The Victorians in the rearview mirror / Simon Joyce.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Joyce, Simon, 1963-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English literature--20th century--History and criticism.

English literature.

Literature and history--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Literature and history.

Authors, English--20th century--Political and social views.

Authors, English.

Authors, English--20th century--Aesthetics.

Modernism (Literature)--Great Britain.

Modernism (Literature).

Social values in literature.

Nostalgia in literature.

Great Britain--History--Victoria, 1837-1901--Historiography.

Great Britain.

Great Britain--Civilization--19th century--Historiography.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (221 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Athens : Ohio University Press, c2007.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

When Margaret Thatcher called in 1979 for a return to Victorian values such as hard work, self-reliance, thrift, and national pride, Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock responded that Victorian values also included cruelty, misery, drudgery, squalor, and ignorance. The Victorians in the Rearview Mirror is an in-depth look at the ways that the twentieth century reacted to and reimagined its predecessor. It considers how the Victorian inheritance has been represented in literature, politics, film, and visual culture; the ways in which modernists and progressives have sought to differentiate themselves from an image of the Victorian; and how conservatives (and some liberals) have sought to revive elements of nineteenth-century life. Nostalgic and critical impulses combine to fix an understanding of the Victorians in the popular imagination. Simon Joyce examines heritage culture, contemporary politics, and the neo-Dickensian novel to offer a more affirmative assessment of the Victorian legacy, one that lets us imagine a model of social interconnection and inter dependence that has come under threat in today's politics and culture. Victoria, the impact of her time is still fresh. The Victorians in the Rearview Mirror speaks to diverse audiences in literary and cultural studies, in addition to those interested in visual culture and contemporary politics, and situates detailed close readings of literary and cinematic texts in the context of a larger argument about the legacies of an era not as distant as we might like to think.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1: On or About 1901

2: The Politics of Nostalgia

3: Victorian Vision and Contemporary Cinema

4: Victorian Values?

5: Other Victorians and the Neo-Dickensian Novel

Epilogue

Notes

Works Cited

Index.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 195-204) and index.

ISBN:

0-8214-4240-6

OCLC:

648346496