Dickens's London: Perception, Subjectivity and Phenomenal Urban Multiplicity

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Edinburgh Critical Studies in Victorian Culture
Series Editor: Julian Wolfreys
Drawing on provocative research, volumes in the series provide timely revisions of the nineteenth-century's literature and culture.
Dickens's London
Perception, Subjectivity and Phenomenal Urban Multiplicity
Julian Wolfreys
This phenomenological exploration of the streets of Dickens's London opens up new perspectives on the city and the writer

Taking Benjamin's Arcades Project as an inspiration, Dickens's London opens a dialogue between phenomenology, philosophy and the Dickensian representation of the city in all its forms. Wolfreys suggests that in their representations of London Dickens's novels and journalism can be seen as forerunners of urban and material phenomenology. While also addressing those aspects of the urban that are developed from Dickens's interpretations of other literary forms, styles and genres, Dickens's London presents in twenty-six episodes a radical reorientation to London in the nineteenth century, the development of Dickens as a writer, and the ways in which readers today receive and perceive both.
Illustrated with 19 black and white maps and illustrations.
Julian Wolfeys is author and editor of more than 40 books on nineteenth- and twentieth-century English literature and literary theory. He is Professor of English Literature at the University of Portsmouth, where he is also Director of the Centre for Studies in Literature. His most recent publication is a novel, Silent Music, published by Triarchy Press. He is working at present on a second collection of poetry focused on the themes of memory, place, and loss.

Reviews

...a complex and intellectually stimulating exploration of London as a fictional topography that doubles as a stage and features a wide range of characters including lawyers, criminals and the homeless.--Jane Mattisson, Kristianstad University Sweden "English Studies 97:5"
In this compellingly complex book, Wolfreys brings phenomenological theory to bear on close textual criticism. He analyses how reading works for and on the reader, arguing that every act of writing is an act of reading, of interpretation. Wolfreys is interested in how reading works for the modern subject, and how readers and writers interpret the modern urban scene. This is not a book to read for the first time in a snatched moment or without full concentration. The rewards for spending time on it, however, are great; this is a very striking book that could only be written by an experienced critic.--Lucinda Matthews-Jones "Journal of Victorian Culture Online"
In this ground-breaking and stylish new work, Julian Wolfreys deploys philosophy and theory expertly to present a rich account of Dickens' London as a dynamic, lived world of issues, energy and marvels, capturing the vitality and intensity of Dickens' encounter with the city. A benchmark of innovative literary criticism.--Professor of Critical and Cultural Studies, Macquarie University "Nick Mansfield"

Author Bio

Julian Wolfreys is Professor of Modern Literature and Culture with the Department of English and Drama at Loughborough University.