For much of the twentieth century, a deep ignorance was displayed towards British women's literature of World War I. Scholars reasoned that women had not fought combatively, thus, did not play as significant a role as men. Accordingly, only one body of work, Vera Brittain’s autobiographical, Testament of Youth, was added to the canon of Great War literature. Conversely, anthologies published mid-century such as Brian Gardner's, Up the Line to Death: The War Poets of 1914-1918, contained no mention of contributions made by women. Similarly, Jon Silkin’s 1979 anthology, Penguin Book of First World War Poetry, included the work of only two women, Anna Akhmatova and Marina Tsvetaeva. However, new research has changed ideological beliefs about the role women assumed in producing authentic accounts of war. More specifically, in Britain, research attends to an explanation of how women's war literature shaped feminist discourse during and immediately following the war.
Catherine Reilly has closely studied women's literature from World War I and its resulting impact on the relationship between gender, class, and society. Reilly's 1981 anthology, Scars Upon my Heart: Women’s Poetry and Verse of the First World War, is the first work strictly dedicated to examining women's poetry and prose from World War I. In it, she demonstrates the existence of a strong female narrative. She argues that women's writing was overshadowed by the false belief that male writing was of greater importance. Scholar Vincent Sherry agrees, noting that women had a strong and powerful literary voice, that until recently had been ignored.
Women on the Home Front
According to Millicent Fawcett, founder of Newnham College, Cambridge and president of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, women transitioned from domestic serfdom to social freedom by the end of World War I. This is due to the fact that women moved from domestic life into the industrial realm of society. During the war, industrial factories often transitioned into munitions factories. The women that worked in this field were referred to as munitionettes. There was an increase of opportunities in the job market, as two million women replaced men in the workplace. Women became active in the roles that were previously occupied by men. Furthermore, 37% of women were employed by the end of the war. British women were brought out of the household and traditional domestic life and thrust into industrial factory work.
Women also began working in hospitals. More specifically, the Scottish Women's Hospital was founded in 1914 and began working in relation with the Royal Army Medical Corps. By the end of the war, women were partaking in tasks throughout war ravaged Europe, including Serbia, Russia, and Germany.
Although women began working in the same sector as men, there remained a significant difference in rights. Unable to unionize as uniformly as men during this period, women faced struggles to acquire similar work hours and wages. Even throughout the post-war years, women's unions did not increase wages.
The emergence of the term ‘home front’ carried a gendered aspect that defined the theatre of war as masculine and the home as feminine. While problematic, this gendered identification worked to support the traditional male and female paradigm in Britain. Scholar Susan Kingsley Kent argues that, “women at the front represented the war with a tone and imagery "markedly dissimilar" from those at home." This was reflected in women's writing.
Spaces of Women's Writing
During the War, women were being published in anthologies, newspapers, periodicals, factory newspapers, and women's magazines. Therefore, women's writing from this time was more extensive than was previously thought. Claire Buck asserts that more than 2000 poets were published during the war. However, only one-fifth of all published work was written by active service members. Alternatively, Nosheen Khan estimates that over one quarter, or 500 women wrote on war at this time. This is a significant development because British women actively documented the war experience from home and on the battlefield. These works chronicled firsthand accounts of interaction with wounded soldiers, life in the trenches, and the difficulties of maintaining moral support from mainland Britain. They are important documents as they provide a new perspective on issues concerning Britain's role. Thus, poetry and prose produced by women between 1914 and 1918 contributed to a richer and more accurate textual experience of the war effort.