Victorian Servants, Class, and the Politics of Literacy

Victorian Servants, Class, and the Politics of Literacy

Author: Jean Fernandez

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-04-23

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 9781138878143

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In this volume, Fernandez brings the under-examined figure of the Victorian servant out of obscurity in order to tell the story of his or her encounter with literacy, as imagined and represented in nineteenth-century fiction, autobiography, pamphlets and diaries. A vast body of writing is uncovered on the management of servant literacy in Victorian periodicals, advice manuals, cartoons, sermons, books on household management, and pornography, thereby revealing that the domestic sphere was a crucial war zone in the battle over mass literacy. By attending to how fictional and nonfictional texts of the age feature literate servant narrators, she demonstrates how the issue of servant literacy as a cultural phenomenon has profound implications for our understanding of the nexus between class, mass literacy, voice and narrative power in the nineteenth century. The study reads canonical fiction by Mary Wollstonecraft, Emily Bronte, Elizabeth Gaskell, Wilkie Collins, and R.L. Stevenson alongside popular detective fiction by Catherine Crowe, the Diaries of Hannah Cullwick, and best-selling pamphlets of the age, while introducing to Victorian scholarship hitherto little known or unknown servant autobiographies that address life history as an engagement with literacy.


Book Synopsis Victorian Servants, Class, and the Politics of Literacy by : Jean Fernandez

Download or read book Victorian Servants, Class, and the Politics of Literacy written by Jean Fernandez and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-04-23 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this volume, Fernandez brings the under-examined figure of the Victorian servant out of obscurity in order to tell the story of his or her encounter with literacy, as imagined and represented in nineteenth-century fiction, autobiography, pamphlets and diaries. A vast body of writing is uncovered on the management of servant literacy in Victorian periodicals, advice manuals, cartoons, sermons, books on household management, and pornography, thereby revealing that the domestic sphere was a crucial war zone in the battle over mass literacy. By attending to how fictional and nonfictional texts of the age feature literate servant narrators, she demonstrates how the issue of servant literacy as a cultural phenomenon has profound implications for our understanding of the nexus between class, mass literacy, voice and narrative power in the nineteenth century. The study reads canonical fiction by Mary Wollstonecraft, Emily Bronte, Elizabeth Gaskell, Wilkie Collins, and R.L. Stevenson alongside popular detective fiction by Catherine Crowe, the Diaries of Hannah Cullwick, and best-selling pamphlets of the age, while introducing to Victorian scholarship hitherto little known or unknown servant autobiographies that address life history as an engagement with literacy.

Victorian Servants, Class, and the Politics of Literacy

Victorian Servants, Class, and the Politics of Literacy

Author: Jean Fernandez

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2009-09-10

Total Pages: 218

ISBN-13: 1135202117

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Utilizing an array of cultural texts, fiction, servant autobiography, diaries and pamphlets, this study examines the debate on mass literacy as it developed around the figure of the Victorian servant, as well as its significance for understanding the nexus between class and narrative power in nineteenth-century literature.


Book Synopsis Victorian Servants, Class, and the Politics of Literacy by : Jean Fernandez

Download or read book Victorian Servants, Class, and the Politics of Literacy written by Jean Fernandez and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2009-09-10 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Utilizing an array of cultural texts, fiction, servant autobiography, diaries and pamphlets, this study examines the debate on mass literacy as it developed around the figure of the Victorian servant, as well as its significance for understanding the nexus between class and narrative power in nineteenth-century literature.

Memoirs of Victorian Working-Class Women

Memoirs of Victorian Working-Class Women

Author: Florence s. Boos

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-12-02

Total Pages: 343

ISBN-13: 3319642154

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This volume is the first to identify a significant body of life narratives by working-class women and to demonstrate their inherent literary significance. Placing each memoir within its generic, historical, and biographical context, this book traces the shifts in such writings over time, examines the circumstances which enabled working-class women authors to publish their life stories, and places these memoirs within a wider autobiographical tradition. Additionally, Memoirs of Victorian Working-Class Women enables readers to appreciate the clear-sightedness, directness, and poignancy of these works.


Book Synopsis Memoirs of Victorian Working-Class Women by : Florence s. Boos

Download or read book Memoirs of Victorian Working-Class Women written by Florence s. Boos and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-12-02 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume is the first to identify a significant body of life narratives by working-class women and to demonstrate their inherent literary significance. Placing each memoir within its generic, historical, and biographical context, this book traces the shifts in such writings over time, examines the circumstances which enabled working-class women authors to publish their life stories, and places these memoirs within a wider autobiographical tradition. Additionally, Memoirs of Victorian Working-Class Women enables readers to appreciate the clear-sightedness, directness, and poignancy of these works.

