Autorentext

DAVID PAROISSIEN was Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Buckingham. A distinguished Dickens scholar, he was Editor of Dickens Quarterly and Co-Editor the Dickens Companions series.

LEON LITVACK is Professor of Victorian Studies at Queen's University Belfast and a leading authority on Dickens's manuscripts, handwriting, and photographic portraits. He is Principal Editor of The Charles Dickens Letters Project and Joint General Editor of The Oxford Edition of Charles Dickens.

Klappentext

Provides an authoritative treatment of the life, work, and legacy of Charles Dickens A Companion to Charles Dickens is an essential resource for understanding one of the most celebrated authors in English literature. This extensively revised edition features a wealth of new essays alongside select, updated essays from the first edition. Written by leading Dickensian scholars from around the world, these contributions offer critical insights into Dickens's life, works, and lasting influence. The Companion places Dickens's writings within their literary, historical, and ideological contexts, equipping readers with the knowledge to engage with his fiction in a more informed and meaningful way. New chapters examine Dickens's attitudes to the city and to Europe, as well as his evolving literary reputation. Each of his fifteen novels, his Christmas Books, and his sketches is explored in depth, with scholars offering contemporary perspectives on their themes, style, and cultural impact. The contributors also consider Dickens's engagement with visual culture, his use of history in fiction, and the ways his works continue to resonate in modern studies. An indispensable guide for those seeking a deeper understanding of Dickens's world and literary contributions, A Companion to Charles Dickens:

• Presents newly commissioned essays offering fresh critical perspectives on Dickens's life and works
• Explores Dickens's evolving reputation and critical reception over time
• Contains dedicated chapters exploring key themes and interpretations of all of Dickens's novels
• Discusses Dickens's literary style, narrative techniques, and innovations in storytelling
• Presents a broad range of perspectives, from biographical studies to thematic and ideological analyses

• Includes updated references, bibliographies, and recommendations for further reading A Companion to Charles Dickens, Second Edition is an invaluable reference for undergraduate and graduate students studying English literature, Victorian studies, or cultural history. It is also a must-have for scholars, researchers, educators, and professionals engaged in Dickens studies, as well as general readers with a deep interest in his life and works.

  Inhalt

  List of Illustrations ix

  Notes on Contributors xi

  Preface xvii

  Acknowledgments xix

  Abbreviations xxi

  Part I Perspectives on the Life 1

  1 A Sketch of Dickens's Life 3
  Michael Allen

  2 "Faithfully Yours, Charles Dickens": The Epistolary Art of the Inimitable 17
  David Paroissien

  3 Three Major Dickens Biographies 29
  Catherine Peters

  4 Later Engagements with Dickens's Life 43
  Laura Colombino

  Part II Literary/Cultural Contexts 55

  5 Dickens's Eighteenth-Century Legacy 57
  Monika Fludernik

  6 Dickens and the City 71
  Ushashi Dasgupta

  7 Illustrations 85
  Malcolm Andrews

  8 Dickens and Serialization 107
  Pete Orford

  9 The Language of Dickens 119
  Patricia Ingham

  10 Dickens and Christianity 133
  Valentine Cunningham

  11 Dickens and the Uses of History 151
  John Gardiner

  12 From Penny-a-Liner to Media Mogul: Dickens's Evolution as a Journalist 165
  John M. L. Drew

  Part III Historical Contexts 179

  13 Dickens and Gender 181
  Sarah Gates

  14 Dickens and Technology 199
  Trey Philpotts

  15 Dickens and America (1842) 217
  Nancy Aycock Metz

  16 Dickens as a Reformer 229
  Hugh Cunningham

  17 Dickens and Government Ineptitude Abroad, 1854-1865 243
  Leslie Mitchell

  18 Dickens and Europe 255
  Luisa Villa

  19 Dickens and the Law 269
  Jan-­Melissa Schramm

  Part IV The Fiction 283

  20 Sketches by Boz 285
  Paul Schlicke

  21 The Pickwick Papers 293
  Adam Abraham

  22 Oliver Twist 305
  Brian Cheadle

  23 Nicholas Nickleby 315
  Michelle Allen-Emerson

  24 The Old Curiosity Shop 325
  Hazel Mackenzie

  25 Barnaby Rudge 335
  Jon Mee

  26 Martin Chuzzlewit 343
  Goldie Morgentaler

  27 The Christmas Books 353
  Leon Litvack

  28 Dombey and Son 367
  Nathalie Vanfasse

  29 David Copperfield 379
  Bradley Deane

  30 Bleak House 391
  Robert Tracy

  31 Hard Times 403
  Anne Humpherys

  32 Little Dorrit 413
  Philip Davis

  33 A Tale of Two Cities 423
  Sara Thornton

  34 Great Expectations 435
  Andrew Sanders

  35 Our Mutual Friend 445
  Leon Litvack

  36 The Mystery of Edwin Drood 455
  Yael Halevi-­Wise

  Part V Reputation & Influence 467

  37 Dickens and the Literary Culture of the Period 469
  Michael Hollington

  38 Dickens Before Modernism 485
  Yael Levin

  39 Global Dickens 497
  John O. Jordan

  40 Dickens Now: Adaptations and Representations, 2012-2020 511
  Emily Middleton

  Index 523