The Mediation of Constructions of Pacifism in Journey's End and The Searcher, two Contrasting Dramatic Memorials from the Late 1920s

This article examines the ways in which journalism in Britain and the United States shaped understanding of the First World War through the promotion and reception of two contrasting dramas: the British writer R. C. Sherriff's Journey's End (1928/1929) and the American writer Velona Pilcher's The Searcher (1929/1930). Journey's End achieved pre-eminence at this point because it caught the mood of a shift in attitudes. The British media quickly became excited by its realistic portrayal of life on the front line, and the attention the play received across sectors of society worldwide established its position as positively “middlebrow”. This enthusiasm for Journey's End affected the reception of The Searcher, a far more symbolic text set behind the front line. Its avant-garde style quickly earned it the label “highbrow”, an expression used pejoratively. By anointing certain play productions as representative memorials of collective experience, and dismissing others, the press did much to reinforce particular understandings of the war. Gender and racial prejudices were also entwined in commentary on issues both plays raised about relationships between entertainment and mourning. Against the socio-political backdrop of developing notions of pacifism, the reception also exposed complexities in the designations of each of these plays as anti-war. KEYWORDS: First World War; gender, mediation, pacifism, post-war, women, theatre