The Woman Reader, 1837-1914

Revised

Flint, Kate 저자(글)

Clarendon Press · 1995년 12월 28일

책 소개

Kate Flint was previously lecturer at the University of Bristol, and Fellow and Tutor in English at Mansfield College, Oxford. She edited the World's Classics edition of Dickens's Great Expectations (1994), edited and introduced the WC edition of Trollope's Can You Forgive Her? (1982). Her other publications include Elizabeth Gaskell (Northcote House, 1994), Dickensr (Harvester, 1986), and as editor The Victorian Novelist (Croom Helm, 1987), Virginia Woolf's The Waves (Penguin, 1992), andImpressionists in England (Routledge, 1984).
This book is an original and fascinating look at the topos of the woman reader and its functioning in cultural debate between the accession of Queen Victoria and the First World War. The issue of women and reading--what they should read; what they should be protected from; how, what, and when they should read--was the focus of lively discussion in the nineteenth century in a wide range of media. Flint uses recent feminist analyses of how women read as a context for her detailed and readable study of these debates, exploring in a variety of texts--from magazines like Woman's World and My Lady's Novelette to works of literature like Jane Eyre and The Portrait of a Lady--the range of stereotypes and directives addressed to women readers, and their influence on the writing of fiction. She also looks at how women readers of all classes understood their own reading experiences.
Why was the topic of women and reading so controversial for the Victorians and Edwardians? What was it assumed that women read, and what advice was given about where, when, and how to read? Kate Flint examines texts ranging from fiction, painting, and poetry, through medical and psychoanalytic works, advice manuals and periodicals, to autobiographies and contemporary social research, in her detailed and highly praised study of this central cultural debate in nineteenth-century society. Engaging also in recent feminist theory, she explores the manipulation of the figure of the woman reader in well-known works like Charlotte Bronte's Shirley and Virginia Woolf's The Voyage Out, in sensation novels and New Woman fiction, and in stories found in series such as The Princess's Novelettes. This is supported by evidence from actual readers - working women, as well as the privileged - as to how they understood their own highly varied reading experiences. This ground-breaking work provides an invaluable source for scholars and students of nineteenth-century culture, and will be essential reading for all interested in current critical debates on women and reading.
BL A fascinating and original study of the image of the woman reader in Victorian and Edwardian culture and literatureKate Flint draws on a wide range of texts from 'high' literature to advice manuals, autobiographies to medical and psychological writings in order to examine the controversies surrounding what, where, and how women should read.
This book is an original and fascinating look at the topos of the woman reader and its functioning in cultural debate between the accession of Queen Victoria and the First World War. The issue of women and reading--what they should read; what they should be protected from; how, what, and when they should read--was the focus of lively discussion in the nineteenth century in a wide range of media. Flint uses recent feminist analyses of how women read as a context for her detailed and readable study of these debates, exploring in a variety of texts--from magazines like Woman's World and My Lady's Novelette to works of literature like Jane Eyre and The Portrait of a Lady --the range of stereotypes and directives addressed to women readers, and their influence on the writing of fiction. She also looks at how women readers of all classes understood their own reading experiences.
This book is an original and fascinating look at the topos of the woman reader and its functioning in cultural debate between the accession of Queen Victoria and the First World War. The issue of women and reading--what they should read; what they should be protected from; how, what, and when they should read--was the focus of lively discussion in the nineteenth century in a wide range of media. Flint uses recent feminist analyses of how women read as a context for her detailed and readable study of these debates, exploring in a variety of texts--from magazines likeWoman's WorldandMyLady's Noveletteto works of literature likeJane EyreandThe Portrait of a Lady--the range of stereotypes and directives addressed to women readers, and their influence on the writing of fiction. She also looks at how women readers of all classes understood their own reading experiences.
