Description
Book SynopsisExplores the notion of plagiarism in Victorian fiction and how many writers of this period stole, altered or parodied the characters and plots of previous texts. This book will appeal to students and researchers of nineteenth-century literature and culture, and readers interested in issues of plagiarism, copyright, and intellectual property.
Trade Review'Focused on three important Victorian novelists, Charles Dickens, Edward Bulwer Lytton, and George Eliot … Plagiarizing the Victorian Novel is an illuminating, stylish, and necessary archeology of some of these lost works.' Monica F. Cohen, The Review of English Studies
'Abraham's book, among its other aspects, demonstrates a seismic shift in English studies over the past half-century. Plagiarizing the Victorian Novel presents itself as part of a specialism-wide, co-operative effort.' John Sutherland, The Times Literary Supplement
'Plagiarising the Victorian Novel makes a useful contribution to the ongoing conversation surrounding forms of textual afterlife, recognizing the productive overlap between issues of plagiarism and those of identity, fraud, agency and intent …' Elly McCausland, Dickens Quarterly
'Adam Abraham's meticulously researched, expertly theorized, and engagingly written Plagiarizing the Victorian Novel upends traditional conceptions of the canon …' Carrie Sickmann, Reception: Texts, Readers, Audiences, History
'… the book makes for pleasurable reading. Abraham's prose is clear, witty, jargon-free, and the work he has done on these aftertexts, including his concise summaries, will provide future scholars with rich new material for years to come.' Lisa Rodensky, Victorian Studies
Table of ContentsPrologue; 1. The Pickwick phenomenon; 2. Charles Dickens and the pseudo-Dickens industry; 3. Parody; or, the art of writing Edward Bulwer Lytton; 4. Thackeray versus Bulwer versus Bulwer: parody and appropriation; 5. Being George Eliot: imitation, imposture, and identity; Postscript; Posthumous papers; Aftertexts.
