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|Title:||Wartime text and context: Cyril Connolly's Horizon|
|Authors:||Boykin, Dennis Joseph|
|Keywords:||Connolly, Cyril, 1903-1974.|
English literature -- 20th century -- History and criticism.
War poetry, English -- History and criticism.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Poetry.
English poetry -- 20th century -- History and criticism.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Great Britain -- Literature and the war.
World War, 1939-1945 -- Great Britain -- Influence.
War stories, English -- History and criticism.
War in literature.
World War 1939 1945 Literature And The War
World War 1939 1945 Art And The War
Horizon (London, England)
London (England) -- Intellectual life -- 20th century
World War, 1939-1945 -- England -- London
|Publisher:||University of Sydney.|
Department of English
|Abstract:||This thesis examines the literary journal Horizon, its editor Cyril Connolly, and a selection of its editorial articles, poems, short stories and essays in the context of the Second World War, from 1939-45. Analyses of these works, their representation of wartime experience, and their artistic merit, serve as evidence of a shared and sustained literary engagement with the war. Collectively, they demonstrate Horizon’s role as one of the primary outlets for British literature and cultural discourse during the conflict. Previous assessments of the magazine as an apolitical organ with purely aesthetic concerns have led to enduring critical neglect and misappraisal. This thesis shows that, contrary to the commonly held view, Horizon consistently offered space for political debate, innovative criticism, and war-relevant content. It argues that Horizon’s wartime writing is indicative of the many varied types of literary response to a war that was all but incomprehensible for those who experienced it. These poems, stories and essays offer a distinctive and illuminating insight into the war and are proof that a viable literary culture thrived during the war years. This thesis also argues that Horizon, as a periodical, should be considered as a creative entity in and of itself, and is worthy of being studied in this light. The magazine’s constituent parts, interesting enough when considered separately, are shaped, informed, and granted new shades of meaning by their position alongside other works in Horizon. Chapters in the thesis cover editorials and editing, poetry, short stories, political essays, and critical essays respectively. Analyses of individual works are situated in the context of larger concerns in order to demonstrate the coherence of debate and discourse that characterised Horizon’s wartime run. In arguing that Horizon is a singular creative entity worthy of consideration in its own right, this thesis locates itself within the emerging field of periodical studies. Further, by arguing that the magazine demonstrates the value of Second World War literature, it articulates with other recent attempts to reassess the scope and quality of that literature. More specifically, this thesis offers the first focused and in-depth analysis of Horizon’s formative years.|
|Description:||Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)|
|Rights and Permissions:||The author retains copyright of this thesis.|
|Type of Work:||PhD Doctorate|
|Appears in Collections:||Sydney Digital Theses (Open Access)|
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|01front.pdf||Title Page, Abstract, Acknowledgements, Table of Contents||10.72 kB||Adobe PDF||View/Open|
|02introduction.pdf||Introduction||122.61 kB||Adobe PDF||View/Open|
|03chapter1.pdf||First chapter||205.39 kB||Adobe PDF||View/Open|
|04chapter2.pdf||Second chapter||191.09 kB||Adobe PDF||View/Open|
|05chapter3.pdf||Third chapter||173.07 kB||Adobe PDF||View/Open|
|06chapter4.pdf||Fourth chapter||181.53 kB||Adobe PDF||View/Open|
|07chapter5.pdf||Fifth chapter||172.2 kB||Adobe PDF||View/Open|
|08conclusion.pdf||Conclusion||18.27 kB||Adobe PDF||View/Open|
|09bibliography.pdf||Bibliography||28.08 kB||Adobe PDF||View/Open|
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