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J.B. Priestley: Bradford and a provincial narrative of England, 1913–1933
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 13:35 authored by Simon RycroftSimon Rycroft, Roger JennessJ.B. Priestley’s writing has been used to explore aspects of landscape and Englishness. Through an analysis of Priestley’s early journalism in the Bradford Pioneer and the Yorkshire Observer, we argue that his critical disengagement to most of the landscapes of England was based on a connection to the landscapes of his youth in Bradford where he first developed his fictional and documentary narrative style. In his early journalism, Priestley articulated a sense of dwelling in Bradford that was rooted in the experience of two distinct local landscapes: the spaces of the city and the nature of the surrounding upland and moorland. Priestley’s geographical ideal balanced the civility of the Edwardian city embedded in a landscape that offered escape to and commune with nature. The existential balance between the two was, we argue, central to the narrative geographies developed by Priestley in his fiction which is illustrated through an analysis of his two early novels: The Good Companions (1929) and Angel Pavement (1930). We suggest that the ways in which Priestley’s interwar writing expressed dwelling in local landscapes might be thought of as a critical provincialisation of London and England
History
Publication status
- Published
Journal
Social and Cultural GeographyISSN
1464-9365Publisher
Taylor & FrancisExternal DOI
Issue
8Volume
13Page range
957-976Department affiliated with
- Geography Publications
Full text available
- No
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2012-11-14Usage metrics
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