English Postwar Literature (Prose)

 

After World War II the novel continued to be the dominant genre in postwar literature and many writers depicted the postwar world in realistic colours. Several major writers like С.P. Snow, Gr. Greene came to the fore in interwar period, but their specific manner outlined itself most markedly in their postwar work. Young writers like James Aldridge, who are ready to keep up the standard of wholesome optimism, deserve notice.

In the fifties there appeared a very interesting trend in literature, the followers of which were called "The Angry Young Men." The postwar changes had given a chance to a large number of young people from the more democratic layers of society to receive education at universities. But on graduating, these students found they had no prospects in life. Unemployment had increased after the war and besides that, English society continued to follow the old conservative rules of life and apparently did not need them. No one was interested to learn what their ideas on life and society were. They felt deceived and became angry. The young people's disillusionment determined the character of fiction created by a group of writers, among them were Kingsley Amis, John Wain, John Osborne. Through their characters these writers were eager to express their anger with society.

Many works of English writers of the period were dedicated to the philosophical problems. The most influential philosophical trends of twentieth-century thought often evoked an existential attitude. It implied a certain skepticism about ever knowing the nature of a human being. Existentialist philosophy placed limitations on man's knowledge and power.

The influence of existentialist ideas left a profound impression on the creation of Iris Murdoch. She created a series of intricate novels that deal with the nature of man and his delusions. With I.Murdoch the trend in creative writing moved to philosophical fiction.

William Golding's novels and especially his most successful novel "Lord of the Flies" are notable for their symbolic treatment of human nature.

The proclaimed need was, in fiction for a return to straightforward narrative with no symbolic trickery, interesting plots and well-rounded characters in the approved 19th century way. "The novel should not only tell a story," it should take an intelligent observant interest in the world in which ordinary people lived their day-to-day lives. And in poetry there was a demand for strict forms. There was a natural desire to cling to familiar cultural forms in a strange and unsettling world.

The major achievements in the postwar English novel are William Cooper's "Scenes from Provincial Life," Kingsley Amis's "Lucky Jim," Angus Wilson's "The Old Men at the Zoo," William Golding's "Lord of the Flies," Iris Murdoch's "Under the Net."