Clouds and Power: May Sinclair’s War

The wartime writings of May Sinclair, an author often misconstrued or ignored by criticism, raise important questions about the literary representation of World War One. The difficulty posed by Sinclair’s work during the war is that it centers on enjoyment, not on the suffering and penitence now associated with the conflict. Sinclair’s protagonists are fascinated and attracted by a “vortex” of energy they sense as both destructive and exhilarating, and her narratives simultaneously relish and disavow this fantasmatic investment. In doing so, Sinclair’s writing offers a still relevant lesson about the dangerous entanglement of sexual fantasy and collective violence.