The Hyperlocal in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Literary Space

Nicholas Birns

• Publisher: Lexington Books
• Year: 2019
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9798216215486
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Drama
• Index: Literature

This book examines literary representations of hyperlocal spaces that subvert the idea of grounded and organic spatial identities. Figures such as the pond, the scientific particle, and Wedgwood creamware often go unnoticed, but they exemplify important shifts in culture and aesthetics in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Hyperlocal in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Literary Space argues that these objects, as well as locations such as alcoves in remote shires, city inns, and mountain retreats, were portrayed by writers in the late eighteenth and early-to-mid nineteenth centuries as gambits that challenged cultural hegemonies. It shows that the hyperlocal space or object, though particular, reaches beyond itself, affording an elasticity that can allow those things that seem beneath notice to reveal broader cultural significance.

Table of contents

• Contents
• List of Figures
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter One: Introducing the Hyperlocal
• Chapter Two: Societies Royal and Representative
• Chapter Three: The Pond
• Chapter Four: Negative Adjacency
• Chapter Five: To Earth Come Down
• Chapter Six: The Pit and Boxes
• Chapter Seven: A Glass Reversed
• Chapter Eight: Lakes, Shores, and Mountain Crags
• Chapter Nine: Ravens in Shy Neighborhoods
• Chapter Ten: From Monadnock to Jungheera
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author