Gender and ventriloquism in victorian and neo -victorian fiction : passionate puppets

Is ventriloquism just for dummies? What is at stake in neo-Victorian fiction's desire to 'talk back' to the nineteenth century? This book explores the sexual politics of dialogues between the nineteenth century and contemporary fiction, offering a new insight into the concept of ventriloquism as a textual and metatextual theme in literature. In what ways does neo-Victorian fiction 'talk back' to the nineteenth century? What is at stake in the contemporary interest in 're-voicing' the Victorian era? Gender and Ventriloquism in Victorian and Neo-Victorian Fiction is the first book-length study of the relationship between ventriloquism and gender in nineteenth-century and contemporary literature set in the Victorian period. Offering an insight into the gendered history of ventriloquial utterance, this monograph seeks to re-evaluate the concept of ventriloquism by challenging the power relationship between 'ventriloquists' and 'dummies'. The ventriloquial metaphor articulates an ambivalent exchange between imitation and alteration, tribute and critique, voicing and silencing. Through detailed analysis of Victorian and neo-Victorian narratives of ventriloquism, Helen Davies locates ventriloquism as a key trope for exploring the politics of contemporary fiction's dialogues with the nineteenth century Front Matter....Pages i-viii Introduction: The Victorians for Dummies? Talking Back to the Nineteenth Century....Pages 1-16 Voices from the Past: Rethinking the Ventriloquial Metaphor....Pages 17-37 Victorian Ventriloquists: Henry James and George Du Maurier....Pages 38-67 Sirens and Svengalis: Nights at the Circus, Alias Grace and Clara....Pages 68-93 Queering the Dummy/ Ventriloquist Dichotomy: Oscar Wilde and Ventriloquial Influence....Pages 94-113 Sexual Re-scripting: Ventriloquial Repetitions and Transformations in Sarah Waters’ Tipping the Velvet and Affinity....Pages 114-138 Talking to Ourselves? Ventriloquial Criticism and Readership in Neo-Victorian Fiction....Pages 139-166 Afterword: Voices Beyond the Victorian Era? Wesley Stace and Ventriloquism....Pages 167-178 Back Matter....Pages 179-211 Review: 'Definitions of neo-Victorianism within a theoretical space of performativity frequently fall into a conceptual trap which recycles the motifs of Judith Butler in an uncritical fashion. Helen Davies's book admirably challenges this position by revitalising the trope of ventriloquism in neo-Victorian fiction and criticism. This is a lively, provocative and engaging book that makes a stimulating contribution to the field. Davies's own scholarly voice is confident, articulate and alive, and her self-reflective comments on the position of the critic as reader make important points for future researchers.' - Mark Llewellyn, John Anderson Research Chair in English, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK