The Novel and the Heart: 1840-1940

This project will examine the heart as a rhetorical figure in anglophone fiction of the Victorian (1837-1901) and modernist (1901-39) periods.

Though the heart is one of the most important tropes in Western literature, and research has shown that its cultural meanings changed dramatically from the Medieval period to the early Victorian, there has been no study of the heart and the novel form or the use of the trope beyond the mid-19th century.

The primary deliverables will be a monograph, The Novel and the Heart: 1840-1940, and an edited collection, The Body and the Novel: 1800-1940.

The research will also lead to the delivery of 5 conference papers, the publication of 3 journal articles, and dissemination to non-academic audiences through European Researchers’ Nights and a public talk for the Bristol Festival of Ideas.

The project will pursue a multi-disciplinary approach, drawing on expertise in medical history and the history of the novel, acquired through the University of Bristol’s Centre for Health, Humanities, and Science (CHHS) and Stanford University’s Centre for the Study of the Novel respectively.

This expertise will primarily be developed by training-through-research under the supervision of Alex Woloch, an expert on character and Victorian fiction, and Ulrika Maude (Director of the CHHS), an expert on the body in medicine and literature.

I will also acquire skills in digital approaches at the Stanford Literary Lab, a leading research centre which pioneered computational criticism.The knowledge, skills, and expertise gained at the outgoing institution will be transferred back to the host through contributions to research, public engagement, teaching, and student mentoring activities.

Specific activities include a workshop series for the CHHS on medicine and the novel, a best-practice talk for the Digital Cultures and Methods research unit, and a symposium on “The Body and the Novel: 1800-1940” featuring contributors from both universities.