Why was the topic of women and reading so controversial for the Victorians and Edwardians? What was it assumed that women read, and what advice was given about where, when, and how to read?Kate Flint examines texts ranging from fiction, painting, and poetry, through medical and psychoanalytic works, advice manuals and periodicals, to autobiographies and contemporary social research, in her detailed and highly praised study of this central cultural debate in nineteenth-century society. Engaging also in recent feminist theory, she explores the manipulation of the figure of the woman reader in well-known works like Charlotte Bronte's Shirley and Virginia Woolf's The Voyage Out, in sensation novels and New Woman fiction, and in stories found in series such as The Princess'sNovelettes. This is supported by evidence from actual readers - working women, as well as the privileged - as to how they understood their own highly varied reading experiences.This ground-breaking work provides an invaluable source for scholars and students of nineteenth-century culture, and will be essential reading for all interested in current critical debates on women and reading.
'..addresses the Victorian essentialism, largely unchallenged to the present day..many felicitous and arresting things in The Woman Reader..depth and detail of Flint's exposition constantly reveal new information and new ways of looking at the familiar ..scrupulously examines the persistentattempts to establish a regulative canon of books for girls.'T.L.S.
'..addresses the Victorian essentialism, largely unchallenged to the present day..many felicitous and arresting things in The Woman Reader..depth and detail of Flint's exposition constantly reveal new information and new ways of looking at the familiar ..scrupulously examines the persistentattempts to establish a regulative canon of books for girls.'T.L.S.
'ambitious and scrupulously researched book'Constance Decker Thompson, New York Times Book Review
'An interesting and scholarly exploration of the complex issues around women's reading, and perceptions of women's reading.'David Doughan, Fawcett Library - Newsletter, Oct '93
'detailed study'J. Purvis, Studies on Women Abstracts, 12 (i) 1994
'exhaustive and engrossing study'Eileen Gillooly, Common Knowledge
'exhaustive and engrossing study'Eileen Gillooly, Common Knowledge
firm historical perspective combined with vivid, bristling detail..valuable as well as interesting..Flint..is the first person to analyse the whole spectrum of debate..she constantly overturns imposed stereotypes..sure grasp of theory lets her handle the mass of material with assurance..Independent on Sunday
firm historical perspective combined with vivid, bristling detail..valuable as well as interesting..Flint..is the first person to analyse the whole spectrum of debate..she constantly overturns imposed stereotypes..sure grasp of theory lets her handle the mass of material with assurance..Independent on Sunday
'In and among the rich tapestry of references Flint weaves her own text..exhaustive bibliography.'Clarke, Choice, Mar '94
'In and among the rich tapestry of references Flint weaves her own text..exhaustive bibliography.'Clarke, Choice, Mar '94
'In and among the rich tapestry of references Flint weaves her own text ... exhaustive bibliography.'V. Clarke, Choice, Mar '94
'Kate Flint is a competent researcher'Victorian Studies
'Kate Flint is a competent researcher'Victorian Studies
'Kate Flint's account of the woman reader during the Victorian and Edwardian periods is brimming over with diverting and suggestive extracts ... This is an incredibly learned and well-researched study of the woman reader in the Victorian and Edwardian periods, and Flint's talent is athoroughly historical one. The wealth of source material and sheer weight of the research undertaken means that Flint's study is expository, explanatory and scholarly rather than polemical. It will certainly be the standard book on the subject for many years to come, and should be regarded asessential reading for any student of the Victorian 'Woman Question'.'Sally Ledger, Women: A Cultural Review, Vol. 7, No. 2, '96
'Kate Flint's account of the woman reader during the Victorian and Edwardian periods is brimming over with diverting and suggestive extracts ... This is an incredibly learned and well-researched study of the woman reader in the Victorian and Edwardian periods, and Flint's talent is athoroughly historical one. The wealth of source material and sheer weight of the research undertaken means that Flint's study is expository, explanatory and scholarly rather than polemical. It will certainly be the standard book on the subject for many years to come, and should be regarded asessential reading for any student of the Victorian 'Woman Question'.'Sally Ledger, Women: A Cultural Review, Vol. 7, No. 2, '96
'Kate Flint's all-inclusive study, The Woman Reader 1837-1914, addresses the Victorian essentialism, largely unchallenged to the present day. There are many felicitous and arresting things in The Woman Reader. The depth and detail of Flint's exposition constantly reveal new information and newways of looking at the familiar in many spheres. She scrupulously examines the persistent attempts to establish a regulative canon of books for girls ... an impressive study.'Times Literary Supplement
'Ms Flint's research is superb, and most readers, of either sex, will find her books at once fascinating and infuriating'Jackie Wullschlager, Financial Times
