Cet auteur se plonge dans la riche tapisserie de la littérature, de l'art et de la culture des dix-neuvième et vingtième siècles, avec une fascination particulière pour l'écriture décadente et l'esthétisme. Ses recherches universitaires explorent les études queer et la relation complexe entre l'art et l'objet de transition dans les contes surnaturels. Engagé à éclairer le patrimoine littéraire, cet écrivain contribue au discours académique par des publications percutantes et l'organisation de conférences internationales qui redonnent vie aux récits victoriens et néo-victoriens.
The collection presents critical essays on Vernon Lee, highlighting key works like Euphorion, Hauntings: Fantastic Stories, and Music and Its Lovers. Scholars explore Lee's intellectual contributions and aesthetic philosophy, while also illuminating her relationships with contemporaries such as Lee-Hamilton, Pater, and Wilde. This comprehensive analysis offers fresh insights into Lee's influence and the cultural context of her time.
By integrating psychoanalytic theory with socio-historical criticism, Patricia Pulham examines Vernon Lee's fantastic tales through the lens of D.W. Winnicott's 'transitional object' theory. She posits that the past in Lee's narratives represents both historical and psychic dimensions. The 'ghosts' in her supernatural fiction symbolize intricate meanings crucial to Lee's intellectual growth, enabling her to navigate alternative identities and express transgressive sexualities.
This book argues that, in Victorian literature, transgressive desires that cannot be openly acknowledged are often buried and encrypted in the marble bodies of statues.