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The Victorian Provincial Novel
Author(s) -
Robinson Amy J.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
literature compass
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.158
H-Index - 4
ISSN - 1741-4113
DOI - 10.1111/lic3.12257
Subject(s) - scholarship , cosmopolitanism , regionalism (politics) , empire , nationalism , modernity , history , literature , sociology , aesthetics , political science , art , law , ancient history , politics , democracy
Provincial novels such as those by Gaskell, Trollope, and Eliot are well‐known, well‐loved, and often canonical, but scholars have not always examined in detail the characteristics that qualify them as provincial. Furthermore, past scholarship tends to focus on a negative definition of the provincial, concentrating on its difference from the metropolis, and on the ways in which provincial novels ignore the forces of modernity. However, this article traces the resurgence in scholarship on the subgenre of the Victorian provincial novel and how this scholarship transcends discussion of the local. This article shows that Victorian provincial novels connect to debates about regionalism, nationalism, cosmopolitanism, and empire.