The Cambridge Companion to English Literature, 1830–1914

A volume of essays on Victorian themes, genres and authors, aimed at students and lecturers.

Joanne Shattock (Edited by)

9780521709323, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 28 January 2010

348 pages, 10 b/w illus.
22.8 x 15.3 x 1.6 cm, 0.56 kg

'… provides the student of Victorian literature and culture, or the curious and interested, with a well-wrought introduction … extremely useful for an introductory class or a student or scholar looking for a quick history of the period.' Annotated Bibliography of English Studies

The nineteenth century witnessed unprecedented expansion in the reading public and an explosive growth in the number of books and newspapers produced to meet its demands. These specially commissioned essays examine not only the full range and variety of texts that entertained and informed the Victorians, but also the boundaries of Victorian literature: the links and overlap with Romanticism in the 1830s, and the roots of modernism in the years leading up to the First World War. The Companion demonstrates how science, medicine and theology influenced creative writing and emphasizes the importance of the visual in painting, book illustration and in technological innovations from the kaleidoscope to the cinema. Essays also chart the complex and fruitful interchanges with writers in America, Europe and the Empire, highlighting the geographical expansion of literature in English. This Companion brings together the most important aspects of this prolific and popular period of English literature.

Introduction Joanne Shattock
Part I. Modes of Writing and their Contexts: 1. Authors and authorship Josephine Guy
2. Readers and readerships Mary Hammond
3. Life writing Alison Booth
4. The culture of criticism Joanne Shattock
5. Women's voices and public debate Susan Hamilton
6. Writing the past Hilary Fraser
7. Radical writing Sally Ledger
8. Popular culture Katherine Newey
Part II. Intersections and Incursions: 9. Science and its popularization Gowan Dawson
10. Body and mind Jenny Bourne Taylor
11. Writing and religion Andrew Sanders
12. Visual culture John Plunkett
Part III. The Centre and the Periphery: 13. Empire and nationalism Patrick Brantlinger
14. Transatlantic relations Bridget Bennett
15. European exchanges Alison Chapman
Guide to further reading
Index.

Subject Areas: Literature: history & criticism [DS], Literature & literary studies [D]