Victorian Legacies

In this episode I'm joined by my Dracula Vibes panel, Drs Madeline Potter, Theadora Jean and Daniel Kasper! We discuss how Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu's novella Carmilla influenced Dracula, and the legacy Le Fanu's work has today. We consider the queer elements of the work, as well as the way Anglo-Irish identity features in Le Fanu's writing. We think about the way frame narrative benefits Gothic lit...

In this episode I'm joined by Natasha Booth-Johnson, who is researching into the intersections between queerness and politics in the works of nineteenth-century writers Edith Simcox, Mona Caird, and Isabella Ormston-Ford. We discuss how these writers were active in political movements and the ways in which their work also connects with queerness (as a broad concept involving sexuality, gender, and...

In this episode I'm joined by Valentina Gaio. Like myself, Valentina's research interests are broad, from popular culture to crime and horror, and we initially discuss the contemporary 18th century media depiction of the French Revolution. Our main topic today, however, centres on Victorian views of food (specifically slum inhabitants' diets), and the similarities to contemporary 21st century food...

In this episode I'm joined by Dr Danielle Dove, whose research focuses on dress and fashion history, material culture, and literary celebrity. We consider how dress can be linked to the uncanny, utilising new materialism and object-oriented ontology theories to explore the idea that objects (such as items of dress) have a form of agency, and how neo-Victorian sartorial objects seem to have an impa...

In this episode I'm joined by Céleste Callen, who researches into time and temporal experience in 19th century literature. Specifically, we discuss her PhD which utilises the works of Henri Bergson as a lens through which to read the works of Charles Dickens. We discuss how for Bergson, time is a subjective experience rather than linear, and how this impacts on the standard novel construction, in...

In this episode I'm joined by a special panel: Dr Madeline Potter, Theadora Jean, and Dr Daniel Kasper, who all research into Gothic literature (specifically, Dracula!) We discuss how their interest in Dracula began, and the different academic (and side) projects they have worked on. We focus on the positive and negative aspects of adaptations, and the assumptions we have (perhaps incorrectly gain...

In this episode I'm joined by Dr Tom Ue, who has researched into authors such as George Gissing, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Edward Prime-Stevenson. We begin by discussing how Tom developed his PhD from his previous studies into George Gissing, and how Gissing's diaries show how well-read and well-connected he was. We consider Gissing's shift from working-class writing, and the ethical is...

In this episode I'm joined by Dr Louise Creechan, who has researched into Victorian and Neo-Victorian Studies. We begin by discussing her PhD in illiteracy and how the nineteenth century saw the rise of mass literacy in England, and the creation of 'normative' standards of achievement. This coincided with capitalist models for a 'productive workforce.' We think about this persists today, with fund...

In this episode I'm joined by Dr Richard Jorge Fernández, who researches into the nineteenth-century Irish Gothic, especially the short story. We talk about how his interest in Irish literature began, and also about his current project which compares Galician literature and Irish literature, due to his own roots, and the similarities in these regions. We think about the issues colonial countries f...

In this episode I'm joined by Manon Burz-Labrande, who researches into the circulation of penny bloods and penny dreadfuls. We talk about how her research looks at how there are issues around canonicity, due to many publications being hidden still, meaning we return to the 'classics' . We observe how there were different ways of circulation beyond publishing, and how contemporary sources like Henr...

In this episode I'm joined by Azza Hussen, who researches into the works of Charles Dickens. We talk about how her resarch looks at how Dickens' work engaged with or challenged contemporary 19th century dream theories, in novels like Oliver Twist, Dombey and Son. We observe how some 19th century dream theories had a moralistic viewpoint, in that moral people couldn't have bad dreams. About my gues...

In this episode I'm joined by Alora Hayward, who researches into Victorian literary works such as Christina Rossetti, George Gissing, Amy Levy and Charlotte Bronte. We talk about academic study in the pandemic and how this has helped us to reevaluate things, and also how nineteenth century attitudes towards gender, class and sexuality can be reflected today. About my guest: Alora Hayward graduated...

In this episode I'm joined by Caterina Liberace, who researches into the use of Victorian architecture and décor in twentieth and twenty-first century Gothic horror. We consider how the archetypal haunted house we now associate as a Gothic house, is an trans-Atlantic incarnation, and emerged after WWII. We think about how the country house exemplifies this, and how the house also acts as a vampiri...

