Ronald Firbank

Gregory Mackie (University of British Columbia)
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Although the writings of Ronald Firbank (1886-1926) are classics of high camp, they also represent an important contribution to the style and technique of literary modernism, and are the expression of a unique and highly idiosyncratic creative voice. Because of his self-consciously whimsical humour and ostensible frivolity, Firbank has received less attention from scholars of modernism than contemporaries such as Woolf, Joyce, or Forster (who, although appreciative, considered Firbank a literary “glow-worm”); Evelyn Waugh and the Sitwells, however, admired him. Firbank’s ambiguous status as a cult writer appealing to a limited audience dates from the 1920s, and he has generally been considered among the “minor” writers of …

2092 words

Citation: Mackie, Gregory. "Ronald Firbank". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 September 2009 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1535, accessed 07 October 2024.]

1535 Ronald Firbank 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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