The Fantasy of Family: Nineteenth-Century Children's Literature and the Myth of the Domestic Ideal

The Fantasy of Family: Nineteenth-Century Children's Literature and the Myth of the Domestic Ideal

by ElizabethThiel (Author)

Synopsis

The myth of the Victorian family remains a pervasive influence within a contemporary Britain that perceives itself to be in social crisis. Nostalgic for a golden age of Victorian values in which visions of supportive, united families predominate, the common consciousness, exhorted by social and political discourse, continues to vaunt the traditional, natural family as the template by which all other family forms are gauged. Yet this fantasy of family, nurtured and augmented throughout the Victorian era, was essentially a construct that belied the realities of a nineteenth-century world in which orphanhood, fostering, and stepfamilies were endemic.

Focusing primarily on British children's texts written by women and drawing extensively on socio-historic material, The Fantasy of Family considers the paradoxes implicit to the perpetuation of the domestic ideal within the Victorian era and offers new perspectives on both nineteenth-century and contemporary society.

$71.01

Quantity

10 in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 216
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 12 Jul 2011

ISBN 10: 0415899370
ISBN 13: 9780415899376

Media Reviews

'Each of Thiel's analyses are thought-provoking and incisive... The Fantasy of Family is an important and original contribution to the field, as lucidly written as it is admirably researched.' - Bjorn Sundmark, IRSCL

Author Bio
Liz Thiel is a lecturer in Children's Literature at Roehampton University. A former journalist, her research interests lie in both historical and contemporary texts for children. Forthcoming publications include a study of the life and works of Victorian writer 'Brenda'.