Victorian Sensation Fiction

Victorian Sensation Fiction

Author: Jessica Cox

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2019-04-25

Total Pages: 190

ISBN-13: 1137471727

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Since the establishment of sensation fiction in the 1860s, key trends have emerged in critical readings of these texts. From Victorian responses emphasising the 'lowbrow' or potentially dangerous qualities of the genre to the prolific critical attention of the present day, this Reader's Guide identifies the dominant approaches to sensation fiction and charts the critical trends of various scholarly evaluations and interpretations. With coverage spanning empire, class, sexuality and adaptation, this is the ideal companion for students of Victorian Literature looking for an introduction to the key debates surrounding sensation fiction.


Book Synopsis Victorian Sensation Fiction by : Jessica Cox

Download or read book Victorian Sensation Fiction written by Jessica Cox and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-04-25 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the establishment of sensation fiction in the 1860s, key trends have emerged in critical readings of these texts. From Victorian responses emphasising the 'lowbrow' or potentially dangerous qualities of the genre to the prolific critical attention of the present day, this Reader's Guide identifies the dominant approaches to sensation fiction and charts the critical trends of various scholarly evaluations and interpretations. With coverage spanning empire, class, sexuality and adaptation, this is the ideal companion for students of Victorian Literature looking for an introduction to the key debates surrounding sensation fiction.

Class, Servitude, and the Criminal Justice System in Early Victorian London

Class, Servitude, and the Criminal Justice System in Early Victorian London

Author: Allyson N. May

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-09-18

Total Pages: 304

ISBN-13: 1040133673

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This volume draws on the recently discovered and extraordinarily rich scrapbook compiled by prosecuting solicitor Francis Hobler about the 1840 murder of Lord William Russell to consider public engagement with the issues raised from discovery of the murder itself through the ensuing legal processes. The murder of Russell by his valet François Benjamin Courvoisier was a cause célèbre in its own day by virtue of the fact that the victim was a member of one of England’s most prominent political families. For criminal justice historians, the significance of this case lies instead in its timing. In 1840, England had neither an official detective force to investigate the murder nor a public prosecutor to undertake the prosecution. Those accused of felony had only recently (1836) won the right to full legal representation, and the conduct of Courvoisier’s defence was controversial. Reaction to Courvoisier’s execution was also noteworthy, testifying to a new public unease with capital punishment. The subject of master and servant relations in early Victorian England is another key component of the book: previous studies have not considered the murderer’s motivation. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of criminal justice and law, Victorian England, and microhistory.


Book Synopsis Class, Servitude, and the Criminal Justice System in Early Victorian London by : Allyson N. May

Download or read book Class, Servitude, and the Criminal Justice System in Early Victorian London written by Allyson N. May and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2024-09-18 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume draws on the recently discovered and extraordinarily rich scrapbook compiled by prosecuting solicitor Francis Hobler about the 1840 murder of Lord William Russell to consider public engagement with the issues raised from discovery of the murder itself through the ensuing legal processes. The murder of Russell by his valet François Benjamin Courvoisier was a cause célèbre in its own day by virtue of the fact that the victim was a member of one of England’s most prominent political families. For criminal justice historians, the significance of this case lies instead in its timing. In 1840, England had neither an official detective force to investigate the murder nor a public prosecutor to undertake the prosecution. Those accused of felony had only recently (1836) won the right to full legal representation, and the conduct of Courvoisier’s defence was controversial. Reaction to Courvoisier’s execution was also noteworthy, testifying to a new public unease with capital punishment. The subject of master and servant relations in early Victorian England is another key component of the book: previous studies have not considered the murderer’s motivation. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of criminal justice and law, Victorian England, and microhistory.

Travelling Servants

Travelling Servants

Author: Kathryn Walchester

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-07-26

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 1000638995

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This book outlines the contribution made by servants to domestic and Continental travel and travel writing between 1750 and 1850. Aiming to re-position British and European travel during this period as a site of work as well as leisure, Katheryn Walchester provides commentary and analysis of texts by servants not addressed in current scholarship. By reading texts contrapuntally, this book draws attention to repeated tropes and common patterns in the ways in which servants are featured in travelogues; and in so doing, offers an account of alternative modes of experiencing and writing about the Home Tour and the Grand Tour.


