This guide to Victorian Literature and Culture provides students with the ideal introduction to literature and its context from 1837-1900, including: - the historical, cultural and intellectual background including politics and economics, popular culture, philosophy - major writers and genres including the Brontes, Dickens, Eliot, Hardy, Trollope, Thackeray, Conan Doyle, Ibsen, Shaw, Hopkins, Rossetti and Tennyson - concise explanations of key terms needed to understand the literature and criticism - key critical approaches - a chronology mapping historical events and literary works and further reading including websites and electronic resources.
"Literary works are no longer regarded simply as mirrors of the past, or as entertaining adjuncts to the 'business' of a society. Literature is now firmly embedded as one of many dynamic cultural forms of the Victorian era, producing and being produced by its historical moment. As twenty-first century scholars, we can never 'recover' its meaning for a Victorian reader; but we can collaborate to produce new interpretations that are culturally inclusive, and deepen our sense of connection with a fascinating age."(p. 134) If you are looking for a concise introduction to Victorian literature and culture this is the right book!
Quite good book but in some places it feels like it was thrown together and missing real connection between paragraphs. Maybe I only feel like this because I've read quite a bit of books on the subject. When it comes to the table of content, it's very easy to find what you wish to find and it is divided very understandably. It's just that in moments it seems a bit harder to follow.
Libro bastante útil para entrar de lleno en la que fue una de las etapas más importantes de la historia de las Islas Británicas: la época victoriana.
Es importante entrar en contexto, conociendo los hechos más destacados de cada ámbito: política, religión, ciencia y tecnología, sociedad patriarcal (con el controvertido tema del papel de la mujer). De esta manera se puede observar la estrecha relación que existe entre esos factores y la literatura. Los autores de esta época (Charles Dickens, las hermanas Brontë, Jane Austen, Oscar Wilde...) estaban concienciados con la realidad contemporánea a su tiempo, plasmando problemas/realidades sociales en sus obras.
A pesar de ser un libro no ficticio, está bastante entretenido. Una lectura amena y dinámica. 3,5/5
An comprehensive beginner's overview of the various themes and ideas entertained by the Victorian consciousness, literary genres/movements and political-philosophical-ethical contexts. Could benefit from in-depth reading thereafter, but this is a viable, encouraging and accessible starting point for anyone curious about the Victorian era and literature in relation to it.