Dickens and the business of death / Claire Wood.
Material type: TextPublisher number: : Zafaa Books & Distributors | : 313/56F, 49A, Anand Nagar, Inderlok, DelhiPublication details: , Cambridge : Cambridge University Press , 2015Description: x, 225 pages : illustrations ; 24 cmISBN: 9781107491557Subject(s): Begravningsseder historia | Death care industry | Economics | HistoryDDC classification: 823.8 WOO Summary: "Charles Dickens is famous for his deathbed scenes, but these have rarely been examined within the context of his ambivalence towards the Victorian commodification of death. Dickens repeatedly criticised ostentatious funeral and mourning customs, and asserted the harmful consequences of treating the corpse as an object of speculation rather than sympathy. At the same time, he was fascinated by those who made a living from death and recognised that his authorial profits implicated him in the same trade. This book explores how Dickens turned mortality into the stuff of life and art as he navigated a thriving culture of death-based consumption. It surveys the diverse ways in which death became a business, from body-snatching, undertaking, and joint-stock cemetery companies, to the telling and selling of stories. This broad study offers fresh perspectives on death in The Old Curiosity Shop and Our Mutual Friend, and discusses lesser-known works and textual illustrations"Item type | Current library | Call number | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds |
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Books | SNU LIBRARY | 823.8 WOO (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | Available | 29959 |
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823.8 WIL The picture of Dorian Gray and other writings | 823.8 WIL The picture of Dorian Gray. | 823.8 WIL The happy prince and other stories | 823.8 WOO Dickens and the business of death | 823.809 ALT The presence of the present : | 823.809 CHA The Indian Mutiny and the British Imagination | 823.809 GAR From sketch to novel |
"Charles Dickens is famous for his deathbed scenes, but these have rarely been examined within the context of his ambivalence towards the Victorian commodification of death. Dickens repeatedly criticised ostentatious funeral and mourning customs, and asserted the harmful consequences of treating the corpse as an object of speculation rather than sympathy. At the same time, he was fascinated by those who made a living from death and recognised that his authorial profits implicated him in the same trade. This book explores how Dickens turned mortality into the stuff of life and art as he navigated a thriving culture of death-based consumption. It surveys the diverse ways in which death became a business, from body-snatching, undertaking, and joint-stock cemetery companies, to the telling and selling of stories. This broad study offers fresh perspectives on death in The Old Curiosity Shop and Our Mutual Friend, and discusses lesser-known works and textual illustrations"
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