Imagined women : consumerism, nationalism, and gender in the Ladies' Home Journal and Canadian Home Journal of the 1920s

Previously held under moratorium from 4th July 2017 until 8th August 2022.This thesis offers a comparative study of U.S. and Canadian print cultures of the 1920s, through examination of the Ladies’ Home Journal (1883-2014) and Canadian Home Journal (1905-1958) respectively. Drawing on recent scholarship in the field of periodical studies, this study considers these magazines as collaborative literary texts, cultural artefacts, and commercial products, bringing together aspects of literary studies and consumer culture theory. In doing so, it considers how these titles negotiated competing literary and commercial demands and the extent to which this was nationally specific. Canadian periodicals have often been viewed as merely derivative of their American counterparts. I argue here that this is not the case. While both titles make use of a similar range of miscellaneous content, and adhere to common conventions of the magazine form, the manner in which each makes use of the form to construct their imagined audience is notably different. This is particularly evident in the period of the 1920s, in the context of modernity and burgeoning consumer culture. The overlooked complexities of these magazines are revealed through comparative reading, and this thesis provides the first comparative study of American and Canadian mass-market magazines.This thesis offers a comparative study of U.S. and Canadian print cultures of the 1920s, through examination of the Ladies’ Home Journal (1883-2014) and Canadian Home Journal (1905-1958) respectively. Drawing on recent scholarship in the field of periodical studies, this study considers these magazines as collaborative literary texts, cultural artefacts, and commercial products, bringing together aspects of literary studies and consumer culture theory. In doing so, it considers how these titles negotiated competing literary and commercial demands and the extent to which this was nationally specific. Canadian periodicals have often been viewed as merely derivative of their American counterparts. I argue here that this is not the case. While both titles make use of a similar range of miscellaneous content, and adhere to common conventions of the magazine form, the manner in which each makes use of the form to construct their imagined audience is notably different. This is particularly evident in the period of the 1920s, in the context of modernity and burgeoning consumer culture. The overlooked complexities of these magazines are revealed through comparative reading, and this thesis provides the first comparative study of American and Canadian mass-market magazines