Victorian Literary Languages Network Research Workshop

The “Victorian Literary Languages” research network – based at the University of St Andrews, Bangor University, and the School of English at Trinity College Dublin – studies the multilingualism of Victorian literature, examining the connections between the literary and linguistic histories of Victorian Britain and Ireland. How might critical perspectives on Victorian literature and its canons change when we take full account of the Victorian four nations, their numerous languages, and their richly diverse dialect cultures? How did nineteenth-century contests over national identity – and related debates about linguistic purity, diversity, and change – influence literary style and drive formal innovation? And how can methods of close and distant reading work collaboratively to generate new understandings of Victorian literary languages? To answer these questions, the network brings together scholars from a range of backgrounds and disciplines (including literature, linguistics, and history), who, by sharing their diverse expertise and perspectives, are developing an innovative, multilingual approach to the study of Victorian literature and culture. The network’s second workshop, to be held at the Trinity Long Room Hub on 25-26 August 2022, will explore the impact of rising literacy rates and the growing provision of state education in the Victorian period. Legislative and educational developments across the four nations supported the expansion of the reading public, while also threatening literary production in languages other than English. We will consider how these developments, and the debates they prompted throughout the four nations, transformed readerships and changed definitions of literary language and value. If you would like to participate in the workshop, please email Gregory Tate and Karin Koehler (viclitlang@gmail.com) by Friday the 10th June. Please include your name, institutional affiliation(s) (if applicable), and a description of your research and your intended contribution (250 words). The event program is available here.