This battle was not over: Parade’s End as a transitional text in the development of ‘disenchanted’ First World War literature.

Frayn, Andrew

Abstract

This chapter argues that the novels of Ford's Parade's End tetralogy occupy a significant place in the development of "disenchanted" fiction about the First World War. The values of Ernest Raymond's patriotic Tell England are contrasted with those of C. E Montague's Disenchantment, providing a brief synopsis of the early 1920s response to the conflict. Parade's End is seen as introducing several key themes in to the post-First World War discursive field, including national identity, psychology, memory, and time. The presentation of these aligned with the formal aspects of the novel, allows it to push the boundaries of the readerly horizon of expectations. Frayn argues that Ford's readership, though moderately-sized, was influential from a literary point of view, and thus facilitated the reception of later, more vitriolic, criticisms of war.

• Acceptance Date: Sep 9, 1999
• Publication Date: Aug 29, 2008
• Deposit Date: May 30, 2016
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 7
• Pages: 201-216
• Book Title: Ford Madox Ford: Literary Networks and Cultural Transformations
• ISBN: 978-9042024373
• Keywords: First World War literature; disenchantment; Ford Madox Ford; national identity; conflict; memory
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/10019