Time and the moment in Victorian literature and society / Sue Zemka.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zemka, Sue, 1958-

Series:

Cambridge studies in nineteenth-century literature and culture ; 77.

Cambridge studies in nineteenth-century literature and culture ; 77

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Conrad, Joseph, 1857-1924.

Eliot, George, 1819-1880.

Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.

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

English fiction.

Time in literature.

Time perception in literature.

Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870--Criticism and interpretation.

Dickens, Charles.

Eliot, George, 1819-1880--Criticism and interpretation.

Eliot, George.

Conrad, Joseph, 1857-1924--Criticism and interpretation.

Conrad, Joseph.

Literature and society--England--History--19th century.

Literature and society.

Literature and technology.

History.

Criticism and interpretation.

England.

Literature and technology--England--History--19th century.

Physical Description:

vii, 285 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Summary:

"Sudden changes, opportunities or revelations have always carried a special significance in western culture, from the Greek and later the Christian kairos to Evangelical experiences of conversion. This fascinating book explores the ways in which England, under the influence of industrialising forces and increased precision in assessing the passing of time, attached importance to moments and events that compress great significance into small units of time. Sue Zemka questions the importance that modernity invests in momentary events, from religion to aesthetics and philosophy. She argues for a strain in Victorian and early modern novels critical of the values the age invested in moments of time, and suggests that such novels also offer a correction to contemporary culture and criticism, with its emphasis on the momentary event as an agency of change"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction

1. A brief history of the moment

2. The economic mediation of time

3. Pie'd : the moment in mid-Victorian working-class fiction

4. Dickens's peripatetic novels

5. Adam Bede and the redemption of time

6. Daniel Deronda : Eliot's anti-epiphanic novel

7. Panic in Lord Jim

Conclusion: Lost duration.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 263-278) and index.

ISBN:

9781107007420

1107007429

OCLC:

746489181

Online:

Cover image