Revisiting 19(superscript th)-Century Literature via the "Strange Case" of Robert Louis Stevenson

Gordon Hirsch

《小說與戲劇》 18卷1期 (2007/12) Pp. 1-12

並列摘要

Though Robert Louis Stevenson's fame as an author of children's books never faded, his reputation as a serious writer, worthy of academic study, plummeted in the 20(superscript th) century, only to stage a remarkable recovery as that century neared its close. A profusion of critical essays and books appeared, Stevenson began to be included in at least some of the standard historical anthologies of British literature, and a biennial conference and a new critical journal devoted to his writing were established. What caused the decline and the subsequent resurgence of Stevenson's reputation in the academy? One source of that initial decline was Stevenson's mastery of genres that came to be regarded as substandard or déclassé in academic circles in the mid-20(superscript th) century. In addition, his books were often not conventionally metropolitan or cosmopolitan. In recent years, however, scholars began to look more carefully at popular culture and popular authors. Gothic fiction, romance fiction, travel writing, and writing for children were no longer automatically discounted. Furthermore, the fact that Stevenson travelled widely for reasons of health made him aware of and open to a variety of people and cultures. He wrote books about his travels on the continent of Europe, which, together with his preference for ”romance” forms over realistic fiction, made him popular among the cultures of southern Europe and Latin America. Stevenson's writing about his experiences as an ”amateur emigrant” to North America attracted the interest of transatlantic scholars; these writings describe vividly the grittiness of nineteenthcentury emigrant and immigrant life in North America, including experiences of exclusion and discrimination. Ultimately Stevenson became a transpacific as well as a transatlantic author, writing sympathetically about the people and cultures of the South Seas. In addition to these formal and geographical factors, changing critical methodologies opened Stevenson's writings to new sorts of interest. His sympathetic treatment of specific female characters attracted the attention of feminist scholars, while in other texts his depiction of homosocial males was explored. His texts provide unexpected insights into economic history and are now viewed as precursors of literary modernism. In sum, Stevenson represents a case study in widely fluctuating critical reputation; he is representative of many authors and texts hovering on the verge of recovery and rediscovery as critical assumptions and perspectives in the academy change and develop.

並列關鍵字

Robert Louis Stevenson ； reputation