Seaside Resort Blues

In the interwar period, seaside holidays had become accessible to more people in United Kingdom than ever before. It was not least unapologetic hedonism of working classes that gave places like Blackpool and Scarborough their vibrant energy. However, a notable number English travelogues 1930s depict resorts as overcrowded, vulgar, debilitating, fact un-English. During years which UK faced rising threat fascism, became site where ideas Englishness, popular culture, masculinity came under scrutiny. my paper, I explore these ambivalent constructions resort, from J. B. Priestley’s Journey collection Beside Seaside, women authors, including Yvonne Cloud Kate O’Brian, celebrate catalyst female agency. (VR)