Social Identity and Literary Form in the Victorian Novel
Race, Class, Gender and the Uses of Genre
Format:Paperback
Publisher:McFarland & Co Inc
Published:12th Aug '22
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
Enormous social changes during the Victorian era inspired some of the finest novels in the English language. In the final decades of the century, rigid application of gender rules and class hierarchies began to relax. Consciousness of the injustice of class- and gender-based discrimination was growing. Meanwhile, bias against nonwhite peoples was worsening. The British used scientific racism to justify their relentless expansion in Africa and Asia.
Viewing Victorian literature through the lens of these social changes gives the modern reader a fresh way to interpret the novels and to appreciate their relevance to contemporary issues. Nineteenth-century novelists deployed realism, satire, and the bildungsroman to resist or support leading ideologies of their time, including the separate spheres doctrine and British supremacism. Each chapter is an elaboration of the author's university lectures about Victorian classics. The tone is scholarly yet conversational, directed to the undergraduate student as well as the general reader or Victoriaphile. The text presents concepts in interdisciplinary cultural studies, discusses the uses of genre for rhetorical and social purposes, and exposes paradoxes of the era. The coherent style, abundant examples, discussion questions, and literary glossary make this book a valuable supplement for readers of the Victorian novel.
“Drawing on history, literature, and intersectionality, Franks has written a book that functions as both an overview of major Victorian novels and an explication of how Victorian values shaped identity. ...recommended”—Choice
“Social Identity and Literary Form in the Victorian Novel is a great teaching text. It provides undergraduates with literary and historical context and with models of how to do literary criticism. It is sure to be useful in the English literature classroom.”—Susie Steinbach, Hamline University
“Stemming from the unique moment of unprecedented online teaching during the pandemic, Franks’ Social Identity and Literary Form in the Victorian Novel grew out of her patient and comprehensive preparations, and her desire to give students clear, detailed frameworks for thinking about Victorian novels (and some of their more contemporary companion texts). This textbook that focuses on race, class, gender and genre does more than simply frame, however: it offers students, teachers, and lovers of all things Victorian many points of departure for further study, further analysis, and further thinking about these well-known works. In accessible prose and with palpable energy, professor Franks brings us into her classroom, so to speak, and reminds us why reading and interpreting these classic texts still produces crucial questions for us about society, ethics, and human relationships.”—Carrie Rohman, Ph.D., professor of English, Lafayette College
ISBN: 9781476687261
Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 14mm
Weight: 381g
280 pages