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THE OXFORD COMPANION TO TWENTIETH-CENTURY LITERATURE IN ENGLISH This page intentionally left blank THE OXFORD COMPANION TO TWENTIETH-CENTURY LITERATURE IN ENGLISH EDITED BY JENNY STRINGER WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY JOHN SUTHERLAND Oxford New York OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS This book has been printed digitally and produced in a standard specification in order to ensure its continuing availability OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing world-wide in Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Buenos Aires Cape Town Chennai Dares Salaam Delhi Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kolkata Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Sao Paulo Shanghai Taipei Tokyo Toronto Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Jenny Stringer and Oxford University Press 1996 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) Reprinted 2004 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover And you must impose this same condition on any acquirer ISBN 0-19-212271-1 Cover Illustration: The opening of the Hunting Season by Edward Burra. Courtesy of the Lefevre Gallery, London. Photo: Christie's Images. Antony Rowe Ltd., Eastbourne CONTENTS Editor's Foreword vii Advisers and Contributors x Introduction by John Sutherland xi A-Z Entries 1 Appendix: Literary Prizes 747 v This page intentionally left blank EDITOR'S FOREWORD HE aim of this book is to present an overview of literature in English from T 1900 to the present day in a single volume. Representing as it does all geographical areas of the Anglophone world and a wide range of writing, The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Literature in English is intended to be read for pleasure as well as being a useful source of information to students and teachers of literature. Its scope extends from the United Kingdom, Ireland, and America, to Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean. Writers form the main component of this book; novelists, dramatists, and poets are the key figures. But in presenting literature in its broadest sense, and recogniz- ing its flexible boundaries, we have also included, on a more selective basis, bio- graphers, travel writers, critics, scholars, historians, and journalists. In adopting this inclusive approach we have extended the coverage to some major philoso- phers, economists, and sociologists in acknowledgement of their significant con- tributions to twentieth-century thought and ideology. The other component consists of about 650 essays on related subjects, from important individual works to genres, critical concepts, periodicals, literary groups, and movements. A network of cross-references allows the reader to range over vast territories of the century's literature in English, to observe the interactions between writers and subjects, and be guided to much supplementary information. In producing a reference book of such diversity the most daunting task for an editor, and ultimately the most contentious, is deciding who and what to include. My starting point was a list of major writers whose reputations have secured them a place in any reference book of twentieth-century writing in English, a fairly effortless task performed in buoyant anticipation. The fun began when this master list generated a series of sub-lists which themselves produced further offshoots. Faced with such flourishing literary activity, and the limitations of space, I estab- lished some ground rules. In attempting to present a balanced and comprehensive account of a broad range of literary forms and a multi-national group of authors, literary merit was not the only consideration; national or ethnic identity and a fair representation of the various periods of the twentieth century also played an important part. To qualify for inclusion each author must have lived beyond 1900, published at least three books, and achieved a significant degree of international or national recognition. There are exceptions: in some instances a writer included may have produced one or two widely acclaimed books or may significantly rep- resent a literary culture in its formative phases. We have taken risks with some younger writers who have shown exceptional promise at the beginning of their literary careers. In the case of authors who were born in the nineteenth century but lived beyond 1900, only those who published significant works in the twentieth century have been included. Henry James, Bernard Shaw, and H. G. Wells fall into this category, as does Thomas Hardy who was a nineteenth-century novelist and a twentieth-century poet, but Algernon Swinburne, Rider Haggard, and Mark vii Editor's Foreword Twain do not. Samuel Butler (d. 19O2)is in, and so is his Erewhon Revisited (1901), but like other nineteenth-century novels—including all of Thomas Hardy's—Erewhon (1872) is out. There is no children's literature nor is there literature in translation except where the author has been the translator of his or her own works. Over the century, and even during the five years of compiling this book, fashions have shifted, new writers have emerged, others have published ever more important works or changed direction, some have faded into obscurity or died. These and many other factors have meant that entries were continually being updated and re- assessed. In trying to keep up to date we have kept a watchful eye on recent publi- cations but many more will have appeared by the time this Companion is in the bookshops. The author entries are composed of brief biographical details, descriptions of selected works, typical characteristics, literary achievements, and general critical comments; adverse criticism has been eschewed in favour of a broad consensus of literary taste. We have also tried to place writers in the context of time and place. Further reading is suggested in the case of more important authors. The length of the entries varies and ought not to be seen as a measure of a writer's importance. There are many factors which determine the length of an entry: prolific writers do not lend themselves easily to brief summary, regardless of their celebrity or lack of it; some writers have more noteworthy biographies or literary connections while others need more space because their literary achievements are particularly diverse or complex; neglected or emerging writers require fuller description because their lives and works may hitherto be unrecorded. In taking stock of some of the dilemmas faced by an editor whose brief is 'twentieth-century literature in English', and in outlining the principles involved, I also acknowledge the impossibility of producing a reference book to suit every- one's taste. Some will be disappointed by omissions or irritated by errors, but I hope that most readers will find enjoyment in the Companions rich diversity and geographical scope. I have sought much assistance from advisers and contributors. During the preparation of this book, their enduring enthusiasm for the project has been the source of sustenance for my sometimes flagging devotion. The Compan- ion is essentially a collaborative work, a series of mini-biographies and essays com- bining the imaginative insights and scholarship of a dedicated group of co-authors. Other than giving brief guidelines, I have not attempted to adopt a rigid format for the entries gathered here. The different perceptions and modes of writing, from the sternly scholarly to the lightly whimsical, reflect the multifarious nature of the ground that has been covered. My thanks therefore go first to all the contributors and advisers for their Her- culean efforts and for guiding me through many a labyrinthine path. My special thanks to John Sutherland who has been a leading light and has written a magnifi- cent Introduction. I am particularly grateful to Lynn Knight, Aamer Hussein, Douglas Houston, and Henry Claridge who so willingly helped me with some frantic updating through a long hot summer. I have had much support from the OUR My thanks go especially to Kim Scott Walwyn who encouraged me to take on the project and gave me much guidance in the early phases, and to Frances Whistler who kept the show on the road with firmness and good humour. I have viii Editor's Foreword shared a joke or two with Margaret Aherne, the copy-editor, whose meticulous eye for detail has saved me from much embarrassment. I also thank Judith Landry who has helped in ways too numerous to mention. I am eternally grateful to my sons and daughter, Antony, Benedict, Nicholas, and Polly, who have saved me from many a scrape and applied themselves to anything from counting words to com- puter failure. I am greatly indebted to Margaret Drabble. It was during my five- year apprenticeship on The Oxford Companion to English Literature that the idea of a twentieth-century volume was first conceived. She has made herself available for consultation throughout the course of editing this work and was its main source of inspiration. JENNY STRINGER London, 1996 ix