The Victorians and the eighteenth century
Subtitle: reassessing the tradition
By: edited by Francis O'Gorman, Katherine Turner.
Contributors: O'Gorman, Frank.; Turner, Katherine, 1966-
Publisher: Ashgate
Published: 2004
Place of publication: Aldershot, Hampshire, England; Burlington, VT
Language: eng
Number of pages: 268
Subjects: English literature -- 19th century -- History and criticism; English literature -- 18th century -- History and criticism; Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.) -- History -- 19th century; Eighteenth century; Great Britain -- Intellectual life -- 19th century; Great Britain -- Intellectual life -- 18th century
Description: Disrupting the common assumption that the Victorians regarded their eighteenth-century predecessors with little interest or with disdain, the essays in The Victorians and the Eighteenth Century propose a re-examination of these relationships. Together, they expose some of the significant and complex ways in which key aspects and texts of the eighteenth century were situated, read, and transacted within the post-Romantic nineteenth century. The contributors challenge long-held views about Victorian uses of the past, and offer new insights into how the literature and culture of the eighteenth century helped shape the culture and identity of the nineteenth. This collection of essays represents a unique approach to this area of literary history and offers new perspectives on the nature and methodology of 'periodization'. While it is obviously of great interest to students of eighteenth-century and Victorian literature, it will also appeal to readers more broadly concerned with questions of literary influence, periodization, and historiography.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [250]-261) and index.