Why Victorian literature still matters / Philip Davis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Davis, Philip (Philip Maurice)

Series:

Blackwell manifestos

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English fiction--19th century--History and criticism.

English fiction.

English literature--19th century--History and criticism.

English literature.

Physical Description:

vii, 171 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Chichester ; Malden, MA : Blackwell Pub., 2008.

Summary:

Why Victorian Literature Still Matters is a powerful defense of the enduring impact of Victorian realism today. With a nod to the popularity of phrenology within that era, noted literary thinker Philip Davis points to a corner of the human mind where mid-Victorian literature resides. This "Victorian bump," he argues, is an area concerned with human purpose, morality, secularization and belief, human stories, and living in time.

Rather than emphasizing Victorian literature as an historical and reassuring body of knowledge, Davis explains its centrality for contemporary readers as an important mode of thinking and feeling, and provides a gateway of analysis into the popular prose and poetry of the Victorian Age. Why Victorian Literature Still Matters is a personal manifesto, inviting readers to discover what it is that really moves them in a book. The author offers readers the encouragement to find out what Victorian literature means for them and how it relates to our wider human existence.

Contents:

The Victorian bump and where to find it

Victorian hard wiring

Isaiah and Ezekiel - but what about Charley?

Not so straightforward: realist prose and what it hides within itself

A literature in time

Individual agents

A few of my favorite things: a glove, a sandal, and plaited hair.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 161-167) and index.

ISBN:

9781405135788

1405135786

9781405135795

1405135794

OCLC:

213133333