Dickens and the Popular Radical Imagination (Cambridge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture)

Dickens and the Popular Radical Imagination (Cambridge Studies in Nineteenth-Century Literature and Culture)

by SallyLedger (Author)

Synopsis

The relationship between the work of Charles Dickens and popular literature has often been noted, but the extent to which his fiction and journalism were rooted in, and continued to respond to, the popular radical culture of his time had so far been unexplored. Sally Ledger traces the influence of Regency radicals, such as William Hone and William Cobbett, and mid-century radical writers, such as Douglas Jerrold and the Chartists Ernest Jones and G. W. M. Reynolds. She offers substantial readings of works from Pickwick to Little Dorrit, arguing that Dickens's populism bridged eighteenth- and nineteenth-century conceptions of the 'popular', the first identified with the political idea of 'the People', the second identified with a mass-market 'populace' that emerged during Dickens's career. Richly illustrated, this study also uncovers the resonance between Dickens's writings and popular graphic art by George Cruikshank, Robert Seymour, C. J. Grant and others.

$126.70

Quantity

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 314
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 22 Mar 2007

ISBN 10: 0521845777
ISBN 13: 9780521845779

Media Reviews
Review of the hardback: 'Ledger offers fresh and convincing readings of well-known Dickens texts and of lesser known others. ... her densely written and informed chapters give evidence both to the protean 'gestalt' of her topic and to the fascinating insights to be gained from informed readings of the texts in the ongoing critical debate. ... The lavishly yet concisely annotated study is rounded off with a 'select bibliography' that exceeds many 'full' bibliographies of other studies. Ledger's admirable study is a major contribution to Dickens criticism and a welcome impulse towards the scholarly reconstruction of nineteenth-century radical discourse.' Archiv fur das Studium der neueren Sprachen und Literaturen
Author Bio
Sally Ledger is Professor of Nineteenth-Century Literature at Birkbeck, University of London.