Done with Dickens

Piesse, J (2024) Done with Dickens. Dickens Quarterly, 41 (1). pp. 35-42. ISSN 0742-5473

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Abstract

This article brings a creative-critical approach to bear on my long, and evolving, relationship with Dickens. Through examining the tenacious grip that Dickens has had on my imaginative, emotional, and professional lives, I explore the conundrum of continuing to admire a writer whose ubiquity, personal history, and even style can sometimes cause embarrassment to contemporary publics. In the face of such feelings, and my ambivalence about literary hero-worship, I make a case for Dickens’s unique power and lasting relevance. I explore how Dickens has shaped my creative imagination, education, and work as a university lecturer, and how his writing continues to impact on the lives of friends, family, and students. The article takes the form of a creative-critical personal essay, combining autobiographical accounts of growing up in Dickens’s Kent, and of engaging with Great Expectations at different life stages, with the scholarly perspectives that underpin my publications and university teaching.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	A General Works > AZ History of Scholarship The Humanities H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General) P Language and Literature > PR English literature
Divisions:	Humanities and Social Science
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Date of acceptance:	28 September 2023
Date of first compliant Open Access:	9 November 2023
Date Deposited:	09 Nov 2023 13:59
Last Modified:	26 Mar 2024 12:00
DOI or ID number:	10.1353/dqt.2024.a920202
URI:	https://ljmu-9.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/21818

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