Issue Details: First known date: 2024... 2024 The Mystery of a Hansom Cab as Spatial Artefact : Exploring Class and the Spatial Unconscious in Nineteenth-Century Australia’s Favourite Whodunnit
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Fergus Hume’s The Mystery of a Hansom Cab has long been celebrated for its portrayal of the spaces and places of late-nineteenth century Melbourne. In this article, we seek to interrogate the relationship between the spatiality of Hume’s Melbourne and social class. In particular, we employ a theoretical framework that combines structural Marxist literary analysis with the work of radical geographers, unified in the concept of a text’s spatial unconscious. We argue that the spatial unconscious of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab registers the impact of middle-class liberal ideology on the representation of the spaces and places of the working-class and bourgeoisie. Putting this ideology to work, Hume attempts to create a literary world in which these spaces and places are radically differentiated and strictly balkanised. However, a close reading reveals flows, or porosities, of people and capital between these locations, porosities that indicate the limits of middle-class liberal ideology and the capacity of capital to produce abstract space.' (Introduction) 

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    y separately published work icon Australian Literary Studies vol. 39 no. 3 19 December 2024 29365495 2024 periodical issue

    'Each piece in this issue is a representation of the ongoing dialogue in Australian literary studies, and we look forward to seeing more new and innovative research directions in 2025 and beyond. Join us in exploring these thoughtful analyses and discussions that continue to push the boundaries of literary studies, and thank you for your support throughout this year.' (Introduction)

    2024
Last amended 23 Dec 2024 07:45:43
https://www.australianliterarystudies.com.au/articles/the-mystery-of-a-hansom-cab-as-spatial-artefact-exploring-class-and-the-spatial-unconscious-in-nineteenth-century-australias-favourite-whodunnit The Mystery of a Hansom Cab as Spatial Artefact : Exploring Class and the Spatial Unconscious in Nineteenth-Century Australia’s Favourite Whodunnitsmall AustLit logo Australian Literary Studies
Subjects:
  • Melbourne, Victoria,
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