Discourses surrounding British widows of the First World War / Angela Smith.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smith, Angela, 1969-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

World War, 1914-1918--Women--Great Britain.

World War, 1914-1918.

War widows--Great Britain--Social conditions--20th century.

War widows.

World War, 1914-1918--Social aspects--Great Britain.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (225 p.)

Place of Publication:

London : Bloomsbury Academic, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Using extensive data - mostly gleaned from the National Archives - this book examines the way in which British widows of servicemen who died in the First World War were represented in society and by themselves, exploring the intertwining discourses of social welfare, national identity, and morality that can be identified in these texts. Focusing on two widows, the book encourages their individual stories to emerge and gives a voice to an otherwise forgotten group of women whose stories have been lost under the literary tomes of middle-class writers such as Vera Brittain and May Wedderburn Cann

Contents:

Contents; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction; The construction of widowhood; War widowhood; Data collection; The National Archives, Kew; Charity records; 'Public sphere' texts; Data selection; The case studies; Analysing the data; Conclusion; 2. Theoretical approaches; Discourse, ideology, power; Ideology; Texts and social structures; The development of critical discourse analysis; Intertextuality; Presuppositions/assumptions; The discourse-historical approach; Argumentation strategies; Formulations and reformulations; Frames; Speech acts, mitigation and intensification strategies

DeclarationsRepresentatives; Commissives; Directives; Expressives; Mitigation and intensification strategies; Membership categorisation; Conclusion; 3. Historical context; Social and legal construction of women as carers; Children as the future strength of the nation; Women as carers; Charitable assistance and the foundations of State welfare: notions of the deserving and the undeserving poor; Separation allowances and widows' pensions; Conclusion; 4. Case study 1: Louisa Bayliss and 'unruly' widows; Data; Mother of the nation's children: 'An unsuitable guardian'

An unruly widow: 'To keep me all my life'Pension on the basis of need: 'I can't live on air'; Pension on the basis of moral obligation/right: 'For king and country'; Compliance with the moral code: 'Her moral character has been good'; Ministry of Pensions correspondence: the obedient servant?; Conclusion; 5. Case study 2: Florence Bayliss and 'disallowed' widows; Background to post-war claims for widows' pensions; Florence Bayliss: pension disallowed; Pension as compensation: 'This is not a begging letter'; Post-war social welfare: 'This country owes me a lot'; Conclusion; 6. Conclusion

Widowhood, gender, morality and social welfarePatriotism; Patriarchy; Eugenics and motherhood; Social welfare as remuneration; Bureaucracy and social control; Summary; Appendices; Appendix 1: Louisa's case file; Appendix 2: Florence's case file; Notes; Bibliography and references; Primary sources; Bibliography; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; L; M; N; P; R; S; T; V; W

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-283-85343-4

1-78093-261-8

OCLC:

821178784