Nancy Mitford

Maroula Joannou (Anglia Ruskin University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of York), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

Born 28 Nov 1904
Died 30 Jun 1973
Activity 1924-1973

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Activities

Primary

Biographer
Novelist

Resources

Mitford's Works

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Until the television adaptation of

Love in a Cold Climate

in February 2001 Nancy Mitford was best known for her ideas about ‘u’ (upper-class) and non-‘u’(non-upper-class) language derived from the work of the philologist, Alan Ross, and first publicised in her essay, “The English Aristocracy ”published by Stephen Spender in

Encounter

in 1954. Mitford provided a glossary of terms used by the upper-classes (looking glass, bike and napkin are all ‘u’ and mirror, cycle and serviette are all non ‘u’) and her essay evoked a national debate about English class-consciousness and snobbery. The piece was reprinted with Ross’s article in book form under the title of

Noblesse Oblige: an Inquiry into the Identifiable Characteristics of the English Aristocracy

in 1956.

Nancy was

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988 words

Citation: Joannou, Maroula. "Nancy Mitford". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 June 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5020, accessed 21 November 2024.]