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Fashionable connections: Alicia LeFanu and writing from the edge

Fitzer, Anna M.

Authors

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Dr Anna Fitzer A.Fitzer@hull.ac.uk
Senior Lecturer in 18th-Century Literature and Programme Director for English



Abstract

This article focuses upon Alicia LeFanu (fl. 1809–36), author of several poems, six multi-volume novels, a critical biography of her grandmother, Frances Sheridan, and articles for the Court Magazine. Descended from an eminent literary family, and since misremembered as a mere ‘petticoat novelist’, LeFanu complicates ideas of the centre and the periphery in her writing. I explore how this interest is figured in LeFanu's use of the chapter epigraph, developing work I have undertaken as editor of LeFanu's early novel, Strathallan (1816). LeFanu's epigraphs persist across her fiction as a dimension in which she not only reflects upon literary legacies, but also contests the boundaries of her own print culture. Through its consideration of LeFanu, as author and reader, the article further reflects upon the significance of her example for a broader understanding of other women writers at the edges and borders of Romanticism, and of their literary networks.

Citation

Fitzer, A. M. (2018). Fashionable connections: Alicia LeFanu and writing from the edge. Romanticism, 24(2), 179-190. https://doi.org/10.3366/rom.2018.0371

Journal Article Type Review
Acceptance Date Jul 23, 2017
Online Publication Date Jun 1, 2018
Publication Date Jul 1, 2018
Deposit Date Jan 10, 2018
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Romanticism
Print ISSN 1354-991X
Electronic ISSN 1750-0192
Publisher Edinburgh University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 24
Issue 2
Pages 179-190
DOI https://doi.org/10.3366/rom.2018.0371
Keywords Epigraph; LeFanu; Strathallan; Sheridan; Women's writing; Seward
Public URL https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/527535
Publisher URL https://www.euppublishing.com/doi/abs/10.3366/rom.2018.0371
Additional Information This article has been accepted for publication by Edinburgh University Press in Romanticism at https://www.euppublishing.com/loi/rom.

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