victorian

Things often end badly for males in George Eliot’s fiction. Macarthy, the antisocial artist in her first published prose fiction, dies unappreciated; dreamy Seth Bede reconciles himself to a pitiful bachelordom; Smilesian Tom Tulliver charters his wealth (but not his wellbeing); opportunistic Harold Transome is chastened by his circumstances; pedantic Edward Casaubon fails as a scholar and as a gentleman; and formidable Henleigh Mallinger Grandcourt drowns because Eliot is unsure what else to do with him. These men are usually disposed of in credible ways, but are they treated fairly? Are their respective fates convincing given their character flaws and contexts, or are they treated more harshly than the women who share their fictional worlds?

2020 MVSA Conference

April 24-25—Chicago, Illinois

Final call to submit proposals for The Victorians Institute 2019 conference in Charleston, SC Oct 31-Nov 2 

See call for papers: Transatlantic Connections: Africa, the Caribbean, the Americas, & Victorian Studies

Deadline: July 1

Submit 250-word paper and panel proposals

Mash-up: “a mixture or fusion of disparate elements” (OED)

Writers and writers’ organisations have a long history of using their public standing and cultural capital to promote causes that transcend the literary sphere, from abolition and gender equality to free expression, anti-war agitation, and environmental issues. This two-day conference explores the intersections of authorship, politics, activism, and literary celebrity across historical periods, literatures, and media. It examines the forms and impact of authorial field migrations between literature and politics and the ways in which they are situated within, and shaped by, structural frameworks that include academic institutions, prize-giving bodies, publishing industries, and literary celebrity culture.