Reading Time in Music: Temporally Vexed

Sarah Cash explores the intersection of music and temporality in British literature of the long nineteenth century, arguing that music offers a dynamic way to expose this vexed temporality and disrupt historic classifications. This book will interest scholars of nineteenth-century literature, temporality, and gender studies.

Format: Hardback
Length: 192 pages
Publication date: 15 April 2023
Publisher: Lexington Books

In her captivating book, "The Sound of Time: Music and Temporality in British Literature of the Long Nineteenth Century," Sarah Cash delves into the intricate interplay between music and temporality in British literature of the long nineteenth century. These intersections serve as powerful resistance against hegemonic structures, creating sound spaces that defy mimetic conventions. Through its temporal multiplicity, music transcends linear time, revealing a metaphoric soundedness within the text that subverts reader expectations and exposes the transgressive nature of seemingly realist nineteenth-century novels. Even in the most realistic of narratives, the most extravagant, excessive, and hyperbolic elements exceed the boundaries of what we commonly perceive as real, rupturing mimetic bias. Cash compellingly argues that music offers the most dynamic means to unravel this complex temporality within the text. By engaging in scholarly intervention, she challenges historic classifications and demonstrates that Victorians are heirs to Romanticism's musical ideals, encompassing the power of music to penetrate and transform space and time, as well as the enduring permanence of sound that resonates beyond human perception. This book holds immense interest for scholars in nineteenth-century literature, temporality, and gender studies, offering a fresh perspective on the enduring influence of music on the literary landscape.

Weight: 463g
Dimension: 237 x 158 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781666903492