This book explores the literary representation of late Victorian and early Edwardian London from an auditory perspective, arguing that readers should listen to impressions of the city, as described by writers such as Conrad, Doyle, Ford and Gissing. It was in this period that London began to sound modern and, through a closer hearing of its literature, writers wider responses to modernity are revealed.
The book is structured into familiar modernist themes, revisiting time and space, social progress and popular culture through an exploration of the sound impressions of some key works. Each chapter is contextualized by these themes, revealing how the sound of the news, social protest, music hall and suburbanization impacted on writers literary imaginations.
Suitable for students of modernist literature and specialists in sound studies, this book will also appeal to readers with a wider interest in Londons history and popular culture between 1880-1918.
This book will provide an exploration of the late-Victorian and early-Edwardian London soundscape, as represented in the works of contemporary writers, including Joseph Conrad, Ford Madox Ford, Henry James and H.G. Wells. The study reveals how London began to 'sound modern' for writers in the earlier period, 1880-1918, and offers an original contribution to scholars and students of literary modernism and 'sound studies'.Acknowledgements.- Introduction.- 1. Sound and Time: Waiting for the sound: noise, time, and the news.- 2. Sound and Social Progress: Speakers, listeners, and the power of the platform.- 3. Sound and Popular Culture: 'Can't it be stopped?': London and the popular tone.- 4. Sound and Space: Silence, the suburbs, and life 'beyond the City'.- Conclusion.- Works Cited.-
The book will be of interest to all those working in the literaturlC,
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