Neo-Victorianism and the Memory of Empire [Paperback]

Examining the global dimensions of Neo-Victorianism, this book explores how the appropriation of Victorian images in contemporary literature and culture has emerged as a critical response to the crises of decolonization and Imperial collapse. Neo-Victorianism and the Memory of Empire explores the phenomenon by reading a range of popular and literary Anglophone neo-Victorian texts, including Alan Moore's Graphic Novel From Hell, works by Peter Carey and Margaret Atwood, the films of Jackie Chan and contemporary 'Steampunk' science fiction. Through these readings Elizabeth Ho explores how constructions of popular memory and fictionalisations of the past reflect political and psychological engagements with our contemporary post-Imperial circumstances.

Introduction: Neo-Victorianism and Improper Postcolonialisms \ 1. Neo-Victorianism and Ripperature: Alan Moore's From Hell \ 2. Neo-Victorianism Down Under: Peter Carey's Jack Maggs \ 3. Neo-Victorianism South of Nowhere: Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace \ 4. Far-flung Neo-Victorianism: Hong Kong and Jackie Chan's Neo-Victorian Films \ 5. Neo-Victorianism and Science Fiction: Steampunk \ 6. Neo-Victorian-at-Sea: Towards a global Victorian \ Bibliography \ Index.

Elizabeth Ho is Assistant Professor of English at Ursinus College, USA. She is co-editor of the book Thatcher and After: Margaret Thatcher and Her Afterlife in Contemporary Culture (Palgrave, 2010).