Victorian Melodrama in the Twenty-First Century

Jane Eyre, Twilight, and the Mode of Excess in Popular Girl Culture

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism
Cover of the book Victorian Melodrama in the Twenty-First Century by Katie Kapurch, Palgrave Macmillan US
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Katie Kapurch ISBN: 9781137581693
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan US Publication: August 24, 2016
Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan Language: English
Author: Katie Kapurch
ISBN: 9781137581693
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan US
Publication: August 24, 2016
Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan
Language: English

This book examines melodramatic impulses in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga, as well as the series' film adaptations and fan-authored texts. Attention to conventions such as crying, victimization, and happy endings in the context of the Twilight-Jane Eyre relationship reveals melodrama as an empowering mode of communication for girls. Although melodrama has saturated popular culture since the nineteenth century, its expression in texts for, about, and by girls has been remarkably under theorized. By defining melodrama, however, through its Victorian lineages, Katie Kapurch recognizes melodrama's aesthetic form and rhetorical function in contemporary girl culture while also demonstrating its legacy since the nineteenth century. Informed by feminist theories of literature and film, Kapurch shows how melodrama is worthy of serious consideration since the mode critiques limiting social constructions of postfeminist girlhood and, at the same time, enhances intimacy between girls—both characters and readers.

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

This book examines melodramatic impulses in Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga, as well as the series' film adaptations and fan-authored texts. Attention to conventions such as crying, victimization, and happy endings in the context of the Twilight-Jane Eyre relationship reveals melodrama as an empowering mode of communication for girls. Although melodrama has saturated popular culture since the nineteenth century, its expression in texts for, about, and by girls has been remarkably under theorized. By defining melodrama, however, through its Victorian lineages, Katie Kapurch recognizes melodrama's aesthetic form and rhetorical function in contemporary girl culture while also demonstrating its legacy since the nineteenth century. Informed by feminist theories of literature and film, Kapurch shows how melodrama is worthy of serious consideration since the mode critiques limiting social constructions of postfeminist girlhood and, at the same time, enhances intimacy between girls—both characters and readers.

More books from Palgrave Macmillan US

Cover of the book Somebody in Charge by Katie Kapurch
Cover of the book Faulkner’s Gambit by Katie Kapurch
Cover of the book The Politics of Custom in Eighteenth-Century British Fiction by Katie Kapurch
Cover of the book Bourdieu's Theory of the State by Katie Kapurch
Cover of the book Samuel Beckett's Theatre in America by Katie Kapurch
Cover of the book Political Culture in Panama by Katie Kapurch
Cover of the book Desistance from Crime by Katie Kapurch
Cover of the book Francis of Assisi and His “Canticle of Brother Sun” Reassessed by Katie Kapurch
Cover of the book Sacred Humanism without Miracles by Katie Kapurch
Cover of the book Emily Dickinson's Rich Conversation by Katie Kapurch
Cover of the book Policy Borrowing and Reform in Education by Katie Kapurch
Cover of the book The Financial Crisis and Federal Reserve Policy by Katie Kapurch
Cover of the book Indo-Caribbean Feminist Thought by Katie Kapurch
Cover of the book Negotiating Knowledge in Early Modern Empires by Katie Kapurch
Cover of the book Corpus Anarchicum by Katie Kapurch
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