Writing, Authorship and Photography in British Literary Culture, 1880 - 1920: Capturing the Image

Writing, Authorship and Photography in British Literary Culture, 1880-1920 explores the co-evolution of printing and photographic technologies and their impact on British literature, showing how literary writers were forced to re-evaluate their professional and personal identities. It examines the response of four key authors to developing technologies through their non-fiction, personal correspondences, and working drafts, and how their perceptions of photography extend into their major works of fiction. It also redirects our attention to when image and text appeared alongside each other for the first time and the crises this sparked for authors.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 232 pages
Publication date: 19 October 2023
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

At the turn of the 20th century, printing and photographic technologies experienced rapid advancements, giving rise to the emergence of mass media and the growth of the amateur photographer. This co-evolution had a significant impact on British literature, shaping the writing, authorship, and photography of the period. Writing, Authorship, and Photography in British Literary Culture, 1880-1920 explores this symbiotic relationship, highlighting how the development of mass media influenced literary writers' professional and personal identities.

The book focuses on four key authors—Thomas Hardy, Bram Stoker, Joseph Conrad, and Virginia Woolf—who had personal connections to photographs. It examines their responses to developing technologies through their non-fiction, personal correspondences, and working drafts. Ennis then delves into how their perceptions of photography influenced their major works of fiction, including A Laodicean, Dracula, The Secret Agent, The Inheritors, and The Voyage Out.

Reflecting on the first "graphic revolution" in a world where text and image are reproduced digitally and circulated en masse and online, Ennis redirects our attention to the historical moment when image and text first appeared together and the crises it sparked for authors. He explores how authors responded to increasingly photographic depictions of everyday life and how their writing adapted to a distinctly visual mass media.

The book offers valuable historical contexts for contemporary cultural developments and anxieties, shedding light on the ways in which the co-evolution of printing and photographic technologies shaped British literature and the creative process of authors. It demonstrates how the development of mass media influenced the way writers represented the world and how their writing responded to the visual culture of the time.

Dimension: 234 x 156 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781350196254