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8/13/2019 Women's fiction and War
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Women's Fiction and the Great War by Suzanne Raitt; Trudi TateReview by: Nicola BradburyThe Review of English Studies, New Series, Vol. 49, No. 196 (Nov., 1998), pp. 538-539Published by: Oxford University Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/518277 .
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538 REVIEWS
aboutConrad's exts,ertainlyulfilshemoremodestequirementf onveyingomethingofthedifficultiesndpleasuresfreading onrad.
JOHNLYON UniversityfBristol
SUZANNEAITT ndTRUDITATE edd.).Women's iction nd theGreatWar.Pp.vi+294. xford: larendonress, 997. loth,40;paper,14-99.'It sno ongerrue o laimhat omen'sesponseso hewar ave eengnored'p.2)
say he ditorsfthis olumen a clearndchallengingntroduction.ot gnored,utsubtlyrperhapsven latantlyonscripted;akenp nsupportf givendeologicalposition:ngenderefinitionrconstruction,rperhapsnculturalalues.Womenspacifists,ating asculineiolence;omensworshippersndhealers,ontentomourn
casualtiesnd are orurvivors.hose wo erspectivesre todds,nd uzanneaittndTrudi ate howcrupulouslyoth y heirompilationf ssaysnd heirommentshatthese ositionsay emultiplied;otoomay he iverseiteraryorms,venwithinhecategoryf women'siction',hroughhichheGreatWar,war tself,s addressed.Difference,ot efinition,sthewatchwordere. onsideringritersromhe dwardianstomodernistsnd nti-modernists,ndtextsangingromomanceoJournal,ropa-ganda,etters,hort ictionsndnovels,ome f them irtuallynknownndothersdeceptivelyamiliar,hesessaysemandndividual,recisettentionnd he eadinessoshiftssumptions.andra ilbert'sonstructionf heGreatWar sa war f he exessnotettisoned,ut ostled ydisplacementf he rthodoxyf he ominancefgender
concerns.ecognizingnsteadow heGreatWaronlyntensifiedhe ressurenwomento nhabitcultural,ocial,nd exual aradox'p.5)allowshis olumeoproposeheir
problematics amodelor nother:emblematicf society'selationohistoricalrocess'(p.6).
Helen mall,n MrsHumphryardnd he irst asualtyfWar',chievessensefthis artlyhroughivelyllustrations:aryWard osed orhe hotographern tripothe ront;he ensorilifiedsacaricaturef he unby cartoonistttackingropaganda.WhileorWardwritingas n ct fwar't arriednethicalost,ndHelenmallhows
delicatelyow he ense fthis anberegisteredestheticallynscrupulositiesf tyle:' Sheknewt, ndwasnot nconsciousf certain oralefeat;ssheookedut ponll
the trenuousnd plendidhingshatwomen ere oingnthewar. hat lightemi-colonarries orehantsusualweight'p.36).Thewillingnesso confrontnpalatablettitudesnd mperfectexts s a valuable
characteristicfthis olume. aryConde indshat dithWhartonhasproducedn
extraordinary,houghlawed,ocumentf truggle,eception,ndoss'p.63) nA Son tthe ront,sking howill ay he ost fwar. ane otteretswomen'somancesgainstmemoirsnconsideringow omewriterspresentedo thepublic clear-sightednddeterminedision, uch-neededrdesired'p.105).Claire uck akes nthe roblemf
Radclyffeall's dentificationfhermasculinityithatrioticalues,ncapablef view
largerhan ationalism.ary amer eadsMary utts,espiteindingerthehardest
figureorecruitor ny ause',because erwritingscannote dismissed'p. 219).Elizabeth regoryncorporatesertrudetein mongstandidatesor hisvolume,althoughForthemost art,heprotestsy lidinghe videncefviolencerounder,refusingohonourtwithmention,ndfocusingnpleasurenstead'p.280).
