Portable Property: Victorian Culture on the Move

Synopsis

portable Property Squarely Engages The Question Of Why Victorians Loved Their Objects, And How This Love Constituted An Important Component Of The Imperial Apparatus And The Internal Dynamics Of Their Culture. By Uncovering The Role Objects Played In Supporting The Rule Of A Few Over Many, John Plotz Makes An Important Contribution.--mary Poovey, New York University

portable Property Gives New Insights Into How The Victorians' Sense Of Themselves In The World And At Home Was Shaped By Their Imperial Role And Their New Mobility. Moreover, John Plotz's Abundant Critical Talent Is Evident Throughout: There Are Truly Stellar Readings Of Well-known Texts Such As the Eustace Diamonds And daniel Deronda, And Highly Original And Astute Discussions Of Whole Oeuvres, Such As Hardy's And Morris's.--catherine Gallagher, University Of California, Berkeley

d.k. Kreisel - Choice

an Intelligent, Thought-provoking Contribution To The Current Critical Discussion Of Economics And The Novel, This Volume Examines The 19th-century Proliferation Of 'portable Property'—i.e., Objects That Are Endowed With Sentimental Value And Function As Reminders Of Englishness Abroad—and Their Elaboration In, And Homology To, The Realist Victorian Novel. . . . With This Analysis, Plotz Makes A Fascinating Contribution To The History Of The Novel, Economic Literary Theory, And Postcolonial Criticism.