Picturing England between the Wars: Word and Image 1918-1940 PDF
Preview Picturing England between the Wars: Word and Image 1918-1940
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,19/8/2021,SPi Picturing England between the Wars OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,19/8/2021,SPi OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,19/8/2021,SPi Picturing England between the Wars Word and Image 1918–1940 STUART SILLARS 1 OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,19/8/2021,SPi 3 GreatClarendonStreet,Oxford,OX26DP, UnitedKingdom OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwide.Oxfordisaregisteredtrademarkof OxfordUniversityPressintheUKandincertainothercountries ©StuartSillars2021 Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted FirstEditionpublishedin2021 Impression:1 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedin aretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,withoutthe priorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress,orasexpresslypermitted bylaw,bylicenceorundertermsagreedwiththeappropriatereprographics rightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproductionoutsidethescopeofthe aboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment,OxfordUniversityPress,atthe addressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisworkinanyotherform andyoumustimposethissameconditiononanyacquirer PublishedintheUnitedStatesofAmericabyOxfordUniversityPress 198MadisonAvenue,NewYork,NY10016,UnitedStatesofAmerica BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2021936254 ISBN 978–0–19–882892–1 PrintedandboundintheUKby TJBooksLimited LinkstothirdpartywebsitesareprovidedbyOxfordingoodfaithand forinformationonly.Oxforddisclaimsanyresponsibilityforthematerials containedinanythirdpartywebsitereferencedinthiswork. OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,19/8/2021,SPi DennebokenertilTorunn OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,19/8/2021,SPi OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,19/8/2021,SPi Contents Prologue ix ListofFigures xv ListofPlates xxi ANoteonIllustrations xxv Acknowledgements xxvii Introduction 1 PART ONE. MAPPING THE IMAGINED LAND 1. SomeVersionsofArcady 7 2. SearchingforaPlace 19 3. ModernPilgrims 40 4. MovingtowardsTruths 53 PART TWO. MANY MANSIONS 5. HousingforthePeople 65 6. HousesforModerateMeans 82 7. Modernism 102 PART THREE. SEEING AND THE READING PUBLIC 8. Book,Image,andSocialPresence 117 9. SomeUsesofImagery 129 10. ImagingtheClassics 145 11. TheRuralistandthePremier 159 PART FOUR. WEEKLY COMMUNITIES 12. MagazinesforAll 175 13. MagazinesforWomen 193 OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,19/8/2021,SPi viii 14. ThePracticalHabit 205 15. Air-Mindedness 217 Coda 233 SelectBibliography 245 Index 249 OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,19/8/2021,SPi Prologue Visible Silence, Still as the Hour Glass Like the Cenotaph, the empty tomb designed by Edwin Lutyens, a larger absent presencebroodsovertheyearsbetweenwars,thetimeaptlydefinedasthetwenty- yeartruce:thefifty-onemonthsandthreedaysofseverance,lossandbewildered sufferingthat,alreadyin1920,hadbeencalledtheFirstWorldWar.Anyaddress, familial, local, national, must rest on some awareness of this massive collective bereavement, and theefforts tocometo terms with it. Languagestumbles; some broader avenue ofpurpose,longer andfirmer, demands itself.Withinandalong words surfaces the idea of an older nature, shared within a visionary company, nowyearnedforthroughidealsanddesiresofthepresent. ThesheerphysicalnatureoftheCenotaph,insistentinitsemptiness,isjustas revealingaboutpatternsofidea,thoughtandbelief.Itisnotitsmassivestructure alone, or the presence or absence of inscriptions, its location, nor even its very existence. What makes it such a powerful entity is the way in which it melds together its use of language and its imposing visible form. That elements from eachmediumworkformanywithouttheirbeingrecognizedinanywaydoesnot diminishthem;wemightjustaswelltrytodiagnosethepowerofgreatmusicor anancientcathedral. Firstconstructedoutofwood,intendedasatemporarystructureaspartofthe Peace Day parade on 19 July 1919 (Figure1), the Cenotaph instantly affected public opinion:after parliamentary debate,itwas transformedinto apermanent structure of Portland Stone. Like the original, its large vertical plinth reached its climax in a horizontal structure resembling a coffin. On two sides it bore the UnionFlagandthoseoftheRoyalNavyandRoyalAirForce.Threestonewreaths were its only ornament: there was no cross or religious symbol. While at first glancedefinedbyrightangles,allofitsseeminglystraightlinesareeithercurved orangled.Theverticalshaveabatter,an architecturalterm forarearward slant: theirlinestapertomeetatathousandfeetaboveground.Allthehorizontalsuse an architectural principle known to the Greeks as entasis; they are very slightly convex, in an arc with a centre 900 feet below. The structure’s mass rests on regular patterns, the base of three equal cubes, the vertical form of three equal squares. Outlines give a sense of the organic, in place of something merely mechanical; the balanced masses suggest a rhythmic symmetry. The use of Portland Stone, one of the most commonly used English sculptural materials,
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