Smith-Bingham, Richard David; (1997) Narrative and vision: Constructing reality in late Victorian imperialist, decadent and futuristic fiction. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

This study deals with works of imperialist, decadent and futuristic fiction written roughly between 1885 and 190A. The main authors under discussion are Conrad, Kipling, Haggard, Pater, Wilde, Huysmans and other European decadents. Wells, Morris and Hudson, and its primary aim is to show the similarity of vision between late nineteenth century authors writing in different genres or fields. The thesis starts by taking the 'strange' worlds presented in the fiction of these writers and relating them to the aesthetic idea that fiction involves the construction of the world of the text, a world which is determined according to the principles of art and perception, a world which is not simply imitative of a supposedly actual world of facts. To support this, the thesis proceeds to analyse late nineteenth century ideas on observation, representation and mythologization. The focus then shifts from the concept of the world to that of the self as the thesis investigates the complicated relationship between the fictional human subject and the society or world of the novel in which he or she figures. After this, the thesis examines how the late Victorian fictional individual seeks, through the power of narration, to remake the world according to his or her aspirations. It also records the violence associated with this ambition when it is put into practice and the failure which ensues when the subject's imagination makes him or her unable to distinguish between what is real and what is not. Indeed, that which forms the late Victorian fictional subject's experience of the world tends more to destabilize his or her identity than to strengthen it. The final chapter considers the fiction's imagery of fluidity, disintegration and collapse, paying close attention to the frequent appearance of crowds, chaos, darkness, rebellions and catastrophes in the texts. The conclusion looks again at the nature of late Victorian aesthetics, reviewing the importance of perception, oppositionality, balance and closure to the works.

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