Oranges Context Flashcards
When was Oranges published?
- 1985
What relevance do wars and the legacy of wars have for the text?
- exposes Mrs W’s archaic mindsets
- continuing to take on the masculine role in family of matriarch
- eg. fresh fruit became a luxury and she is still in the mindset that they are scarce/ need for a ration cupboard
What evidence is there that Oranges is presented with frequent realist details?
- home improvements, rations cupboard
- no mention of ‘swinging sixties’ but of poor, working-class northern England
How does progression in gender, class, race and ethnicity pose conflict in the novel?
- religion and technology conflict - viewed as corruptive
- have to cover the television on Sundays etc
How could imperialism be said to have influenced the novel?
- Mrs W has an imperial outlook - dominates all she is surrounded by (husband, Jeanette, beliefs, perspective)
- embodies the stoic British attitudes, deeply politically correct and reserved - monitors and regulates her own identity
- Jeanette’s struggle could almost be seen as a fight against colonialism
How did pre-war Britain mean a nostalgia?
- people looked back to the time of innocence before the war
What shows a somewhat progressive move towards sexual liberation?
- some homosexual acts decriminalised
- wider access to abortions
Why was faith growing after the war?
- people praying for dead
- questioning the nature of life etc
What were the attitudes around the nuclear family?
- very central, divorce was uncommon
In the 1960s, one political topic that dominated was the notion of decolonalisation. What does this mean?
- British colonies becoming independent
Why did society become more secular in the 60s?
- attitudes to love and sex went directly against the Church
How was the feminist movement diversifying in the 70s?
- offer more and different opportunities
What was a common theme in writing in the 80s? (Oranges = 1985)
- exposing the treatment of gay people from life experiences
How is Oranges influenced by postmodernism?
- ie. that there is no foundational to knowledge and no single objective truth so questions big meta-narratives themselves and instead takes a relativist position that all narratives can be true
How is the setting a realist setting?
- Northern, working-class industrial town
- approximately 1960s (though the text was written in the 1980s)
