Conformity Confronted and Orthodoxy Outraged: The Loom of Youth - Succès de Scandale? In Search of a Wider Reality

By the Edwardian era the celebrated English Public School System of private schools for the privileged, revitalised and reinvigorated in the wake of triumphant imperial expansion, was widely considered to be the source of imperial control, stability and morality: in short, for many the reason for im...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inInternational journal of the history of sport Vol. 29; no. 12; pp. 1701 - 1714
Main Author Mangan, J.A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Routledge 01.08.2012
Subjects
20th century
applause
balance
Bias
Class
Conformism
Conformity
controversy
Empires
England
Ethics
Factories
Femininity/Masculinity
laudation
Masculinity
outrage
Private Schools
Public Schools
Revisionism
scandal
Scandals
Social history
Sports (history)
Stability
Success
United Kingdom
Values
War
Youth
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Summary:By the Edwardian era the celebrated English Public School System of private schools for the privileged, revitalised and reinvigorated in the wake of triumphant imperial expansion, was widely considered to be the source of imperial control, stability and morality: in short, for many the reason for imperial success. The schools were thought to be cultural conveyor belts with the games fields as factories for the production of a robust, confident and moral masculinity. By the time of the Great War paeans to their virtues and values echoed throughout the Empire. Then in 1917 a former public schoolboy published an indictment of the system. The novel was The Loom of Youth and the author Alec Waugh. His exposure of the system was viewed by some as a succès de scandale. It confronted complacent conformity and outraged embedded orthodoxy. For 'homagers' social blasphemy had been committed. Their response was extraordinary; a literary volcanic eruption. Their reviews were shocked, abrasive and damning; collectively a verbal flagellation of an unredeemable social sinner; a stark revelation of class defensiveness, cultural myopia and blinkered bias; an unwitting self-condemnatory commentary. However, this was not the whole story! Many reviews were congratulatory, laudatory and supportive. These will now be given long-delayed prominence.
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ISSN:0952-3367
1743-9035
DOI:10.1080/09523367.2012.714934