Memory in Victorian speculative fiction, 1870-1900

Abstract

This thesis explores the concept of memory within the speculative fiction of Samuel Butler's Erewhon (1872), William Morris's News from Nowhere (1890), Olive Schreiner's Dreams (1890), and H. G. Wells's The War of the Worlds (1898). It seeks to provide a deeper understanding of these works by contextualising them in relation to nineteenth-century scientific writing. It draws on a wide range of sources, including books, periodicals, personal notebooks, and correspondence. This project seeks to bring together the history of science, including mental science, cultural history and literary criticism. The thesis examines some key issues and concepts, such as the relationships between memory and dreaming, organic memory, ancestral memory, and traumatic memory. While there has been substantial scholarly work on fin-de-siecle utopias and dystopias, these works have predominantly been examined through a political analytical framework, with depictions of cognitive experience often overlooked. This thesis therefore argues that studying the politics and psychology of memory in late-Victorian speculative texts enables us to· read these writers and genres in new ways.

Thesis embargoed until 31st December 2029

Date of Award	Dec 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Queen's University Belfast
Sponsors	Arts & Humanities Research Council
Supervisor	Caroline Sumpter (Supervisor) & Alex Murray (Supervisor)