: THOMAS HARDY AND THE BOUNDARIES OF THE EARTH Export

@article{citeulike:5904006, abstract = {WHAT DO WE EXPECT to learn when we scrutinize the boundaries of, or within, Victorian literary studies at the beginning of the twenty-first century? Because many nineteenth-century scholars had always worked within an interdisciplinary paradigm, the theoretical shifts of the last thirty years or so, which broke down divisions between generically distinct discourses, could be said to have brought continuity, rather than change, to this particular community. Yet it is probably true that a pre-existing predilection for historicist investigation has gained added strength in Victorianist circles in recent times. Certain kinds of journeys have become especially common: intrepid explorers travel beyond the bounds of a literary text to hitherto unimagined contexts, and then return to said text laden with the spoils of their expeditions. The exotic voyage to discover the strangeness of the Victorians, then, has become a familiar event; we have witnessed an expansion of the empire of possible connections. Rarer than these heroic ventures, however, has been the practice of quiet contemplation: we have perhaps been less adept at standing still, and looking carefully at the ground we already hold, the ground we assume we share with our nineteenth-century predecessors. What happens when we eschew the temptation to strike out across new territory, and turn our eyes merely to the earth below? Might we discover boundaries between the Victorians and ourselves in the most mundane, the most fundamental of places?}, author = {Robson, Catherine}, citeulike-article-id = {5904006}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=241175}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1017.S1060150304000622}, doi = {10.1017.S1060150304000622}, journal = {Victorian Literature and Culture}, keywords = {19thcentury, authors, boundaries, culture, earth, ground, journeys, literature, poetry, practice, soil, thomas\_hardy, turf, victorian, writing}, number = {02}, pages = {495--503}, posted-at = {2009-10-07 00:44:40}, priority = {2}, title = {: THOMAS HARDY AND THE BOUNDARIES OF THE EARTH}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1017.S1060150304000622}, volume = {32}, year = {2004} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:5904006 L3 - citeulike-article-id:5904006 N2 - WHAT DO WE EXPECT to learn when we scrutinize the boundaries of, or within, Victorian literary studies at the beginning of the twenty-first century? Because many nineteenth-century scholars had always worked within an interdisciplinary paradigm, the theoretical shifts of the last thirty years or so, which broke down divisions between generically distinct discourses, could be said to have brought continuity, rather than change, to this particular community. Yet it is probably true that a pre-existing predilection for historicist investigation has gained added strength in Victorianist circles in recent times. Certain kinds of journeys have become especially common: intrepid explorers travel beyond the bounds of a literary text to hitherto unimagined contexts, and then return to said text laden with the spoils of their expeditions. The exotic voyage to discover the strangeness of the Victorians, then, has become a familiar event; we have witnessed an expansion of the empire of possible connections. Rarer than these heroic ventures, however, has been the practice of quiet contemplation: we have perhaps been less adept at standing still, and looking carefully at the ground we already hold, the ground we assume we share with our nineteenth-century predecessors. What happens when we eschew the temptation to strike out across new territory, and turn our eyes merely to the earth below? Might we discover boundaries between the Victorians and ourselves in the most mundane, the most fundamental of places? IS - 02 JF - Victorian Literature and Culture EP - 503 TI - : THOMAS HARDY AND THE BOUNDARIES OF THE EARTH VL - 32 SP - 495 KW - 19thcentury KW - authors KW - boundaries KW - culture KW - earth KW - ground KW - journeys KW - literature KW - poetry KW - practice KW - soil KW - thomas_hardy KW - turf KW - victorian KW - writing AU - Robson, Catherine PY - 2004/// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1017.S1060150304000622 ER -