Epigraphic form, from Ann Radcliffe to George Eliot
<p>My thesis charts a history of the chapter epigraph through the eighteenth-century periodical, and the novels of Ann Radcliffe, Walter Scott, and George Eliot. It examines the formal developments and stylistic variations of epigraph composition practiced by these authors, shedding light on t...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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2020
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| _version_ | 1826311242216636416 |
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| author | Yem, E |
| author2 | Shuttleworth, S |
| author_facet | Shuttleworth, S Yem, E |
| author_sort | Yem, E |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <p>My thesis charts a history of the chapter epigraph through the eighteenth-century periodical, and the novels of Ann Radcliffe, Walter Scott, and George Eliot. It examines the formal developments and stylistic variations of epigraph composition practiced by these authors, shedding light on the content and aims of their fiction, and on how they sought to moderate the imagined relationship between reader and writer. I argue that while Radcliffe, Scott, and Eliot, used the epigraph to different ends, consistent with their respective genres, all three attempted to correct some version of exclusionary politics. In particular, I sketch out a long tradition in which the epigraph has been used for highly gendered purposes, and explore how the practice laid the foundations for the modernist and, indeed, feminist, use of the fragment.</p>
<p>The emergence and popularisation of epigraphs in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was concomitant with the expansion of the British reading audience. Whereas books had once been scarce and expensive, read several times over, and often aloud to friends and families, reading materials, such as books, newspapers, and periodicals, began to proliferate at this time. In turn, reading became a solitary, silent, and fast-paced activity. While we may think of the ‘slow’ movement, from slow cooking to slow reading, as a response to postmodern life, my research reveals how an earlier age confronted similar challenges. Then, as now, authors used epigraphs to fasten attention in a society devoted to haste and speed. In tracing the development of the epigraph from the eighteenth century to the present, my thesis therefore offers one possible approach to thinking about the cultural work of the novel and its effect on the mind of the reader.</p> |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T08:05:27Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oxford-uuid:a0c12fea-1b8e-408e-9bef-f2c742cf42cb |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T08:05:27Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:a0c12fea-1b8e-408e-9bef-f2c742cf42cb2023-10-30T07:00:57ZEpigraphic form, from Ann Radcliffe to George EliotThesishttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_db06uuid:a0c12fea-1b8e-408e-9bef-f2c742cf42cbParatextFictionReadingInscriptionsEnglishHyrax Deposit2020Yem, EShuttleworth, S<p>My thesis charts a history of the chapter epigraph through the eighteenth-century periodical, and the novels of Ann Radcliffe, Walter Scott, and George Eliot. It examines the formal developments and stylistic variations of epigraph composition practiced by these authors, shedding light on the content and aims of their fiction, and on how they sought to moderate the imagined relationship between reader and writer. I argue that while Radcliffe, Scott, and Eliot, used the epigraph to different ends, consistent with their respective genres, all three attempted to correct some version of exclusionary politics. In particular, I sketch out a long tradition in which the epigraph has been used for highly gendered purposes, and explore how the practice laid the foundations for the modernist and, indeed, feminist, use of the fragment.</p> <p>The emergence and popularisation of epigraphs in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was concomitant with the expansion of the British reading audience. Whereas books had once been scarce and expensive, read several times over, and often aloud to friends and families, reading materials, such as books, newspapers, and periodicals, began to proliferate at this time. In turn, reading became a solitary, silent, and fast-paced activity. While we may think of the ‘slow’ movement, from slow cooking to slow reading, as a response to postmodern life, my research reveals how an earlier age confronted similar challenges. Then, as now, authors used epigraphs to fasten attention in a society devoted to haste and speed. In tracing the development of the epigraph from the eighteenth century to the present, my thesis therefore offers one possible approach to thinking about the cultural work of the novel and its effect on the mind of the reader.</p> |
| spellingShingle | Paratext Fiction Reading Inscriptions Yem, E Epigraphic form, from Ann Radcliffe to George Eliot |
| title | Epigraphic form, from Ann Radcliffe to George Eliot |
| title_full | Epigraphic form, from Ann Radcliffe to George Eliot |
| title_fullStr | Epigraphic form, from Ann Radcliffe to George Eliot |
| title_full_unstemmed | Epigraphic form, from Ann Radcliffe to George Eliot |
| title_short | Epigraphic form, from Ann Radcliffe to George Eliot |
| title_sort | epigraphic form from ann radcliffe to george eliot |
| topic | Paratext Fiction Reading Inscriptions |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yeme epigraphicformfromannradcliffetogeorgeeliot |