My PhD thesis examines a particular dimension of post-Victorianism in Britain and Japan since the 1980s: historical fiction produced by women that is set in Victorian Britain and often adapted from Victorian literary works.

Taking up Simon Joyce’s observation that postcolonial subjects engage with ‘the Victorian’ as much as the British, I seek to put contemporary British women's historical novels and films in dialogue with Japanese historical shōjo manga (girls' comics). Through 'worlding' post-Victorianism, I explore the (post)colonial imbrication of Britain, its Empire, and Japan, and the ways in which women's writing responds to these historical and contemporary interconnections. I am also interested in looking at how post-Victorian shōjo manga engages with Japan's own history of imperialism in Asia as it deals thematically with the trope of 'Victorian Britain'.

Supervisors:

Dr Ross Forman, Professor Michael Gardiner