Language, Science and Popular Fiction in the Victorian Fin-de-Siècle

The Brutal Tongue

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism
Cover of the book Language, Science and Popular Fiction in the Victorian Fin-de-Siècle by Christine Ferguson, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Christine Ferguson ISBN: 9781351923323
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: March 2, 2017
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Christine Ferguson
ISBN: 9781351923323
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: March 2, 2017
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

Christine Ferguson's timely study is the first comprehensive examination of the importance of language in forming a crucial nexus among popular fiction, biology, and philology at the Victorian fin-de-siècle. Focusing on a variety of literary and non-literary texts, the book maps out the dialogue between the Victorian life and social sciences most involved in the study of language and the literary genre frequently indicted for causing linguistic corruption and debasement - popular fiction. Ferguson demonstrates how Darwinian biological, philological, and anthropological accounts of 'primitive' and animal language were co-opted into wider cultural debates about the apparent brutality of popular fiction, and shows how popular novelists such as Marie Corelli, Grant Allen, H.G. Wells, H. Rider Haggard, and Bram Stoker used their fantastic narratives to radically reformulate the relationships among language, thought, and progress that underwrote much of the contemporary prejudice against mass literary taste. In its alignment of scientific, cultural, and popular discourses of human language, Language, Science, and Popular Fiction in the Victorian Fin-de-Siècle stands as a corrective to assessments of best-selling fiction's intellectual, ideological, and aesthetic simplicity.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Christine Ferguson's timely study is the first comprehensive examination of the importance of language in forming a crucial nexus among popular fiction, biology, and philology at the Victorian fin-de-siècle. Focusing on a variety of literary and non-literary texts, the book maps out the dialogue between the Victorian life and social sciences most involved in the study of language and the literary genre frequently indicted for causing linguistic corruption and debasement - popular fiction. Ferguson demonstrates how Darwinian biological, philological, and anthropological accounts of 'primitive' and animal language were co-opted into wider cultural debates about the apparent brutality of popular fiction, and shows how popular novelists such as Marie Corelli, Grant Allen, H.G. Wells, H. Rider Haggard, and Bram Stoker used their fantastic narratives to radically reformulate the relationships among language, thought, and progress that underwrote much of the contemporary prejudice against mass literary taste. In its alignment of scientific, cultural, and popular discourses of human language, Language, Science, and Popular Fiction in the Victorian Fin-de-Siècle stands as a corrective to assessments of best-selling fiction's intellectual, ideological, and aesthetic simplicity.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Mental Models by Christine Ferguson
Cover of the book Freud's Legacy in the Global Era by Christine Ferguson
Cover of the book Texts from the Querelle, 1616–1640 by Christine Ferguson
Cover of the book Poverty and Vulnerability in Dhaka Slums by Christine Ferguson
Cover of the book Art, Space and the City by Christine Ferguson
Cover of the book Attachment Theory by Christine Ferguson
Cover of the book Negotiating Englishes and English-speaking Identities by Christine Ferguson
Cover of the book Autistic Transformations by Christine Ferguson
Cover of the book Nationalism and Ethnicity in a Hindu Kingdom by Christine Ferguson
Cover of the book Israel by Christine Ferguson
Cover of the book A History of Italian Colonialism, 1860–1907 by Christine Ferguson
Cover of the book Justice in Young Adult Speculative Fiction by Christine Ferguson
Cover of the book Re-thinking Aesthetics by Christine Ferguson
Cover of the book Sport and Gender Identities by Christine Ferguson
Cover of the book Children’s Play in Literature by Christine Ferguson
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy