![]() | Portable Property Subjects: British; Expatriation in literature.; National characteristics British in literature.; Sentimentalism in literature.; Personal belongings in literature.; Property in literature.; Material culture in literature.; English fiction; What fueled the Victorian passion for hair-jewelry and memorial rings? When would an everyday object metamorphose from commodity to precious relic? In Portable Property , John Plotz examines the new role played by portable objects in persuading Victorian Britons that they could travel abroad with religious sentiments, family ties, and national identity intact. In an empire defined as much by the circulation of capital as by force of arms, the challenge of preserving Englishness while living overseas became a central Victorian preoccupation, creating a pressing need for objects that could readily travel abroad as personifications of Britishness. At the same time a radically new relationship between cash value and sentimental associations arose in certain resonant mementoes--in teacups, rings, sprigs of heather, and handkerchiefs, but most of all in books. John Plotz is associate professor of Victorian literature at Brandeis University. He is the author of The Crowd: British Literature and Public Politics . |
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