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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 Jenness
J.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 Geography

ISSN

1464-9365

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Issue

8

Volume

13

Page range

957-976

Department affiliated with

  • Geography Publications

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-11-14

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