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The Victorian Supernatural

Pamela Thurschwell editor Nicola Bown editor Carolyn Burdett editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

Published:25th Jun '09

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The Victorian Supernatural cover

Essays by literary scholars, art historians and science historians explore the diversity of the Victorians' fascination with the supernatural.

The Victorians were haunted by the supernatural. This collection brings together essays by scholars from literature, history of art and history of science, which explore the diversity of the Victorians' fascination with the supernatural.The Victorians were haunted by the supernatural, by ghosts and fairies, table-rappings and telepathic encounters, occult religions and the idea of reincarnation, visions of the other world and a reality beyond the everyday. The Victorian Supernatural explores the sources of these beliefs in their literary, historical and cultural contexts. The collection brings together essays by scholars from literature, history of art and history of science, which examine the diversity of the Victorians' fascination with the supernatural. The essays show that the supernatural was not simply a reaction to a post-Darwinian loss of faith, but was embedded in virtually every aspect of Victorian culture. This important interdisciplinary study sheds light on debates surrounding the relationship between high and popular Victorian culture and contemporary notions of the supernatural.

'… the studies feature new approaches and/or works about which not so much has been written yet.' Annotated Bibliography for English Studies
'Each of the volume's essays is well presented and finely tuned …' Modernism/Modernity
' … the volume's eleven essays are, without exception, richly detailed and engaging.' Women: a Cultural Review

ISBN: 9780521114646

Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 18mm

Weight: 440g

328 pages