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FromtheEditors
Movingfromartefactstotheory,wehaveanarticleassessingandcomparing
J.R.R.Tolkien’sTreeandLeaf,whichemploysthesemotifstocommunicate
reflectionsonvariousformsofcreativity,andJohnRuskin’sTheNatureof
Gothic,suggestingthatthewidedisseminationofRuskin’sideashadanimpact
onTolkien(Kowalik).
Neo-Victorianismiswellrepresented.Thereisanexplorationoftwo
21st-centuryBritishtelevisionserialdramascentredonQueenVictoria,which
examinestheextentofneo-Victorianinfluenceontheseportrayalsofthe
Britishmonarchy(Babilas).Weofferaninterpretationofapurported2012
autobiographyofJacktheRipper,discussingintertextualityandtheparatextual
elementsthataimtoauthenticatetheaccount(Krawczyk-uywko).Thereisalso
discussionofaworldwhich,althoughtechnologicallyadvanced,isreminiscent
oftheVictorianperiod,inStephenHunt’s21st-centurynovel,TheCourtof
theAir(Kozak).Inthisarea,wealsopresentadiscussionofvisualreimaginings
inpaintingandillustrations,comicbooks,featurefilms,TVshowsandvideo
games,ofJosephLeFanu’snovellaCarmilla,withitsground-breakingfemale
vampire,concentratingonthe1971film,DaughtersofDarkness(Krawczyk-
uaskarzewska).
ContinuingwithinthewideframeworkoftheGothic,weofferananalysis
ofnarrativestrategiesandspatialorganisationinRobertLouisStevenson’s
novel,TheStrangeCaseofDr.JekyllandMr.Hyde,inanattempttoresolve
thebasicJekyll/HydemysteryofwhetherHydewasaDoppelgangeror“the
animalwithinme”(Kokot).ManuelAguirre’stheoryoftwozonesinhorror
literatureseparatedbythresholds-“thehumanworld”andthe“Otherworld”-
isappliedtothehauntedhouseinoneofElizabethGaskell’srareexcursionsinto
thesupernatural,“TheOldNurse’sStory,”whereconcernisvoicedaboutthe
fateoffemalevictimsofmenandtheideaofhomeasasafeplaceisundermined
byitspresentationasanti-home(Kudra-Kardela).
Thereisdiscussionoflate19th-centuryinvasionliteratureinthecontext
ofArthurConanDoyle’s“TheRingofThoth”and“Lotno.249”,theplotsof
bothofwhichcanbepresentedasanotherversionofimperialnarratives,with
ultimatevictoryovertheinvadingforcebymeansofnew,scientificmethods
(Jajszczok).TherelationshipbetweenlateVictorianscientistsandspeculative
writersisfurtherreviewedinthecontextofBritishpopularandfictional
approachestoscientificresearch,showinginteractionswiththeworkofBritish
particlephysicists,asummaryofwhoseachievementsisprovided(Oramus).
Twonovelswithamissionorpurposearediscussedandcompared,
concentratingoncentralthemesofinsanityinthecaseofCharlesReade’smatter-
of-factromanceHardCash(1863)andonvivisectioninWilkieCollins’sHeart
andScience(1883),concludingthatneitherdepartsfarfromthesensation
framework(Nitka).Victoriananxietiesofadifferentkindarethesubjectof