Ancestry and Narrative in Nineteenth-Century British Literatu... - 9780521023573

Ancestry and Narrative in Nineteenth-Century British LiteratureBlood Relations from Edgeworth to Hardy\nAuthor(s): Sophie Gilmartin\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: Cambridge University Press, United Kingdom\nImprint: Cambridge University Press\nISBN-13: 9780521023573, 978-0521023573\nSynopsis\nThis 1999 study addresses the question of why ideas of ancestry and kinship were so important in nineteenth-century society, and particularly in the Victorian novel. Through readings of a range of literary texts, Sophie Gilmartin explores questions fundamental to the national and racial identity of Victorian Britons: what makes people believe that they are part of a certain region, race or nation? Is this sense of belonging based on superstitious beliefs, invented traditions, or fictions created to gain a sense of unity or community? As Britain extended her empire over foreign nations and races, questions of blood relations, of assimilation and difference, and of national and racial definition c.