Description |
1 online resource (xi, 308 pages) |
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text file |
Series |
UPCC book collections on Project MUSE. Literature.
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Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 279-296) and index. |
Contents |
Introduction -- Spectacular Nazism and subversive performances -- Vamps, tramps, and Nazis : representations of spectacular female characters -- Seeing Jewish or seeing "the Jew"? : the spectral Jewish other -- Eventually we're all queer : fascism, Nazism, and homosexuality -- Conclusion : can fiction make a difference? : writing and reading resistance. |
Summary |
This book marks a major step forward in the critical debates over the relationship between modernist art and politics. The author analyzes the antifascist, and particularly anti-Nazi, narrative methods used by key British and American fiction writers in the 1930s. Focusing on works by Djuna Barnes, Christopher Isherwood, and Virginia Woolf, the author illustrates how these writers use an "anti-Nazi aesthetic" to target and expose Nazism's murderous discourse of exclusion. The three writers challenge the illusion of harmony and unity promoted by the Nazi spectacle in parades, film, rallies, and propaganda. The author illustrates how their writings, seldom read in this way, resonate with the psychological and social theories of the period and warn against Nazism's suppression of individuality. Her approach also demonstrates how historical and cultural contexts complicate the works, often reinforcing the oppressive discourses they aim to attack. This book explores the textual ambivalences toward the "Others" in society - most prominently the Modern Woman, the homosexual, and the Jew. By doing so, the author uncovers important clues to the sexual and racial politics that were widespread in Europe and the United States in the years leading up to World War II. |
Local Note |
eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America |
Subject |
Isherwood, Christopher, 1904-1986 -- Criticism and interpretation.
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Isherwood, Christopher, 1904-1986. |
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Criticism and interpretation. |
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Barnes, Djuna -- Criticism and interpretation.
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Barnes, Djuna. |
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Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941 -- Criticism and interpretation.
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Woolf, Virginia, 1882-1941. |
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Anti-Nazi movement in literature.
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Anti-Nazi movement in literature. |
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Modernism (Literature) -- History and criticism.
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Modernism (Literature) |
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English fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism.
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Chronological Term |
20th century |
Subject |
American fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism.
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American fiction. |
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English fiction. |
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LITERARY CRITICISM -- General. |
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English. |
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Languages & Literatures. |
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English Literature. |
Chronological Term |
1900-1999 |
Genre/Form |
Criticism, interpretation, etc.
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Other Form: |
Print version: Spiro, Mia. Anti-Nazi modernism. Evanston, Ill. : Northwestern University Press, 2013 (DLC) 2012022483 |
ISBN |
9780810166370 (electronic book) |
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0810166372 (electronic book) |
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9780810128637 (paperback ; alkaline paper) |
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0810128632 |
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