The Victorians in Europe
University of Buckingham, London
June 22, 2019
Proposals are now welcome for a one-day conference exploring the Victorians and Europe.
The conference aims to explore nineteenth-century Britain’s relationship with the continent, to see how each influenced and inspired the other and to better understand how the Victorians saw themselves in relation to their neighbours. In particular, what impression would the average Victorian have of Europe from newspapers, fiction, travel narratives and neighbours?
The conference will be held on Saturday 22 June 2019 at the University of Buckingham’s London base in 51 Gower Street. Postgraduates are welcome to apply.
Proposals could be on, but are not limited to, the following topics:
Victorians in Europe: travel narratives, holidays and experiences of Victorians visiting the continent.
Europeans in Britain: what was the experience of immigrants in the nineteenth century?
Europe in Victorian fiction: the use of European locations in novels of the period.
Politics: exploring the Victorian understanding of and response to major political events and conflicts in Europe.
Culture: what influence can be seen of European art, literature and music on Britain (and vice versa)? Europe in the Victorian press: how were events in Europe reported and presented to the Victorian public?
Europhilia and Euroscepticism: exploring the extent to which the Victorians loved or loathed their neighbours.
Self-identity: to what extent did the Victorians fashion their own identity through comparison or contrast with other European nations?
Proposals of no more than 500 words can be sent to Dr. Pete Orford at peter.orford@buckingham.ac.uk by Friday 8 March 2019.