Looking at the issues: science and fiction as genres in the fin de siècle magazine

Tattersdill, W. (2017) Looking at the issues: science and fiction as genres in the fin de siècle magazine. Textual Practice, 31(2), pp. 417-431. (doi: 10.1080/0950236X.2016.1249706)

Abstract

One of the more profound effects of the digitisation of periodicals is the eclipse of the ‘issue’ as a unit of study. Keyword searching allows us to create bespoke collections of articles from across a wide range of publications, algorithmically determined to cluster around a single author, event, or idea – all well and good, if a single author, event, or idea is the object of study. In this piece, though, I argue that there is sometimes value in apprehending the whole issue, especially if one is interested in discursive formations of genre. Through an examination of one particular issue (June 1898) of the popular monthly Strand Magazine (1891-1950), this article thinks through the ways in which the material proximity of genres in fin de siècle periodicals can result in resonances and formations of meaning which can be both fundamental to genre identity and hard to find with keywords. I focus in particular on multiple possible readings of Cutcliffe Hyne’s short story ‘The Lizard’, which, I argue, carefully uses the polysemic fluidity of magazine genre as an element of its own structure. This aspect of the story is lost completely if one reads it outside of its original publication venue.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: Issue 2: Laurence Sterne: A Symposium.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Tattersdill, Dr Will
• Authors: Tattersdill, W.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > English Literature
• Journal Name: Textual Practice
• Publisher: Routledge (Taylor & Francis)
• ISSN: 0950-236X
• ISSN (Online): 1470-1308
• Published Online: 04 January 2017