Author Description
This volume reassesses working-class poetry and poetics in Victorian Britain, using Scotland as a focus and with particular attention to the role of the popular press in fostering and disseminating working-class verse cultures. It studies a very wide variety of writers who are unknown to scholarship, and assesses the political, social, and cultural work which their poetry performed. During the Victorian period, Scotland underwent unprecedented changes in terms of industrialization, the rise of the city, migration, and emigration. This study shows how poets who defined themselves as part of a specifically Scottish tradition responded to these changes. It substantially revises our understanding of Scottish literature in this period, while contributing to wider investigations of the role of popular verse in national and international cultures.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
This volume investigates how working-class poetry and the popular press functioned as a vital cultural and political mechanism within Victorian Scotland. Kirstie Blair, a scholar specializing in Victorian literature and culture, utilizes extensive archival research to recover the voices of previously unstudied poets. She argues that these writers were not merely peripheral figures but active participants in navigating the rapid industrialization, urbanization, and migration patterns that defined the Scottish experience during the nineteenth century.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Analysis of the relationship between local newspapers and the dissemination of working-class verse.
- Examination of poets who identified with a distinct Scottish literary tradition.
- Case studies of writers previously excluded from traditional academic canons.
- Assessment of the political and social functions of popular poetry in industrial settings.
Scope Limits
- The study focuses primarily on Scotland, excluding a comprehensive analysis of working-class poetry across the entirety of the British Empire.
- It does not provide a biographical dictionary of all Victorian poets but rather focuses on representative figures and trends.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Scholars in the field of Victorian studies identify this work as a significant contribution to the recovery of marginalized literary voices. Experts frequently note the meticulous archival research and the clarity with which Blair connects local press culture to broader national identity.
Page Count:
243
Publication Date:
2019-01-01
ISBN-10:
0192581961
ISBN-13:
9780192581969
Poetry
Criticism history
Victorian Studies
Social History
Literary Criticism
Scottish literature
English
English & College Success
Media Studies