LITERATURE AND THE CITY

RACE

&

EMPIRE

Authenticity in Representing the London Poor in Jack London’s The People of the Abyss

Laura Chow

Abstract:

Slumming has inspired much literary work, including Jack London’s ethnographic writing, The People of the Abyss. London put on disguise to remain incognito among the poor, so that he could truthfully experience and represent the East End of London. This paper argues that in The People of the Abyss, while Jack London draws upon ethnographic methodologies to represent the London poor in an authentic way; he reveals the limits of his middle-class perspective, literary representation and slumming. Based on close reading of the “Preface”, “The Descent”, “A Man and the Abyss”, “Coronation Day” and “The Management”; it examines the paradoxical existence of the narrator and the conflicting nature of how London is both among and above the poor in the narrative.

Reuben Sachs: Negotiating the Ambivalence towards Jewishness in the Victorian London

Lillian Wong

Abstract:

By the late Victorian period, there was a huge amount of Jewish immigrants poured in from Eastern Europe to England. However, there were mixed feelings towards the non-whites in the increasingly heterogeneous society, where anti-Semitism was on the rise, along with reification of racial differences and ranking of racial groups. Many Anglo-Jews developed their identity as a writer to promote the image of the Jews, but by the end of the century, many Anglo-Jewish novelists examined Jewishness in a more critical way. Amy Levy’s Reuben Sachs was one of those critical portrayals and it was perceived as an attack on Jewish life. However, by examining the tensions between Reuben Sachs and his cousin Leopold Leuniger in the novella, this essay will argue that Levy does not promote Jewish self-hatred but negotiates the ambivalence towards Jewishness in the Victorian London.

The London under Narration in Sherlock Holmes

Louis Lin

Abstract:

When Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series is mentioned, what usually pop up in our minds are probably the following: detective fiction, murders, logic, mystery... However, I am more interested in what is often overlooked about the series. By this I mean the context of the stories, which is the British Empire, and also the treatment of the racial other in Doyle’s series. My essay closely examines how the British Empire and racial minorities feature in the Sherlock Holmes series. Through this analysis, I will show why the British Empire and race are both pivotal to the construction of Doyle’s detective series. Examples will be drawn from a number of Doyle’s short stories including The Study in Scarlet and The Man with the Twisted Lip.