Telephones, Cars and the Radio: Examples of Modern Technology in Elizabeth Bowen’s Short Stories of the 1930s

Elizabeth Bowen’s prose, both fictional and non-fictional, is punctuated with modern technological devices and is a testimony of the widespread presence of technological innovations and the intrusion of modernity in everyday lives. Although critics diverge as to the author’s attitude towards them, in this article I would claim that they are prominent and never rejected, but rather willingly welcomed. I would like to focus primarily on three technological objects whose widespread use was relatively recent in Bowen’s time: the telephone, the car, and the radio, and the roles they play in some of her short stories. The former are both material objects and seemingly anthropomorphic entities that simultaneously facilitate and hinder communication. The latter – whose speed the author personally enjoyed – broadly represent the characters’ attitudes toward modernity and are often intertwined with class issues. Finally, the radio symbolizes the intrusion of the outside world, which can be perceived as either positive or negative.