TY - BOOK AU - Wild,Jonathan TI - Literature of the 1900s: The Great Edwardian Emporium T2 - The Edinburgh History of Twentieth-Century Literature in Britain : EH20CLB SN - 9780748635085 AV - PR881 .W55 2017 PY - 2022///] CY - Edinburgh : PB - Edinburgh University Press, KW - English literature KW - 20th century KW - History and criticism KW - Literary Studies KW - LITERARY COLLECTIONS / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh KW - bisacsh N1 - Frontmatter --; Contents --; Illustrations --; Acknowledgements --; General Editor's Preface --; Introduction --; 1. Department of War and External Affairs: The Anglo-Boer War and Imperialism --; 2. Department of Administration: Office Clerks and Shop Assistants --; 3. Children's Department: Edwardian Children's Literature --; 4. Department of Decadence: Sex, Cars and Money --; 5. Department of Internal Affairs: England and the Countryside --; Afterword --; Works Cited --; Index; restricted access N2 - Challenges conventional views of the Edwardian period as either a hangover of Victorianism or a bystander to literary modernismIn this ground-breaking study, Jonathan Wild investigates the literary history of the Edwardian decade. This period, long overlooked by critics, is revealed as a vibrant cultural era whose writers were determined to break away from the stifling influence of preceding Victorianism. In the hands of this generation, which included writers such as Arnold Bennett, Joseph Conrad, E. M. Forster, Beatrix Potter, and H.G. Wells, the new century presented a unique opportunity to fashion innovative books for fresh audiences. Wild traces this literary innovation by conceptualising the focal points of his study as branches of one of the new department stores that epitomized Edwardian modernity. These 'departments' - war and imperialism, the rise of the lower middle class, children's literature, technology and decadence, and the condition of England - offer both discrete and interconnected ways in which to understand the distinctiveness and importance of the Edwardian literary scene. Overall, The Great Edwardian Emporium offers a long-overdue investigation into a decade of literature that provided the cultural foundation for the coming century UR - https://doi.org/10.1515/9780748635085?locatt=mode:legacy UR - https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9780748635085 UR - https://www.degruyter.com/document/cover/isbn/9780748635085/original ER -