Clemence Dane: Forgotten Feminist Writer of the Inter-War Years

This book explores Clemence Dane's journalism, drama, and fiction to interrogate inter-war womens writing, the Middlebrow, feminism, (homo) sexuality, liberal politics, domesticity, and concepts of the spinster. It argues that Dane is often more radically feminist than her contemporaries, engaging with broad issues of social justice and demonstrating a gender politics consistent with the fragmented and multifarious essentialist feminism that emerged following the Great War. It will particularly focus on the trajectories of Danes extraordinary modern heroines, who possess qualities of altruism, candour, integrity, imagination, intuition, resilience, and rebelliousness.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 276 pages
Publication date: 29 April 2022
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This comprehensive feminist analysis of Clemence Dane's works adds to the expanding body of research exploring the relationship between female-authored texts and the ideology and cultural dominance of the Edwardian and inter-war periods. Combining a single-author study with a thematic period analysis, this book delves into Dane's journalism, drama, and fiction to examine a diverse range of topics, including inter-war women's writing, the Middlebrow, feminism, (homo) sexuality, liberal politics, domesticity, and concepts of the spinster. Through sustained cultural engagement, it explores the form and various fictional genres, including drama, bildungsroman, detective fiction, historical saga, and gothic fiction. It also establishes connections with the genre writing of comparable authors, such as Rosamond Lehmann, Vita Sackville-West, Ivy Compton-Burnett, Dorothy Strachey, Dodie Smith, Rachel Ferguson, May Sinclair, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Daphne Du Maurier, G.B.Stern, and detective writers like Dorothy L. Sayers, Agatha Christie, Gladys Mitchell, Marjorie Allingham, and Ngaio Marsh. By providing a portrait of the era, focused on Dane and contextualized through her journalism and the work of her female peers, this study argues that Dane is often significantly more radical in her feminist beliefs than her contemporaries. She addresses broad social justice issues without regard to gender, showcasing her humanity through her sympathetic representations of marginalized characters of both sexes. However, she most notably exhibits a gender politics aligned with the fragmented and multifaceted essentialist feminism that emerged after the Great War, which valued 'womanly qualities of care and mothering while simultaneously appreciating female autonomy, single status, and professionalism. Adopting the critical paradigms of domestic modernism and women's liminality, this book offers a fresh perspective on Dane's contributions to literature and culture during the Edwardian and inter-war periods.

Weight: 508g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780367568955