120014 SE Literary Seminar / BA-Arbeit: contemporary neo-Victorian novels (2008W)

In the class we will discuss several modern novels set in the nineteenth century and simulating Victorian narrative conventions and styles. How is this boom of neo-Victorian writing to be explained? Is it nostalgia, a fascination with realist narratives, or a productive questioning of literary traditions? In what way is the Victorian era commodified for modern consumption in these texts? What is it that fascinates contemporary writers and readers in this period and its narratives? How are modern mindsets and ideological stances brought to bear on Victorian narrative conventions in these novels? How are gender roles and 19th century values reinterpreted and subverted?