MARC Record from Library of Congress

LEADER: 02555cam a22003134a 4500
001 2010043431
003 DLC
005 20111003112225.0
008 101007s2011 nyua b 001 0 eng
010 $a 2010043431
020 $a9780230110885 (hardback)
020 $a0230110886 (hardback)
035 $a(OCoLC)ocn669751255
040 $aDLC$cDLC$dYDX$dBTCTA$dYDXCP$dERASA$dCDX$dBWX$dSTF$dDLC
042 $apcc
043 $ae-uk---
050 00 $aPR4592.S43$bG67 2011
082 00 $a823/.8$222
084 $aLIT004120$aLIT000000$aLIT007000$2bisacsh
100 1 $aGordon, John,$d1945-
245 10 $aSensation and sublimation in Charles Dickens /$cJohn Gordon.
250 $a1st ed.
260 $aNew York :$bPalgrave Macmillan,$c2011.
300 $a226 p. :$bill. ;$c22 cm.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
520 $a"My book sets out to explore three crucial stages in Dickens' ongoing voyage of discovery into what has been called the "hidden springs" of his fiction. The three novels under examination are Oliver Twist, Dombey and Son, and Bleak House. (Other Dickens writings are considered when pertinent.) I argue that in all three we can witness Dickens responding to some identifiable force represented as coming from underneath the ground plan (plot, character interaction, development of themes, stylistic effects) of the book in question. In Oliver Twist, it is the ancient story of the blood libel; in Dombey and Son, it is the power of language as an independent agent; in Bleak House, it is a pre-verbal array of desires and interdicts. I also explore the question of Dickens' self-awareness, at these different stages: to what extent did he see himself as a medium of forces beyond his conscious control, and what did he think the psychological mechanisms at work might be? The issues raised have certainly been considered before but have not gone in the directions taken here. Many critics, for instance, have commented on anti-Semitism in Oliver Twist, and some have mentioned the blood libel; no one has argued that Oliver Twist is a blood libel. Previous considerations of ideas of the subconscious have been overwhelmingly Freudian and have concentrated on Dickens' biography; mine, by contrast, relies on pre-Freudian concepts common in Dickens' time and concentrates on the evidence of the writings"--Provided by publisher.
600 10 $aDickens, Charles,$d1812-1870$xCriticism and interpretation.
650 0 $aSenses and sensation in literature.
650 0 $aSublimation (Psychology) in literature.