Book Synopsis Travelling Servants by : Kathryn Walchester

Download or read book Travelling Servants written by Kathryn Walchester and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-07-26 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book outlines the contribution made by servants to domestic and Continental travel and travel writing between 1750 and 1850. Aiming to re-position British and European travel during this period as a site of work as well as leisure, Katheryn Walchester provides commentary and analysis of texts by servants not addressed in current scholarship. By reading texts contrapuntally, this book draws attention to repeated tropes and common patterns in the ways in which servants are featured in travelogues; and in so doing, offers an account of alternative modes of experiencing and writing about the Home Tour and the Grand Tour.

British Women's Writing from Brontë to Bloomsbury, Volume 1

British Women's Writing from Brontë to Bloomsbury, Volume 1

Author: Adrienne E. Gavin

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-07-31

Total Pages: 278

ISBN-13: 3319782266

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This five-volume series, British Women’s Writing From Brontë to Bloomsbury, 1840-1940, historically contextualizes and traces developments in women’s fiction from 1840 to 1940. Critically assessing both canonical and lesser-known British women’s writing decade by decade, it redefines the landscape of women’s authorship across a century of dynamic social and cultural change. With each of its volumes devoted to two decades, the series is wide in scope but historically sharply defined. Volume 1: 1840s and 1850s inaugurates the series by historically and culturally contextualizing Victorian women’s writing distinctly within the 1840s and 1850s. Using a range of critical perspectives including political and literary history, feminist approaches, disability studies, and the history of reading, the volume’s 16 original essays consider such developments as the construction of a post-Romantic tradition, the politicization of the domestic sphere, and the development of crime and sensation writing. Centrally, it reassesses key mid-nineteenth-century female authors in the context in which they first published while also recovering neglected women writers who helped to shape the literary landscape of the 1840s and 1850s.


Book Synopsis British Women's Writing from Brontë to Bloomsbury, Volume 1 by : Adrienne E. Gavin

Download or read book British Women's Writing from Brontë to Bloomsbury, Volume 1 written by Adrienne E. Gavin and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-07-31 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This five-volume series, British Women’s Writing From Brontë to Bloomsbury, 1840-1940, historically contextualizes and traces developments in women’s fiction from 1840 to 1940. Critically assessing both canonical and lesser-known British women’s writing decade by decade, it redefines the landscape of women’s authorship across a century of dynamic social and cultural change. With each of its volumes devoted to two decades, the series is wide in scope but historically sharply defined. Volume 1: 1840s and 1850s inaugurates the series by historically and culturally contextualizing Victorian women’s writing distinctly within the 1840s and 1850s. Using a range of critical perspectives including political and literary history, feminist approaches, disability studies, and the history of reading, the volume’s 16 original essays consider such developments as the construction of a post-Romantic tradition, the politicization of the domestic sphere, and the development of crime and sensation writing. Centrally, it reassesses key mid-nineteenth-century female authors in the context in which they first published while also recovering neglected women writers who helped to shape the literary landscape of the 1840s and 1850s.

The Female Servant and Sensation Fiction

The Female Servant and Sensation Fiction

Author: E. Steere

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2013-10-30

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 1137365269

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The Female Servant and Sensation Fiction: 'Kitchen Literature' explores why Victorian sensation fiction was derided as literature fit only for maids and cooks and how the depictions of fictional female domestics, from Jane Eyre to Neo-Victorian novels, reflect contemporary social concerns about the blurring of the boundaries of class and gender.


Book Synopsis The Female Servant and Sensation Fiction by : E. Steere

Download or read book The Female Servant and Sensation Fiction written by E. Steere and published by Springer. This book was released on 2013-10-30 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Female Servant and Sensation Fiction: 'Kitchen Literature' explores why Victorian sensation fiction was derided as literature fit only for maids and cooks and how the depictions of fictional female domestics, from Jane Eyre to Neo-Victorian novels, reflect contemporary social concerns about the blurring of the boundaries of class and gender.

