A special issue of Victorian Popular Fictions Journal edited by Naomi Hetherington & Clare Stainthorp, Autumn 2023
The category of the popular has played a significant role in the ‘religious turn’ in Victorian studies over the last two decades. Historians of nineteenth-century religion have increasingly turned to popular culture and folklore to challenge traditional paradigms of decline and secularisation whilst, amongst scholars of Victorian literature and visual culture, there has been an upsurge of interest in the influence of new religious movements on popular literary and visual forms. At the same time, a growing acknowledgment of the Protestant bias that has shaped the study of Victorian religion, and that can itself be traced back to colonial institutions and power structures, has necessitated urgent investigation into the roles played by non-Western and non-Christian subjects in moulding the popular religious imaginary. This special issue will explore manifestations of religion and the expression and representation of religious experience in popular culture texts of all kinds. Editors seek proposals for 7,000–8,000 word articles from scholars at all levels (including postgraduate students, early-career academics, heritage practitioners and independent researchers). They welcome proposals that focus on popular narrative in all its forms arising from the long nineteenth century, and particularly encourage research that examines noncanonical and neglected poets, dramatists, novelists, journalists, journals, publishers, artists, critics and readers. They would be particularly interested in research concerning religious practices and experiences outside of Christian traditions. Topics might include, but are by no means limited to:
• the popular religious novel
• religion, horror and the Gothic
• religious typology in popular art and literature
• missionary and travel writing
• religion and the popular press
• religion and popular imperialism
• hymns, sermons and liturgies
• decolonising Victorian religion
• religious objects, dress and buildings
• religious feeling
• popular piety, magic and folk beliefs
• archaeology and the Bible
• religion, gender and sexuality
• spiritualism, esotericism and occultism
• religion and the life cycle
• religion and popular science writing
• religion and children’s literature and culture
• popular freethought and blasphemy
• religious revivals and utopias
• religion, resistance and popular reform
• religion, domesticity and the family movements
Please submit a 500-word abstract and short biography in Word format to the guest editors Dr Naomi Hetherington and Dr Clare Stainthorp at vpfareligion@gmail.com by 1 November 2021. Final articles to be submitted by 30 September 2022.