Literarycontentseemstohaveposedaproblemfortheeditorialboard,:‘mendedthatowingtolackofspaceitwasimpossibletopublishaserialin‘‘HomeandCountry’’.’24Giventherapidgrowthofthepaper–Jenkinsnotesthatbytheendoftheyearithad‘doubledinsizeandalmosttrebledincirculation’–:?‘advantageousterms’impliesthatthecommittee’sreticencewasbasedon?:howwouldaserialworkinamonthlyjournallikeHomeandCountry?anisationalpublication,withthepri-maryaimofinformingmembersaboutWInews,,notunlikethetrancheofwomen’’sresistancemighthavehadanothersourcetoo:‘Asanalternativethepublicationofaclassic,:..Jones7suchas,‘‘TheThreeMusketeers’’,mended.’’seditorialdecisionsinthecontextoftheburgeoningcultureofwomen’:Therelationbetweentheroleofmagazine?ctionandthesocialstatusofthemaga-zine-?ctionwasininversepro-‘higher’thisclass,?cantforourpurposes:‘Theserialstorywaspeculiartoworking-classperiodicals[...]Middle-classpub-lications,ontheotherhand,hadadistinctpreferenceforshorter?ction.’31Thispreferenceisre?:’sreluctancetoincludeaserialandtheirpreferenceforshort?ctionreadsasevidenceofanawarenessofthehierarchicalcharacterofdifferentpublications’’‘talksonforeigncountries’couldtaketheplaceofaserialsuggestsapreferencefor‘improv-ing’:‘ItwasreportedthatMrBuchanregrettedmittee.’HavingreceivedJohnBuchan’mitteeapproachedanotherwell-knownliterarysup-essful:?eld[sic]hasconsentedtowriteaserialforthe?rstsixmonthsof1926atafeeof￡?eld[sic]?eld’s1926contribution,‘AGoldenCelebration’,-parthistoricalserialfor1929,-partserial,thistimealyricaldramaaboutaruralworkingfamilycalled‘Thel’.35HomeandCountrywereclearlycommissioningserialsbymiddlebrowwriterswellknownfortheircontributionstohigher-endperiodicalsandmagazines,,whichcourtedaself-consciouslymodernandprofessionalreadershipandself-de?nedasan‘overtlyfeministreviewofpoliticsandthearts’,36appealedtoadifferenttypeofmiddle-classwomantoHomeandCountry,’sargument:..8Literature&History27(1)forgreaterattentiontobepaidtopointsofexchangeandcorrespondencebetweenfeministperiodicalsandtheexpandingwomen’smagazinemarket,’-