Pacifism as Disenchantment? Rose Macaulay’s Non-Combatants and Others

Frayn, Andrew

Abstract

This paper argues that it is pertinent to see narratives of pacifism during the First World War in the context of later disenchanted writings, and that these often share linguistic and thematic concerns. Works which dared to express discontent with the conflict in its early years, such as Rose Macaulay’s Non-Combatants and Others (1916) were necessarily operating close to the boundaries of acceptable material for publication; Macaulay’s second war novel, What Not: a Prophetic Comedy was delayed until after the Armistice by the Defence of the Realm Act. Those who were able to show disenchantment had to place themselves outside military structures, or were legally unable to take part: women's writing during the conflict is vital to an understanding of the range of contemporary reactions. As Nicholas Sandomir puts it in Non-Combatants and Others, ‘it’s the silencing or the unmanning of the good people that matters.’ The novel challenges the masculine values perceived as necessary for warfare such as heroism, strength and stoicism. Alix Sandomir, the lame artist protagonist, empathises strongly with the experience of the soldiers in wartime, including her brother Paul who is killed in the conflict, and her artistic sensibility links with the vividness of her dreams about the Western Front. Alix uses her marginalised position to start to challenge the dominant ideology which allows the war to endure.

Citation

Frayn, A. (2012, May). Pacifism as Disenchantment? Rose Macaulay’s Non-Combatants and Others. Paper presented at Narratives of Peace, 1854–1914, University of Sheffield

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: Narratives of Peace, 1854–1914
• Start Date: May 25, 2012
• End Date: May 26, 2012
• Deposit Date: Apr 27, 2023