Suzanneaitt'swn ssaynMay inclair'sarournalstretcheshat emightxpectfromuch volume.inclair as 1when ar rokeut,ndherournalsrevealnpainfuland wkwardetailhe hamef middle-agedoman ho ees n middlegeherast
TheReviewfEnglishtudies, ewSeries, ol.49,No. 196 1998) 0 Oxford niversityress 998
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REVIEWS 539
chance t ife'p. 65).This sa newperspectiven the ulturalonstructionffemininityta time fboth ulturalndpersonalrisis,ccentuatedythe ompetitionfsuperfluitywith oss.A defiantlyunsexy' ubject, raced ndesperatelyassionateerms.Feminine
agency's curiouslyuaranteedy awkwardride'.Gillian eerbringsextualcholarshipswell s cultural istoryobear n Vernon ee'sSatan theWaster, hosemultipleubject ositionings mirroredythecomplexitiesf
manuscript,evisions, otes, ndeditions. hange, ot tability,aysBeer,matterso Lee
throughouter areer,ndprovides key ounderstandinghis roblematicext, ut lsoto nterpretingts mportances an attackn the herd'mentalityhich ouldpermithe
prosecutionf the war. VirginiaWoolf, ccording o TracyHargreaves,ound he
'preposterous asculine iction'p. 134)of the waroutrageousut difficulto confront.War s an unstableategoryn herwritings,nd eems lmostlided rom othe ighthouse;butHargreavesisinterstsghostlyresencerom hemiddleection,TimePasses'.Using
Woolf'sholograph,he discovershe risis or he rtistf the mperativeo ncludewhatresists epresentation.Natalie londel urnsoa neglected riter,rances ellerby,or notherpproacho the
sameproblem.People ivedouble ives' nBellerby's ork, aught mong he iving ut
'dwellingn memoriesf the dead' (p. 151). ntriguingly,hisdouble xposures traced
throughhe tylisticevices fa worldwherethe strangementf thebereaved romheworld fthe ivings imaged hroughheir strangementromanguagetself'p. 160).
Katherine ansfield'sechniquesfrepresentation,s ConCoroneoshows,nclude heaestheticfdisgust,ontaininghehorrorsfwar, ndcorrespondinglycting s a 'self-inoculation'gainstnotherhreat.Mansfield'sllness ivesher kind fguiltlesslarity.
Conversely,D sufferedmiscarriagehichheattributedo the hock fwarnews, ndTrudiTatetraces he xplorationfwar raumahroughouterwork, hich issolveshe
apparentdistinctionetween ctiveservice nd civilian xperience,nd showsthedevastationf a culturalneurosis hatknowsno boundaries. ransgression,s thisvolume emonstrates,aybe liberating,ut t can alsobring estruction.
NICOLA RADBURYniversityfReading
VIRGINIAWOOLF. Mrs Dalloway. EditedbyMORRISBEJA.Pp. xxxvi+200The
ShakespeareeadPress ditionfVirginia oolf). xford:lackwell,996. 50.VIRGINIA OOLF.TheVoyageOut. Edited y . RUTHMILLER nd AWRENCEILLER.
Pp.xl+408The ShakespeareeadPress ditionfVirginia oolf). xford:Blackwell,995. 50.
With ightnd ay,Tothe ighthouse,heWaves,ndRogerrylreadynprint,hesetwo atestdditionsothe hakespeare ead Press ditionfVirginiaWoolfmark project
half-completed.The purpose f... theEdition',t s statedn theprefaceo eachvolume,'istopresenteliableexts,ompleteith lternateeadingsnd xplanatoryotes,f llthebooks Woolf]herselfublished r intendedopublish, ot usthernovels' p. iii).
Suchan enterprises bothtimelyndvaluable, uton theevidence f thetwovolumesunder eview,ditorialtandards illneed tobe raisedn theforthcomingolumesfthe
Shakespeare ead editions tobecome he tandarddition fWoolf.
Textually,hese ditionsfMrsDallowayndTheVoyage ut rethemostmmaculate
available. he copy-textorMrsDalloway s themarked,orrectedroofs f thefirst
Americandition1925),while he opy-textor heVoyage ut s thefirstnglishdition
(1915).Bothvolumesontain sefulppendicesiting ariantsndemendations,ndwhile
The eviewf nglishtudies,ew eries, ol. 9,No.1961998) 0 Oxfordniversityress998
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