Vera Mary Brittain, Testament of Youth

Lolly Ockerstrom (Park University)

Ed. by Cristina Sandru, The Literary Encyclopedia
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.08: English Writing and Culture of the early Twentieth Century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: Chris Baldick (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Peter Childs (Newman University), Louise McDonald (Newman University)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1933

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Non-Fiction
- Autobiography (literary)

Resources

First published in 1933, fifteen years after the end of World War I, Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth became an instant success and helped to define autobiography in the 20^th Century; in 1979 the BBC produced a film based on the story, which was aired in the UK, and on PBS Masterpiece Theater in the U.S. The book remains the only major account of World War I written by a woman. After numerous attempts to write her story through poetry and fiction, Brittain finally realized that the best way to represent her experience was through life writing. She wrote in the Foreword to Testament of Youth: “Only, I felt, by some such attempt to write history in terms of personal life could I rescue …

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1452 words

Citation: Ockerstrom, Lolly. "Testament of Youth". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 June 2008 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13579, accessed 25 April 2024.]

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