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FromtheEditors
9
absenceofthe“fairplay”methodinConanDoyle’sstories,whereWatsonas
anarratorwhoparticipatedintheeventsreconstructsthemisinterpretations,
omissionsandblunderswhichhecommittedasacharacter,makingit
impossibleforthereadertoactasalegitimaterivaltothedetectiveinunravelling
theclues.MartaKomsta[4Progressand/asUtopiainJamesHumeNisbet’s
TheGreatSecret:ATaleofTomorrow’]examinestherelationshipbetween
thegenericparadigmofutopiaandthenotionofprogress,arguingthatby
juxtaposingthepost-mortemutopiawithanimplicitlydystopiandepictionof
lateVictoriansociety,TheGreatSecretforegroundstheidealsofmoral
restorationandspiritualdevelopment.
Issuesofreligiousaffiliationandreligiousthoughtareexaminedintwo
articles,reflectinglonger-standinginterestsofbothauthorsandparalleling
areawakenedgeneralconcernfortheimportanceofreligiontotheVictorians.
GraŠynaBystydzieŠska[4“Inreligionallroadshavetheirobstacles”.Lossand
GainbyJohnHenryNewmanasaConversionNarrative’]examinesthepoetics
andstructureofNewman’spartly-autobiographicalfirstnovel(1848)inthe
contextoftheconversionofboththeauthorandhisprotagonist,Charles
Reding,whichineachcasewastheproductofrational,intellectualendeavour,
eventhoughemotionalissueswerefrequentlydecisiveintheprocess.Monika
Mazurek[4RevivingtheAnglicanConfessionintheVictoriannovel’]deals
withmanyofthesamequestions,inherexaminationofcontemporaryfictional
depictions(CharlotteBrontë,MrsHenryWood,EmmaWorboise,Charlotte
MaryYonge,ChristinaRossetti)ofthecontroversialrevivalintheChurchof
Englandof4RomanCatholic’practiceslikeauricularconfession.
Inthisvolume,conceivedbeforethepandemicbegan,ourauthorshavein
manycasesprofitablyre-visitedoldthemeswithfresheyes,whileothershave
movedontonewthemesandproblems.Theyhavefocusedontheliterature,
culture,andpoliticalandsocialhistoryofBritaininaperiodwhenthe
structuresofindustrialmodernitywerebeingcreated.Theyhaveexamined
Britain’simprintontheglobalculturalheritage,includingclass,genderand
race-basedhierarchiesthatpersistinvaryingdegreesintothepresent.In
apost-pandemiclandscape,adifferentstyleofacademicattitudetowardsthe
eighteenthandnineteenthcenturieswillperhapsinevitablytakeshape,entailing
possiblenewperspectivesondisciplinarityanddivisionsbetweenfieldsof
study,betweenaestheticsandpolitics,orbetweenhistoryandthepresent.
Weneverthelesshopethattheexchangeofideaswhichhasprovedsofruitful
overthelastdecadeandahalfinthisWarsawforumwillstillhaverelevance
inthefuture.
GraŠynaBystydzieŠska
EmmaHarris
