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Studies of the English gentleman have tended to focus mainly on the nineteenth century, encouraging the implicit assumption that this influential literary trope has less resonance for twentieth-century literature and culture. Christine Berberich challenges this notion by showing that the English gentleman has proven to be a remarkably adaptable and relevant ideal that continues to influence not only literature but other forms of representation, including the media and advertising industries.Focusing on Siegfried Sassoon, Anthony Powell, Evelyn Waugh and Kazuo Ishiguro, whose presentations of the gentlemanly ideal are analysed in their specific cultural, historical, and sociological contexts, Berberich pays particular attention to the role of nostalgia and its relationship to 'Englishness'. Though 'Englishness' and by extension the English gentleman continue to be linked to depictions of England as the green and pleasant land of imagined bygone days, Berberich counterbalances this perception by showing that the figure of the English gentleman is the medium through which these authors and many of their contemporaries critique the shifting mores of contemporary society. Twentieth-century depictions of the gentleman thus have much to tell us about rapidly changing conceptions of national, class, and gender identity.
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THE IMAGE OF THE ENGLISH GENTLEMAN IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY LITERATURE
To My Mother, ‘Ruby’, who made it all possible
The Image of the English Gentleman in Twentieth-Century Literature Englishness and Nostalgia
CHRISTINE BERBERICH University of Derby, UK
© Christine Berberich 2007 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, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher. Christine Berberich has asserted her moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work. Published by Ashgate Publishing Limited Gower House Croft Road Aldershot Hampshire GU11 3HR England
Ashgate Publishing Company Suite 420 101 Cherry Street Burlington, VT 05401-4405 USA
Ashgate website: http://www.ashgate.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Berberich, Christine The Image of the English Gentleman in Twentieth-Century Literature : Englishness and Nostalgia 1. Men in literature. 2. National characteristics, English, in literature. 3. English literature – 20th century – History and criticism. 4. Nostalgia in literature. I. Title 820.9’3521’0904 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Berberich, Christine, 1969– The Image of the English Gentleman in Twentieth-Century Literature: Englishness and Nostalgia / by Christine Berberich. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. 1. English fiction – 20th century – History and criticism. 2. Gentry in literature. 3. Men in literature. 4. Upper class in literature. 5. Nostalgia in literature. 6. National characteristics, English, in literature. 7. Group identity in literature. I. Title. PR888.G357B47 2007 820.9’3521–dc22 2007008443
ISBN 978-0-7546-6126-9
This book has been printed on acid-free paper. Printed and bound in Great Britain by MPG Books Ltd, Bodmin, Cornwall.
Contents Acknowledgements
vii
List of Abbreviations
ix
PART I: THE GENTLEMAN, ENGLISHNESS AND NOSTALGIA: APPROACHES, EXPLANATIONS, DEFINITIONS
1
1
The Gentleman – An Elusive Term
3
2
From Knight to Public-School Boy – Following the Gentleman through the Ages
15
A Popular Literary Trope – A Brief History of the Gentleman in Literature
31
3
PART II: OF HEROES, SURVIVORS AND DINOSAURS: THE GENTLEM