#serialisation

[mxcottonsocks]

Reading Like A Victorian

A while ago, I discovered the website 'Reading Like a Victorian', a digital humanities project from The Ohio State University and collaborators.

Since tumblr's been going through a bit of a serial-literature revival, I thought I would share...

Here are some extracts from the website's 'About Us':

RLV is an interactive timeline of the Victorian period. It focuses on serialized novels [...] and adds volume-format publications for context. 

When we read Victorian novels today, we do not read them in the form in which they originally came out. Most Victorian novels appeared either as “triple deckers,” three volumes released at one time, or as serials published monthly or weekly in periodicals or in pamphlet form. Serialized novels’ regularly timed, intermittent appearance made for a reading experience resembling what we do when we are awaiting the next weekly episode of Game of Thrones, watching installments of other TV serials in the meantime. Whenever we pick up a Penguin or Oxford paperback of a Victorian novel today, we are engaged in the equivalent of binge-watching a series that has already reached its broadcast ending [and is] a very different experience from what Victorian audiences were doing with novels. Reading Like a Victorian reproduces the “serial moment” experienced by Victorian readers [...]

More info and screenshots and so on below the cut:

[...] if reading serial installments at their original pace is valuable, it is even more valuable to read them alongside parts of novels and of other kinds of texts that Victorian readers could have been following at the same time [...] [...] a reader who, in 1847, had been following the part issues of both Dickens’s Dombey and Son and Thackeray’s Vanity Fair and then picked up Jane Eyre, published in volume form in October of that year, might notice in Florence Dombey, Becky Sharp, and Jane Eyre a pattern of motherless or orphaned girls trying to negotiate a hostile world on their own. While this figure is well known to be a character type in Victorian fiction perfectly embodied by Jane Eyre and Florence Dombey, Becky Sharp does not often emerge among the heroines who fit that type; reading the novels simultaneously foregrounds parallels between Becky, Florence, and Jane that are not at all obvious if their storylines are experienced separately

I find that, for browsing, the website is easier to use on a computer or tablet than a phone, but it's ok on phone to search for something specific.

The timeline:

Here's what the timeline looks like:

It shows 12 months at a time, and using the left and right arrows will move you back or forward by a month. You can use the 'Jump To Date' function to navigate to a different twelve-month period. Or you can use the 'Author Search' function to navigate to particular works if you know the author's name.

In the above screenshot of the timeline, which shows the period January to December 1852, there are several works shown, including:

ongoing serialised works which had at least one installment published prior to 1852;

works which began serialisation during 1852;

works published in three-volume format during 1852;

other works published during 1852

Details about each work:

You can click on the bar that represents a book's publication to get a drop-down that provides information about that book, its publication, and links to help you read the relevant serial parts.

Here's what happens if you click on Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford:

On the left of the drop-down, there's some general information about the work, its publication history, and how to use the links.

On the right, there's information and links to help you experience the book in its serial parts: it separates out the parts, indicates the month and the year they were published, and what chapters of the work were published in that part. It also provides notes on each part where helpful. There is a scroll-bar at the right of the drop-down, so you can scroll down to the later installments of the work.

[I chose Cranford as an example as it helps demonstrate the value of the Reading Like a Victorian website... From what I understand, Gaskell initially wrote 'Our Society at Cranford' as a standalone piece of short fiction, but was encouraged to write more, so further pieces also set in the fictional town of Cranford were published intermittently in the same magazine over the next year or so. While a particularly dedicated Gaskell fan who wanted to 'read along' with Cranford following the original publication could probably search 1.5-years-worth of a weekly magazine to find the 9 issues which included the material which would later be published as Cranford, the Reading Like a Victorian website has already done that work for them... and also for anyone else who might be interested, but not quite that interested.]

The links

You can then click on an individual chapter to get links to various places to read it online:

When available / where possible, the website tends to include links to:

a facsimile copy of either the relevant serial part in the original publication, or in an 'annual' or similar volume collecting together the content of that publication, or a volume-form edition of that work if the work was not published serially or if facsimile copies of the original serialised publication are not available. [Most of the facsimiles are hosted by either the Internet Archive or the Hathi Trust Digital Library, but some are hosted as part of smaller, more specific collections, such as - in the case of Cranford - Dickens Journals Online which provides online access to the journals/magazines edited by Charles Dickens);

the text, usually on Project Gutenberg (this is usually the volume-form text, so the exact content and chapter breaks and so on may be different than originally published in serial parts; the Reading Like A Victorian website will generally explain when this is the case);

audio recordings, usually volunteer recordings from Librivox (again, the recordings are usually based on the volume-form text, so the exact content and chapter breaks and so on may be slightly different than originally published in the serial parts).

So yeah, I just thought it was a cool website and worth sharing. I believe the website is already used as a resource by some University courses and for academic research, but it can also be used by book clubs and to aid personal reading, etc. I'm using it to inform a personal reading project for 2024-26 where I follow along with six or seven novels serialised in 1864-66.

To save a scroll to the top, here's the link to the RLV website again: Reading Like A Victorian (osu.edu)

[If you want to join an already-planned read-along based on the original serialisation schedule, @dickensdaily will be doing Charles Dickens's historical novel Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty from mid-February 2024 to late-November 2024, to follow along with the original weekly publication of the novel in Master Humphreys Clock from February 1841 to November 1841. I personally found Barnaby Rudge a really engaging, thought-provoking read, and I'm really looking forward to reading it again. (Anyone with particular triggers or other reasons to be wary of the content or language used in older books may find it helpful to look up content warnings for the book before making a decision to read it.)]