In this episode I'm joined by Dr Eleanor Dobson, who researches into the reception of ancient Egypt during the 19th and 20th centuries. We discuss the centenary of Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon's discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922, and the stories around the famous 'curses'. We consider what 19th and 20th century Egyptologists were reading, and how they wrote their own stories. We consider...

In this episode I'm joined by Dr Barbara Franchi, who researches into neo-Victorian fiction, intertextuality and echoes of Empire. We consider issues such as the risks of nostalgia in society, and the enduring legacy of the 19th century in neo-Victorian works. We discuss the idea of a neo-Victorian 'canon' and how literature and critical scholarship is redefining this concept - as well as the whol...

In this episode I'm joined by Dr Dominique Gracia, who had worked on repetitions and revisions, and adaptation theory. We discuss the influence of Sherlock Holmes on modern TV detectives in series such as Sherlock and Vienna Blood. We observe the ways in which we see works through adaptations, and how neo-Victorian works may influence how we think or perceive the nineteenth century. We also discus...

In this episode I'm joined by Deborah Siddoway, who researches into how the nineteenth century English novel was both informed by and influenced the path of divorce law reform in England. We discuss how all her authors had complex relationships with marriage, and how this is reflected in their works. We also discuss how the no-fault divorce was ended at the time of recording, and how this changes...

In this episode I'm joined by Dr Anna Gasperini, where we discuss her work on children's literature and child nutrition. We discuss how food in children's literature sublimates and represents a lot of things, including 'taboo' subjects. Children's literature was previously seen as unsophisticated in the academy (like fantasy), which segues into a brief chat about Terry Pratchett's Discworld! We th...

In this episode I'm joined by Michelle Ravenscroft, who has recently co-edited the third volume of the popular Talking Bodies series. We chat about our shared experience at Talking Bodies and how Michelle's MA thesis on identity formation in adolescents in the long 19th century literature was turned into a chapter. We also discuss her foundational stages of the PhD project she is working on, on th...

In this episode I'm joined by Michelle Reynolds, who researches into representations of the New Woman in fin de siècle illustration. We discuss how the New Woman was featured in art, specifically in illustration. We observe how fairy tales writers like Evelyn Sharp used these to push forward ideas about feminism, reflecting what was in New Woman fiction but aiming these ideas at children. We consi...

In this episode I'm joined by Dr Clare Stainthorp, who researches into nineteenth-century atheist, secular and agnostic movements, and their periodical culture. We discuss how pamphlets and periodical culture helped not only to provide a space in which like-minded individuals could discuss freethought ideas, but enabled them to form a community and organise events. We discuss notable individuals s...

In this episode I'm joined by Laura Demaude, who is currently finishing her MA dissertation on gaslighting and the Gothic. We discuss how gaslighting is represented in Victorian and Neo-Victorian texts written by female authors (such as Bronte's Jane Eyre). We also note how physical gaslighting was used to influence this effect, especially in the film Gaslight. Our discussion also focuses on the i...

In this episode I'm joined by Duncan McNulty, founder and provost of the Bartitsu and Antagonistics Forum (BAF) . We discuss how Bartitsu was founded by Barton Wright in the 19th century, how it is presented now within the BAF and other organisations. We consider how the 19th century is still relevant, within pursuits like Bartistu and within steampunk. We discuss the nostalgic element, and how En...

In this episode I'm joined by Laure Nermel, who is finishing her PhD on Elizabeth Siddal,. We discuss how the Pre-Raphaelites are portrayed in Neo-Victorian fiction (novels, but also TV shows and plays), especially the women who were connected to the movement. We discuss the value of Siddal's work in her own right (not just as a model but as an artist and writer herself). About my guest: After a B...

In this episode I'm joined by Nat Reeve, who is not only keeping busy with a PhD on Elizabeth Siddal, but is a Neo-Victorian novelist! We talk about their debut novel Nettleblack, the first of two novels with Cipher Press. Both books follow the adventures of fictional queer Victorians in an eccentric rural setting. We discuss how the novels came about, and the importance of having queer voices rep...