4 Look back at empire
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Dan Rebellato
Abstract
The Suez crisis in 1956 provided an imperial target for the rage of the Angry Young Men. Anthony Hartley describes the response of left-intellectuals to Suez as one of 'hysterical rage'. After South Sea Bubble opened, John Osborne's Look Back in Anger began previewing at the Royal Court. This play divides twentieth-century British theatre into before and after, a gateway between the star-ridden conservatism of West End and the challenging progressiveness of the popular art theatre, centred on the Royal Court. The critics have even claimed that by challenging the glittering, complacently imperialist West End, dominated as it was by the elegantly powerful producer 'Binkie' Beaumont, the New Wave was striking a blow for colonial freedom. In the 1920s, as the first waves of widespread criticism of imperialism began to be felt, a new justification of empire was launched, in the form of Frederick Lugard's 'dual mandate' thesis.
Abstract
The Suez crisis in 1956 provided an imperial target for the rage of the Angry Young Men. Anthony Hartley describes the response of left-intellectuals to Suez as one of 'hysterical rage'. After South Sea Bubble opened, John Osborne's Look Back in Anger began previewing at the Royal Court. This play divides twentieth-century British theatre into before and after, a gateway between the star-ridden conservatism of West End and the challenging progressiveness of the popular art theatre, centred on the Royal Court. The critics have even claimed that by challenging the glittering, complacently imperialist West End, dominated as it was by the elegantly powerful producer 'Binkie' Beaumont, the New Wave was striking a blow for colonial freedom. In the 1920s, as the first waves of widespread criticism of imperialism began to be felt, a new justification of empire was launched, in the form of Frederick Lugard's 'dual mandate' thesis.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- General editor’s introduction vi
- Notes on contributors viii
- Acknowledgements xi
- Introduction 1
- 1 The persistence of empire in metropolitan culture 21
- 2 Empire loyalists and ‘Commonwealth men’ 37
- 3 Coronation Everest 57
- 4 Look back at empire 73
- 5 ‘No nation could be broker’ 91
- 6 The imperial game in crisis 111
- 7 Imperial heroes for a post-imperial age 128
- 8 Imperial legacies, new frontiers 145
- 9 Wandering in the wake of empire 163
- 10 Communities of Britishness 180
- 11 South Asians in post-imperial Britain 200
- 12 India, Inc.? 217
- Index 233
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- General editor’s introduction vi
- Notes on contributors viii
- Acknowledgements xi
- Introduction 1
- 1 The persistence of empire in metropolitan culture 21
- 2 Empire loyalists and ‘Commonwealth men’ 37
- 3 Coronation Everest 57
- 4 Look back at empire 73
- 5 ‘No nation could be broker’ 91
- 6 The imperial game in crisis 111
- 7 Imperial heroes for a post-imperial age 128
- 8 Imperial legacies, new frontiers 145
- 9 Wandering in the wake of empire 163
- 10 Communities of Britishness 180
- 11 South Asians in post-imperial Britain 200
- 12 India, Inc.? 217
- Index 233