[elexuscal]

Danny Phantom, The Show:

geeky kid gets super powers from his parents' weird inventions! now he has to fight a rogue gallery of ghosts... but uh-oh! he still has to keep his grades up, deal with his embarrassing parents, and navigate girl troubles! rap theme song!

Danny Phantom, the Fandom, After 19 Years of Fermentation:

a child dies. but not quite. the inherent tension between life and death. the obsession of the dead for faded remnants of the living. warped green shadows on the walls of a dark laboratory. having to hide your true nature from those who should be your greatest allies. the fear of the monster you could become if you let yourself. being a ghost as a metaphor for the trans experience. a cold breath on the back of your neck in the dead of the night. rap theme song!

[salarymanwaka]

[snail-friend]

Billy WHY DO YOU HAVE A PLANE

[limbobilbo]

“I know writers who use subtext and they’re all cowards”

-Hideo ‘creator of characters fatman, heartman and revolver ocelot’ Kojima

[varpusvaras]

Of course Jason was doing all of that shit to get Bruce's attention. He had to make sure he had the attention, since he had already been wiped off the face of the Earth, in both body and proper memory. A lot of fix-its fall into the "if Jason had just accepted the status quo things would be good and they could be a happy family" but that's not the point. The point is that the status quo leads to others getting hurt, just like Jason did. And if Jason's death was not enough to get Bruce's attention and to make things change, well. Someone has to make him pay attention, and what better way to do that, than to do things outside of the status quo?

[coderooster]

They cancelled it... They CANCELLED ETOILE?!!

[aliciarose-art]

It just occurred to me that next year in February will be Kaze to Ki no Uta's 50 year anniversary!! Maybe i should draw something special for it 🤔

[mxcottonsocks]

How I feel about this announcement:

[Barnaby Rudge and the Raven Grip, illustrated by Fred Barnard for the 1874 'Household Edition' of Barnaby Rudge]

What Next? Our next novel revealed!

And the winner is…

Thank you so much for joining us in reading Great Expectations! We hope you enjoyed it just as much as we did.

“Enough of that,” we hear you cry! “What happens next?”

Last month, a poll was conducted to decide just that. The people have spoken and the votes have been tallied, so we can now reveal that our next Dickens Daily novel will be…

Barnaby Rudge

What is Barnaby Rudge?

A tale of the 1780 Gordon Riots, with murders and family conspiracies to boot, Dickens’ fifth novel, Barnaby Rudge,was serialised between February and November 1841 in the weekly publication Master Humphrey’s Clock.

Beginning as a vehicle for short stories - with the framing device of an old gentleman, Master Humphrey, and his friends telling stories in their society formed around the eponymous clock - Master Humphrey’s Clock did not sell too well, and so Dickens was forced to serialise first The Old Curiosity Shop and then Barnaby Rudge to keep it going.

What does this mean?

This means that our next full-length novel will begin in February 2024. Set your watches now!

As with Great Expectations, chapters will be sent out over two days for weeks where two chapters were published.

2024 being a leap year, unlike 1841, the days of the week will change a few chapters in so we can keep sending out entries on the correct dates. Chapters 1-5 will be sent out on Tuesdays and Fridays, then from Chapter 6 onwards they will be sent out on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

What about the next 6 months?

There are no definite plans for the time leading up to the start of Barnaby Rudge. However, since the hiatus will cover the Christmas period, there is a chance we will serialise one of Dickens’ many Christmas stories. We’ll be sure to let you know well in advance if this is planned!

Goodbye for now…

Thank you once again to everyone who, in reading along with us these past few months, has replicated the experiences of the Victorian readers who waited eagerly each week for the next chapter. We look forward to getting to do it all again next year!

[expelliarmus]

YESSS BIG FINISH PODCAST COMING IN MARCH!!! 🥳🥳🥳

And the first story they're releasing is Death and the Queen aka one of my favourite Ten and Donna stories!!!! And everyone can listen to it for free!!! SO EXCITED

[a-box-of-stupid-ideas]

if you like character meta (like I do) you'd like this! another perspective on Peri and Dev relationship and why Peri was chosen to be Dev's fairy godparent. I do like the idea that Peri was chosen because he's the exact opposite of Dev and how Dev preference to Irep is cause as Peri's anti fairy and his exact opposite personality so being a lot closer to Dev's personality. Also like the idea that Dev wants a yes man that Peri isn't so that also why Dev likes Irep more. Anyway the brain rot has got to me bad.

[lithi]

I thought… this was the side story announcement….

Just like for the Japanese 8th volume of WMMAP, Spoon has illustrated a new cover for the 10th volume!

I’m just hoping the image will be clearer this time around bc Bookwalker had a very bad image resolution for the 8th volume 💀

“What a shame that you’ll end up like this.”

“You think I’ll let you have your way?”

[hotwaterandmilk]

Otome Youkai Zakuro - Kujimate Mini Acrylic Stands D-1 & D-2 (2024)

[deus-ex-mona]

scrolled a little too far back on mogetwt and found pure gold:

[kalpalatas]

ngl i avoid the twt ssmy/kghr fandom because people are so passive-aggro about new kghr content existing at all lol

[loopingpyre]

I don't think this is it?

Comics being messy as fuck or terrible Marvel movies going without end may be 'bad' and cash graby, but there's a significant difference between this kind of 'bad' and 'is trying to convince you to gamble'.