Modernism, Labour and Selfhood in British Literature and Culture, 1890–1930

Morag Shiach examines the ways in which labour was experienced and represented between 1890 and 1930. There is a strong critical tradition in literary and historical studies that sees the impact of modernity on human labour in terms of intensification and alienation. Shiach, however, explores a series of efforts to articulate the relations between labour and selfhood within modernism. She examines the philosophical languages available for thinking about labour in the period. She then gives an account of the significance of two technologies, the typewriter and the washing machine, central to a cultural and political understanding of labour. Through readings of writings by Sylvia Pankhurst and D. H. Lawrence, Shiach shows how labour underpins the political and textual innovations of the period. She concludes with an analysis of the 'general strike' both as myth and historical event. This study will be of interest to literary and cultural scholars alike.

Table of Contents:
Illustrations; Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. Philosophies of labour and selfhood; 2. Technologies of labour: washing and typing; 3. Sylvia Pankhurst: labour and representation; 4. D. H. Lawrence: labour, organicism, and the individual; 5. The general strike: labour and the future tense; Notes; Bibliography; Index.

About the Author :
Morag Shiach is Vice-Principal (Teaching and Learning) at Queen Mary, University of London, where she is also professor of Cultural History in the School of English and Drama. Her most recent books are Modernism, Labour and Selfhood in British Literature and Culture, 1890-1930 (Cambridge, 2004) and (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to the Modernist Novel (Cambridge, 2007). She has published a wide range of articles on aspects of modernism, including language reform, domestic interiors and philosophies of history. She edited Feminism and Cultural Studies (1999) and has published widely on the French novelist, essayist and playwright Helene Cixous.

Review :
'A beautifully written and finely argued book, a work of impressive scholarship and persuasive local insight.' The Times Literary Supplement 'This study will interest scholars across several disciplines … documents the variety and complexity encompassed by its theme, and avoids coercing the material into an overall interpretation.' MLR '… complex and thoughtful … this is a powerful and important book that deserves careful reading.' Women: A Cultural Review