Includes bibliographical references (pages [153]-170) and index.
Contents:
Note on editions and dates -- Introduction: Trollope's late modernity -- "Getting and spending": The aesthetic economist -- "A bond of discord": Colonialism and allegory -- "Convivial in a cadaverous fashion": Satires on sovereignty -- "Active citizens of a free state": Hellenising the history of Rome -- "The tone of today": Pedagogical paraphrases -- "An admirable shrewdness": Character and the law -- "A poise so perfect": Tact as love -- "Affectionate reserve": Tact as comedy.
Summary:
Exploring Anthony Trollope’s stylistic innovations in relation to Victorian liberalism. Henry James famously dismissed the works which constitute Anthony Trollope’s ultimate compositions for their ‘fatal dryness of texture’ and ‘mechanical movement’. Taking its cue from James’s observations while challenging his assessment, this study examines the full stylistic range of the novels and biographies which Trollope explored in his final decade, from allegory, satire, and parody, through poignancy, the classics, and paraphrasis, to character, bathos, and fantasy. Blending literary criticism with intellectual history and Frankfurt School theory, Frederik Van Dam shows how Trollope’s creation of this new, impersonal aesthetic was driven by a desire to intervene in contemporary debates on topics such as suburban sociability and marginalist economics, colonialism and national sovereignty, educational and jurisprudential reforms. Key features: Presents a stylistic analysis of a major Victorian novelist ; Reads Victorian literature through the lens of German Romanticism ; Presents a panorama of Victorian intellectual debates on colonialism, economics, nationalism, the classics, pedagogy, legal reform, and urban sociability ; Examines the writings from the last decade of Trollope’s life that have received only scant critical attention, such as his novellas and his biographies.--Publisher website.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.