Robert Louis Stevenson, Science, and the Fin de Siècle

In this fascinating book, Reid examines Robert Louis Stevenson's writings in the context of late-Victorian evolutionist thought, arguing that an interest in 'primitive' life is at the heart of his work. She investigates a wide range of Stevenson's writing, including Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Treasure Island as well as previously unpublished material from the Stevenson archive at Yale. Reid's interpretation offers a new way of understanding the relationship between his Scottish and South Seas work. Her analysis of Stevenson's engagement with anthropological and psychological debate also illuminates the dynamic intersections between literature and science at the fin de siècle.

Autorentext
JULIA REID is Lecturer in Victorian Literature at the University of Leeds, UK. Her research is on late-Victorian Literature and Science and she has published several essays on Stevenson and the evolutionary sciences.

Inhalt
List of Figures Acknowledgements Textual Note Introduction: Stevenson, Evolution, and the 'Primitive' PART I: '[O]UR CIVILISED NERVES STILL TINGLE WITH...RUDE TERRORS AND PLEASURES': ROMANCE AND EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY Stevenson and the Art of Fiction Romance Fiction: 'Stories Round the Savage Camp-fire' PART II: 'DOWNWARD, DOWNWARD LIES YOUR WAY': DEGENERATION AND PSYCHOLOGY 'There was Less Me and More Not-me ': Stevenson and Nervous Morbidity 'Gothic Gnomes': Degenerate Fictions PART III: STEVENSON AS ANTHROPOLOGIST: CULTURE, FOLKLORE, AND LANGUAGE 'The Foreigner at Home': Stevenson and Scotland '[T]he Clans Disarmed, the Chiefs Deposed': Stevenson in the South Seas Conclusion Notes Works Cited Index