Introduction
-
Robert James
Abstract
This chapter provides an understanding of the role of popular leisure in a period during which British society's engagement with it was vital. The social and cultural roles of cinema-going and reading in the lives of the working classes in 1930s Britain are explored. The reason for this exploration is threefold. First, social investigators showed particular interest in the leisure activities of the working classes in the 1930s; it was this social group that caused most concern. Second, cinema-going and reading, as two of the most popular leisure pastimes among working class consumers, came under greatest scrutiny. Third, and finally, historians, like contemporaries of the period, have been rather reluctant to analyze the meaning of popular leisure for those consuming it, and have frequently identified working-class consumers as passive observers with no individual agency.
Abstract
This chapter provides an understanding of the role of popular leisure in a period during which British society's engagement with it was vital. The social and cultural roles of cinema-going and reading in the lives of the working classes in 1930s Britain are explored. The reason for this exploration is threefold. First, social investigators showed particular interest in the leisure activities of the working classes in the 1930s; it was this social group that caused most concern. Second, cinema-going and reading, as two of the most popular leisure pastimes among working class consumers, came under greatest scrutiny. Third, and finally, historians, like contemporaries of the period, have been rather reluctant to analyze the meaning of popular leisure for those consuming it, and have frequently identified working-class consumers as passive observers with no individual agency.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Series introduction v
- Dedication vi
- Contents vii
- General editor’s introduction ix
- Acknowledgements xi
- Introduction 1
- 1 ‘The people’s amusement’ 13
- 2 ‘Fouling civilisation’? 39
- 3 Trade attitudes towards audience taste 57
- 4 ‘What made you put that rubbish on?’ 81
- 5 ‘The appearance is an added incentive’ 106
- 6 ‘A very profitable enterprise’ 124
- 7 ‘Gunmen, rustlers and a damsel in distress’ 159
- 8 ‘The home of the brave’? 177
- 9 Popular film and literature 191
- Conclusion 203
- Appendix I 209
- Appendix II 234
- Appendix III 244
- Select bibliography 250
- Index 257
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Front matter i
- Series introduction v
- Dedication vi
- Contents vii
- General editor’s introduction ix
- Acknowledgements xi
- Introduction 1
- 1 ‘The people’s amusement’ 13
- 2 ‘Fouling civilisation’? 39
- 3 Trade attitudes towards audience taste 57
- 4 ‘What made you put that rubbish on?’ 81
- 5 ‘The appearance is an added incentive’ 106
- 6 ‘A very profitable enterprise’ 124
- 7 ‘Gunmen, rustlers and a damsel in distress’ 159
- 8 ‘The home of the brave’? 177
- 9 Popular film and literature 191
- Conclusion 203
- Appendix I 209
- Appendix II 234
- Appendix III 244
- Select bibliography 250
- Index 257
