Mass-Observation

”Research” organization founded in 1937

• Wanted to create an “anthropology of ourselves”
• Goal was to study ordinary people
• Eventually transitioned to market research

Launched in the New Statesman by Tom Harrisson (anthropologist), Humphrey Jennings (painter / film-maker) and Charles Madge (poet / journalist)

Studied life of people in Bolton (Worktown Project)

• Visited public meetings, religious organizations, sporting events, pubs, etc.
• Recorded conversations and behavior on the street
• Went into as much detail as possible
• The Pub and the People: A Worktown Study (1943)

Elizabeth Bowen’s The Heat of the Day

The Anglo-Irish Bowen, was a satellite member of the Bloomsbury group. Although she inherited land in Ireland, she remained in England until 1952. Much of hew writing, however, deals with issues of the Irish ascendancy. During WWII, Bowen worked for the MOI and reported on Irish neutrality.

The Heat of the Day is one of the most famous novels set during the Blitz. Common themes include:

War, espionage, home front = war front / Fear and Love / Private Life in Wartime / Observation and Spying / Subjective Truth / Identity