1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910793133403321

Autore

Peters Laura (Laura L.)

Titolo

Orphan texts : Victorian orphans, culture and empire / / Laura Peters

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Manchester, UK : , : Manchester University Press, , 2018

©2000

ISBN

1-5261-3059-9

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (168 pages) : digital file(s)

Disciplina

820.9008

Soggetti

English literature - 19th century - History and criticism

Orphans in literature

Literature

Literary Studies: C 1800 To C 1900

LITERARY CRITICISM / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh

Literary studies: c 1800 to c 1900

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Originally published by Manchester University Press in hardback 2000.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front matter; Contents; Dedication; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Difference within; Popular orphan adventure narratives; The emigration of orphan children; Exile and return; Epilogue; Appendix; Notes; References; Index

Sommario/riassunto

In one of the first studies of its kind, Orphan texts seeks to insert the orphan, and the problems its existence poses, in the larger critical areas of the family and childhood in Victorian culture. In doing so, Laura Peters considers certain canonical texts alongside lesser known works from popular culture in order to establish the context in which discourses of orphanhood operated.The study argues that the prevalence of the orphan figure can be explained by considering the family. The family and all it came to represent - legitimacy, race and national belonging - was in crisis. In order to reaffirm itself the family needed a scapegoat: it found one in the orphan figure. As one who embodied the loss of the family, the orphan figure came to represent a dangerous threat to the family; and the family reaffirmed itself through



the expulsion of this threatening difference. Orphan texts will be of interest to final year undergraduates, postgraduates, academics and those interested in the areas of Victorian literature, Victorian studies, postcolonial studies, history and popular culture.