A systematic exploration of Thomas Hardy's imaginative assimilation of particular Victorian sciences, this study draws on and swells the widening current of scholarly attention now being paid to the ...cultural meanings compacted and released by the nascent 'sciences of man' in the nineteenth century. Andrew Radford here situates Hardy's fiction and poetry in a context of the new sciences of humankind that evolved during the Victorian age to accommodate an immense range of literal and figurative 'excavations' then taking place. Combining literary close readings with broad historical analyses, he explores Hardy's artistic response to geological, archaeological and anthropological findings. In particular, he analyzes Hardy's lifelong fascination with the doctrine of 'survivals,' a term coined by E.B. Tylor in Primitive Culture (1871) to denote customs, beliefs and practices persisting in isolation from their original cultural context. Radford reveals how Hardy's subtle reworking of Tylor's doctrine offers a valuable insight into the inter-penetration of science and literature during this period. An important aspect of Radford's research focuses on lesser known periodical literature that grew out of a British amateur antiquarian tradition of the nineteenth century. His readings of Hardy's literary notebooks disclose the degree to which Hardy's own considerable scientific knowledge was shaped by the middlebrow periodical press. Thus Thomas Hardy and the Survivals of Time raises questions not only about the reception of scientific ideas but also the creation of nonspecialist forms of scientific discourse. This book represents a genuinely new perspective for Hardy studies.
Contents: General editors' preface; Introduction; Opening the fan of time; Paganism revived?; Stories of today; The unmanned fertility figure; Killing the God; A bizarre farewell to fiction?; Bibliography; Index.
CHAIRMAN’S NOTES FINCHAM, TONY
Thomas Hardy journal,
10/2019, Letnik:
35
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The North Dorchester walk was part of our cooperation with STAND, the local group in rebellion at the proposed extinction of Hardy's Casterbridge by the construction of what is euphemistically ...described as a 'garden village' of over 3,000 houses across the water meadows to the north of the town. Evidence has also been given by Alistair Chisholm on behalf of the THS at the recent Public Inquiries into the so-called Strawberry Fields development and Woodsford Quarry expansion, which would devastate the environs of Wolfeton House and Woodsford Castle, respectively. The asking price for this Grade 2· listed building reflects the fact that little has changed in the 130 years since Hardy visited the house - the external structure appears magnificent viewed from across the Frome, but internally it remains a 'mouldy old habitation' in need of much expensive restoration: any well-heeled takers within the THS membership?
Thomas Hardy reappraised Wilson, Keith
Thomas Hardy reappraised,
2006, 20060608, 2006, 2014, 2006-01-01, 2006-12-15
eBook
InThomas Hardy Reappraised, editor Keith Wilson pays tribute to Millgate's many contributions to Hardy studies by bringing together new work by fifteen of the world's most eminent Hardy scholars.
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