'One cannot too highly praise Flint's industry. She has gathered - and reproduces - a mass of data, all meticulously documented in references which, happily, appear on the relevant pages in an old-fashioned format now almost abandoned ... the abundance of information made available in TheWoman Reader is beyond praise, and with such riches the problem of organizing for the reader's comfort and convenience is almost insurmountable ... Some books are to be savored, some mastered, some mined. This one is to be mined. It is encyclopedic.'Ruth Z. Temple, CUNY, English Literature in Transition 1880-1920, Volume 28: 2 1995
'..research is superb, and most readers, of either sex, will find her books at once fascinating and infuriating'Financial Times
'..research is superb, and most readers, of either sex, will find her books at once fascinating and infuriating'Financial Times
'..the abundance of information made available in The Woman Reader is beyond praise..with such riches the problem of organizing for the reader's comfort and convenience is almost insurmountable..Some books are to be savored, some mastered, some mined. This one is to be mined. It isencyclopedic. Ruth Z. Temple, CUNY, English Lit. in Transition 1880-1920, Volume 28: 2 1995'YES 26, 1996
'..the abundance of information made available in The Woman Reader is beyond praise..with such riches the problem of organizing for the reader's comfort and convenience is almost insurmountable..Some books are to be savored, some mastered, some mined. This one is to be mined. It isencyclopedic. Ruth Z. Temple, CUNY, English Lit. in Transition 1880-1920, Volume 28: 2 1995'YES 26, 1996
'The book's great strength is its extensive trawling of sources ... sorted, sifted, assessed, and displayed with precision and skill, the specimens collectively support, a persuasive taxonomy of female reading ... this book is a valuable contribution to feminist understanding of the womanreader.'Clare Brant, King's College, London, RES New Series, Vol. XLVII, No. 186 (1996)
'The book's great strength is its extensive trawling of sources ... sorted, sifted, assessed, and displayed with precision and skill, the specimens collectively support, a persuasive taxonomy of female reading ... this book is a valuable contribution to feminist understanding of the womanreader.'Clare Brant, King's College, London, RES New Series, Vol. XLVII, No. 186 (1996)
The firm historical perspective combined with vivid, bristling detail makes The Woman Reader valuable as well as interesting ... Flint ... is the first person to analyse the whole spectrum of debate ... and in so doing she constantly overturns imposed stereotypes ... Flint's sure grasp oftheory lets her handle the mass of material with assurance: the range of sources is staggering ... utterly engrossing.' Independent on Sunday
"The firm historical perspective combined with vivid, bristling detail makes The Woman Reader valuable as well as interesting....The range of sources is staggering....Utterly engrossing, not only as history but as a clue to categories of 'woman reader' today."-- The Independent "Flint's book is of incalculable value. She is excellent at summarizing what Victorian and twentieth-century critics and theorists have assumed about women readers; summarizing what we can actually deduce on the basis of the evidence available; and then pointing to the discrepancies."-- Victorian Review
"The firm historical perspective combined with vivid, bristling detail makesThe Woman Readervaluable as well as interesting....The range of sources is staggering....Utterly engrossing, not only as history but as a clue to categories of 'woman reader' today."--The Independent "Flint's book is of incalculable value. She is excellent at summarizing what Victorian and twentieth-century critics and theorists have assumed about women readers; summarizing what we can actually deduce on the basis of the evidence available; and then pointing to the discrepancies."--VictorianReview
'The Woman Reader focuses on a vast, intensely interesting and under-researched subject.'Nicola Beauman, Sunday Telegraph
'this is a usefully old-fashioned study, a rich mishmash of specific incidents, quotations, anecdotes, and other straws in the historical wind ... this is a very worthwhile book that will provide valuable cultural background not only for literary critics, but also for more hardheaded bookhistorians'Patrick Scott, Bibliographical Society of America 90:3 (September 1996)
'this is a usefully old-fashioned study, a rich mishmash of specific incidents, quotations, anecdotes, and other straws in the historical wind ... this is a very worthwhile book that will provide valuable cultural background not only for literary critics, but also for more hardheaded bookhistorians'Patrick Scott, Bibliographical Society of America 90:3 (September 1996)
This is a fascinating and original study of the image of the woman reader in Victorian and Edwardian culture and literature. Kate Flint draws on a wide range of texts from 'high' literature to advice manuals, autobiographies to medical and psychological writings in order to examine the controversies surrounding what, where, and how women should read.

작가정보

저자(글) Flint, Kate

목차

• None
  Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

기본정보

ISBN	9780198121855 ( 0198121857 )
발행(출시)일자	1995년 12월 28일
쪽수	378쪽
크기	157 * 235 * 22 mm / 544 g
총권수	1권
언어	영어