About Me
In this blog, I'll explore thoughts on reading postmodern-era novels about the Victorian era in Britain. My father was an English teacher, so he shared Sherlock Holmes series from the BBC and British poetry with tiny Ian. I still have sepia-toned memories of those adventures that didn't happen to me; Victorian fiction and history feels as much part of my past as the British empire feels part of the global human past. Much of my life, I've enjoyed the ambiguity and absurdity of postmodernism, and its combination with Victorianism in Neo-Victorian novels piqued my interest when I saw it listed in WSU's course offerings for 2021.
As a reader, a writer, and a student of literature, language, and storytelling, I'm intrigued by the major differences in writing style between contemporary literature and that of the nineteenth century - and the similarities in plots and themes. The Victorian era was the birth of modern communication technologies and also some of the 21st century's most popular literary genres: science fiction, detective fiction, horror. Philosophical and political movements such as feminism, socialism, and psychoanalysis had their historical seeds planted that are still bearing fruit today. I'm excited to trace contemporary authors' thoughts on the revolutionary developments of the 1800s on modern life and find the universal truths expressed in my reading.
As a reader, a writer, and a student of literature, language, and storytelling, I'm intrigued by the major differences in writing style between contemporary literature and that of the nineteenth century - and the similarities in plots and themes. The Victorian era was the birth of modern communication technologies and also some of the 21st century's most popular literary genres: science fiction, detective fiction, horror. Philosophical and political movements such as feminism, socialism, and psychoanalysis had their historical seeds planted that are still bearing fruit today. I'm excited to trace contemporary authors' thoughts on the revolutionary developments of the 1800s on modern life and find the universal truths expressed in my reading.
