RAILWAYS AND RAILWAYMEN IN MUGBY JUNCTION
Abstract
This paper examines the impact of the Victorian railways on railwaymen in relation to labour and social economy, the industrialisation of travel, and urban modernity in three short stories: “The Engine-driver” by Andrew Halliday, “The Engineer” by Amelia Edwards and “The Travelling Post-office” by Hesba Stretton in Mugby Junction, edited by Charles Dickens in 1866. Regarding the history of the railway, emphasis has shifted from the cultural and social aspects to psychological interpretations of the influences of science and technology on individuals. These stories provide an insight as to how the machine ensemble played a critical role in altering railway workers’ physical, emotional and psychological states, and transformed them into haunted “modern” subjects. The representations of mystery, death, crimes and spectral images in these stories not only address deep anxieties and a changing mode of life, but also acknowledge the reader about how the Victorians reacted to the rapid expansion of the railway network within and beyond the British Isles.
Keywords
Supporting Institution
References
- Armstrong, T. (2000). Haunted Hardy: Poetry, history, memory. England: Palgrave.
- Beaumont, M. & Freeman, M. (Eds.). (2007). The railway and modernity: Time, space, and the machine ensemble. Bern: Peter Land AG, International Academic Publishers.
- Berman, M. (1983). All that is solid melts into air: The experience of modernity. London: Verso.
- Carter, I. (2001). Railways and culture in Britain: The epitome of modernity. Manchester: Manchester UP.
- Daly, N. (2004). Literature, technology and modernity 1860-2000. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
- Dickens, C. (1982 [1846-48]). Dombey and son. Oxford: Oxford UP.
- Dickens, C. (2010 [1866]). No.1. branch line. The signalman. In Charles Dickens (Ed.) Mugby junction. In All the year round. Retrieved from 20 October, 2010. British Periodicals http://britishperiodicals.chadwyck.co.uk/marketing/index.jsp pp. 20-25.
- Edwards, A. (2010 [1866]). The engineer. In Charles Dickens (Ed.) Mugby junction, All the year round. Retrieved from 20 October, 2010. British Periodicals http://britishperiodicals.chadwyck.co.uk/marketing/index.jsp pp. 42-48.
Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
-
Journal Section
Research Article
Authors
Publication Date
October 22, 2019
Submission Date
July 1, 2019
Acceptance Date
September 7, 2019
Published in Issue
Year 2019 Volume: 6 Number: 2