Companion to Victorian Literature and Culture

Informationen zum Autor Herbert F. Tucker is Professor of English at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, where he is also Associate Editor of New Literary History. His previous publications include Browning's Beginnings: The Art of Disclosure (1980), Tennyson and the Doom of Romanticism (1988) and Critical Essays on Alfred Lord Tennyson (1993). Klappentext Thirty leading Victorianists from around the world collaborate here in a multidimensional analysis of the breadth and sweep of modern Britain's longest, unruliest literary epoch. Four initial chapters of historical overview focus on climactic years (1832, 1848, 1870, 1897) in which accumulated forces for change precipitated new Victorian directions. Four chapters from Part II examine in childhood, adolescence, aging, and death the chief phases of an individual life and their literary representations, while a fifth considers how pervasively Victorian lives were influenced by sexuality. Part III expands the midmost life phase, working adulthood, to survey prominent Victorian careers, with chapters on religion, medicine, education, law, bureaucracy, the military, banking, industry, commerce, spectacle and publishing. While each chapter of the Companion highlights literary aspects of its topic, literature as such takes centre stage in Part IV, which comprises separate chapters on the genres of poetry, fiction, sage writing, life writing, drama, and literary criticism. The book concludes with three essays that investigate Victorians' conception of their world as defined by the maintenance and transgression of borders: between body and environment, home and street, nation and globe. This integrated design lets the Companion combine inclusiveness with convenience. Its topical spectrum, precision of focus, and accessible style keep the book available for ready consultation, while an index and network of cross-references encourage further study. At the same time, when read sequentially the book renders a textured and polyphonic image, by diverse hands exemplifying diverse standpoints, of the Victorian imagination: a manifold cultural force that notoriously eludes neat summary, yet bequeathed to our own day a recognizable tradition with which we are destined to struggle - as scholars, as modern people - for some time to come. Zusammenfassung aeo Will serve students as a readable introduction and useful reference volume throughout their Victorian studies. aeo Includes extensive bibliographies directing the student to further reading. aeo Examines Victorian literature in its cultural and historical context. Inhaltsverzeichnis Introduction x Notes on Contributors xiv Part One History in Focus 1 1832 3 Lawrence Poston 2 1848 19 Antony H. Harrison 3 1870 35 Linda K. Hughes 4 1897 51 Stephen Arata Part Two Passages of Life 5 Growing Up: Childhood 69 Claudia Nelson 6 Moving Out: Adolescence 82 Chris R. Vanden Bossche 7 Growing Old: Age 97 Teresa Mangum 8 Passing On: Death 110 Gerhard Joseph and Herbert F. Tucker 9 Victorian Sexualities 125 James Eli Adams Copyrighted Material Part Three Walks of Life 10 Clerical 141 Christine L. Krueger 11 Legal 155 Simon Petch 12 Medical 170 Lawrence Rothfield 13 Military 183 John R. Reed 14 Educational 194 Thomas William Heyck 15 Administrative 212 Robert Newsom 16 Financial 225 Christina Crosby 17 Industrial 244 Herbert Sussman 18 Commercial 258 Jennifer Wicke 19 Spectacle 276

List of contents

Part I: History In Focus: .
1. 1832: Finding the Beginning: Lawrence Poston.

2. 1848: Revolution and Reform: Antony H. Harrison.

3. 1870: Linda K. Hughes.

4. 1897: Stephen Arata.

Part II: Passages Of Life: .

5. Growing Up: Childhood: Claudia Nelson.

6. Moving Out: Adolescence: Chris R. Vanden Bossche.

7. Growing Old: Age: Teresa Mangum.

8. Passing On: Death: Gerhard Joseph and Herbert F. Tucker.

9. Victorian Sexualities: James Eli Adams.

Part III: Walks Of Life: .

10. Clerical: Christine L. Krueger.

11. Legal: Simon Petch.

12. Medical: Lawrence Rothfield.

13. Military: John R. Reed.

14. Educational: Thomas William Heyck.

15. Administrative: Robert Newsom.

16. Financial: Christina Crosby.

17. Industrial: Herbert Sussman.

18. Commercial: Jennifer Wicke.

19. Spectacle: Joss Marsh.

20. Publishing: Richard D. Altick.

Part IV: Kinds Of Writing: .

21. Poetry: E. Warwick Slinn.

22. Fiction: Hilary Schor.

23. Drama: Alan Fischler.

24. Life Writing: Timothy Peltason.

25. Sage Writing: Linda H. Petersen.

26. Literary Criticism: David E. Latane, Jr.

Part V: Borders: Skins / Walls / Shores: .

27. Under Victorian Skins: Helena Michie.

28. On the Parapets of Privacy: Karen Chase and Michael Levenson.

29. Then on the Shore of the Wide World : The Victorian Nation and Its Others: James Buzard.

Index .

Report

"Each of the very varied contributions - there are 29 of them in all - is well equipped with exhaustive and up-to-date bibliographies, invaluable for further studies. There is also an excellent index. Altogether, therefore, this is an admirable and enduring book, which should certainly be added to the reference departments of all self-respecting university libraries - and a great many civic and municipal libraries, as well." Languages and Literature

"This book has been planned to meet both short-term and long-range needs. It is a reference work for consultation. " The Victorian Newsletter

"...Tucker s Companion , with its extensive range of topics (some truly original and rarely dealt with in similar books), its well-documented essays, and constant degree of serious scholarship, apears indeed as an extremely valuable tool for students and scholars alike, and a major contribution to Victorian criticism." The Journal of the South Central Modern Language Association

Product details

• Authors: Tucker, David Tucker, Herbert F. Tucker, Herbert F. (University of Virginia) Tucker, HF Tucker
• Assisted by: Herbert Tucker (Editor), Herbert F Tucker (Editor), Herbert F. Tucker (Editor)
• Publisher: Wiley, John and Sons Ltd
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 01.12.1999
• EAN: 9780631218760
• ISBN: 978-0-631-21876-0
• No. of pages: 512
• Series: Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture; BLACKWELL COMPANIONS TO LITERA; Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Linguistics and literary studies > English linguistics / literary studies; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > General, dictionaries