Useful Knowledge

Rauch Alan Rauch

Description

Nineteenth-century England witnessed an unprecedented increase in the number of publications and institutions devoted to the creation and the dissemination of knowledge: encyclopedias, scientific periodicals, instruction manuals, scientific societies, children's literature, mechanics' institutes, museums of natural history, and lending libraries. In Useful Knowledge Alan Rauch presents a social, cultural, and literary history of this new knowledge industry and traces its relationships within nineteenth-century literature, ending with its eventual confrontation with Charles Darwin's Origin of Species.Rauch discusses both the influence and the ideology of knowledge in terms of how it affected nineteenth-century anxieties about moral responsibility and religious beliefs. Drawing on a wide array of literary, scientific, and popular works of the period, the book focusses on the growing importance of scientific knowledge and its impact on Victorian culture. From discussions of Jane Webb Loudon's The Mummy! and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, to Charlotte Bronte's The Professor, Charles Kingsley's Alton Locke, and George Eliot's Mill on the Floss, Rauch paints a fascinating picture of nineteenth-century culture and addresses issues related to the proliferation of knowledge and the moral issues of this time period. Useful Knowledge touches on social and cultural anxieties that offer both historical and contemporary insights on our ongoing preoccupation with knowledge.Useful Knowledge will appeal to readers interested in nineteenth century history, literature, culture, the mediation of knowledge, and the history of science.

Sujets

• Idioma inglés
• Reino Unido
• Cultural studies
• United Kingdom
• English
• Great Britain
• Anglais
• Royaume-Uni

Informations

• Publié par: Duke University Press
• Date de parution: 17 juillet 2001
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780822383154
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE

USEFUL KNOWLEDGE

 , ,     

AlanRauch

   Durham&London 

©                        All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper  Designed by Amy Ruth Buchanan Typeset in Monotype Garamond by Tseng Information Systems, Inc. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data and permissions appear on the last printed page of this book.

To my father,        .    , in memory

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments, ix

Knowledge and the Novel, 

Food for Thought: The Dissemination of Knowledge in the Early Nineteenth Century, 

Science in the Popular Novel: Jane Webb Loudon’sThe Mummy!,

The Monstrous Body of Knowledge: Mary Shelley’sFrankenstein,

Lessons Learned in Class: Charlotte Brontë’sThe Professor,

The Tailor Transformed: Charles Kingsley’sAlton Locke,

Destiny as an Unmapped River: George Eliot’sThe Mill on the Floss,

Notes, 

Bibliography, 

Index, 

Acknowledgments

I owe a great deal to a number of friends and family members who shared their advice and lent me support. Marianne DeKoven, Barry Qualls, and George Levine patiently guided me through the early stages of this project, and it was a pleasure working with them. Barry Qualls has remained a sup- porter; he has been a constant source of admiration as a teacher, a scholar, and an adviser. I can think of no better friend than George Levine. His detailed and in- sightful analysis has been, throughout the years, honest, helpful, and always to the point. His intense interest in my work helped focus and encourage me as this study developed. I have worked with him on a number of projects over the years and have never ceased to admire his intellectual rigor. I have been able to rely on him at every step. I have been fortunate enough to benefit from the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities. During my fellowship year, I was able to work in London and at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh. The Georgia Tech Foundation, which has been very generous, supported my work both in Edinburgh and later at the University College of London, where I worked on the papers of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. My friends and colleagues at the Georgia Institute of Technology de- serve thanks for their interest in and enthusiasm for this project. Richard Grusin has been an important friend and critic; more than almost anyone else, he has been able to enhance this work and keep it on track. My editor, Reynolds Smith, deserves thanks for his patience and for his commitment. I am grateful to him, to Duke University Press, and to the readers of this