Mourning and Mysticism in First World War Literature and Beyond: Grappling with Ghosts - Hardcover

George M. Johnson

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1137332026 ISBN 13: 9781137332028

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015

Synopsis

This book traces how iconic writers - including Arthur Conan Doyle, J.M. Barrie, Rudyard Kipling, Virginia Woolf, Wilfred Owen, and Aldous Huxley - shaped their response to the loss of loved ones in the First World War through their embrace of mysticism.

About this title

About the Author

George M. Johnson is Professor and Chair of the English Department at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada. His publications include Dynamic Psychology in Modernist British Fiction, J.D. Beresford, and an award-winning comic play, Still Life With Nudes. His screenplay The Wonder was a finalist in the British Independent Film Festival.

Review

"Johnson uses attachment theory and object relations theory sensitively to explore the ways in which early responses to separation and loss influence writers' visions of art. The use of contemporary psychoanalytic theory is particularly valuable when exploring the literary and cultural implications of bereavement following World War One. To my knowledge, Johnson's book may well be the first to take this approach . Johnson writes clearly and gracefully..." Jeffrey Berman, Professor of English, University at Albany, SUNY, USA

"In Mourning and Mysticism in First World War Literature and Beyond, George M. Johnson brings the literature of trauma and loss vividly to life. Johnson deftly reveals the illuminating ways in which a host of British writers drew upon their fascination with mysticism and spiritualism in order to fuel a literary corpus for the ages." Kenneth Womack, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Penn State Altoona, USA

"By resisting commonly held assumptions, Johnson demonstrates the value that mysticism held for literature and life in a post-World War I England experiencing a state of national mourning. In doing so, Johnson makes a revelatory contribution to our understanding of Edwardian and modernist literature." Andrew J. Kunka, Professor of English, University of South Carolina Sumter, USA

Edition details

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1137332026
• ISBN 13: 9781137332028
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 256