Daily Life of Women [3 volumes]

Daily Life of Women [3 volumes]

Author: Colleen Boyett

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2020-12-07

Total Pages: 1823

ISBN-13:

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Indispensable for the student or researcher studying women's history, this book draws upon a wide array of cultural settings and time periods in which women displayed agency by carrying out their daily economic, familial, artistic, and religious obligations. Since record keeping began, history has been written by a relatively few elite men. Insights into women's history are left to be gleaned by scholars who undertake careful readings of ancient literature, examine archaeological artifacts, and study popular culture, such as folktales, musical traditions, and art. For some historical periods and geographic regions, this is the only way to develop some sense of what daily life might have been like for women in a particular time and place. This reference explores the daily life of women across civilizations. The work is organized in sections on different civilizations from around the world, arranged chronologically. Within each society, the encyclopedia highlights the roles of women within five broad thematic categories: the arts, economics and work, family and community life, recreation and social customs, and religious life. Included are numerous sidebars containing additional information, document excerpts, images, and suggestions for further reading.


Book Synopsis Daily Life of Women [3 volumes] by : Colleen Boyett

Download or read book Daily Life of Women [3 volumes] written by Colleen Boyett and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2020-12-07 with total page 1823 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Indispensable for the student or researcher studying women's history, this book draws upon a wide array of cultural settings and time periods in which women displayed agency by carrying out their daily economic, familial, artistic, and religious obligations. Since record keeping began, history has been written by a relatively few elite men. Insights into women's history are left to be gleaned by scholars who undertake careful readings of ancient literature, examine archaeological artifacts, and study popular culture, such as folktales, musical traditions, and art. For some historical periods and geographic regions, this is the only way to develop some sense of what daily life might have been like for women in a particular time and place. This reference explores the daily life of women across civilizations. The work is organized in sections on different civilizations from around the world, arranged chronologically. Within each society, the encyclopedia highlights the roles of women within five broad thematic categories: the arts, economics and work, family and community life, recreation and social customs, and religious life. Included are numerous sidebars containing additional information, document excerpts, images, and suggestions for further reading.

Geography and the Literary Imagination in Victorian Fictions of Empire

Geography and the Literary Imagination in Victorian Fictions of Empire

Author: Jean Fernandez

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-01-20

Total Pages: 287

ISBN-13: 100002959X

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In this pioneering study, Dr. Fernandez explores how the rise of institutional geography in Victorian England impacted imperial fiction’s emergence as a genre characterized by a preoccupation with space and place. This volume argues that the alliance between institutional geography and the British empire which commenced with the founding of the Royal Geographical Society in 1830, shaped the spatial imagination of Victorians, with profound consequences for the novel of empire. Geography and the Literary Imagination in Victorian Fictions of Empire examines Presidential Addresses and reports of the Royal Geographical Society, and demonstrates how geographical studies by explorers, cartographers, ethnologists, medical topographers, administrators, and missionaries published by the RGS, local geographical societies, or the colonial state, acquired relevance for Victorian fiction’s response to the British Empire. Through a series of illuminating readings of literary works by R.L. Stevenson, Olive Schreiner, Flora Annie Steel, Winwood Reade, Joseph Conrad, and Rudyard Kipling, the study demonstrates how nineteenth-century fiction, published between 1870 and 1901, reflected and interrogated geographical discourses of the time. The study makes the case for the significance of physical and human geography for literary studies, and the unique historical and aesthetic insights gained through this approach.


Book Synopsis Geography and the Literary Imagination in Victorian Fictions of Empire by : Jean Fernandez

Download or read book Geography and the Literary Imagination in Victorian Fictions of Empire written by Jean Fernandez and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-01-20 with total page 287 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this pioneering study, Dr. Fernandez explores how the rise of institutional geography in Victorian England impacted imperial fiction’s emergence as a genre characterized by a preoccupation with space and place. This volume argues that the alliance between institutional geography and the British empire which commenced with the founding of the Royal Geographical Society in 1830, shaped the spatial imagination of Victorians, with profound consequences for the novel of empire. Geography and the Literary Imagination in Victorian Fictions of Empire examines Presidential Addresses and reports of the Royal Geographical Society, and demonstrates how geographical studies by explorers, cartographers, ethnologists, medical topographers, administrators, and missionaries published by the RGS, local geographical societies, or the colonial state, acquired relevance for Victorian fiction’s response to the British Empire. Through a series of illuminating readings of literary works by R.L. Stevenson, Olive Schreiner, Flora Annie Steel, Winwood Reade, Joseph Conrad, and Rudyard Kipling, the study demonstrates how nineteenth-century fiction, published between 1870 and 1901, reflected and interrogated geographical discourses of the time. The study makes the case for the significance of physical and human geography for literary studies, and the unique historical and aesthetic insights gained through this approach.